The Secret of My Success
Well, I did it. I got a job!
You might recall less than a week ago I expressed my outrage at the thought of extending unemployment benefits because if you’ve been out of work for 99 weeks, then maybe the problem is you. My criteria were pretty simple: no legal, governmental or media related work, I couldn’t use my extensive network of professionals and I had to take my Master’s and law degrees off the table. I basically took 3/4ths of my life experience off the table and still found work in five days.
I applied for a job as a customer service representative at an ACS facility in Anderson, Indiana. They’re expanding and from what I was told were looking for up 1,100 people. I applied on-line Thursday and got a call from a recruiter on Friday. My interview was on Tuesday.
There were a couple times during the process that everything almost went south. One lady helping out with hiring kept looking at me like she recognized me from television. And during the first interview the hiring manager looked my undergraduate degree in communications and journalism and asked me if I knew I was applying for a job at call center? I told her yes, and she asked me if I was sure about what I was doing. I told her we were good and the interview went ahead.
It was pretty standard and I was able to answer their questions in a mostly truthful manner. They asked me what I did at my other jobs, to which I replied, I spent a lot of time taking calls from angry people and helping them solve their problems. They asked me if I could handle with an irate caller who was abusive and uninformed. I just smiled and said yes. I did have to take a drug test. Here’s a tip, never joke about have poppy seed bagels for breakfast. Drug testers aren’t known for their sense of humor.
While waiting around I got a chance to meet some of the people who were applying for work. I met a woman who used to manage a department store that went under. I met an older gentleman who lost his job. There were some younger people looking for jobs, although someone needed to tell them how to dress for an interview. An Abercrombie sweat shirt, torn jeans and sneakers doesn’t quite say “hire me”.
I eventually met with the main hiring manager and we had a nice chat. She walked me through a number of questions at the end of the interview she offered me a job. The starting pay was $9 an hour, but that’s a training wage. After 8 weeks, depending on your performance, you can make up to $13 an hour and if you work Saturdays, you get an extra dollar an hour. There’s no limit on overtime and there’s ample opportunity for promotion and advancement. Your only limit is what you put on yourself. And yes, it does come with full benefits. And since I’d likely be on the morning shift, 6:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m., I could still teach and do my other part-time jobs.
Now I know some of you are going to bring up issues like child care, transportation, education, etc. My reply, “so what”. As my grandmother used to say “all God’s children got problems” and you play with the hand you are dealt and deal with it. If you are a high school dropout in the 21st Century I have very little sympathy for you.
And just for the record, I am not taking the job. This was about proving a point. The point was that there is work out there if you are willing to work to look for it. And here’s another little twist for your amusement, by not taking the job I am freeing up the position for someone else who needs it. So my experiment not only proved that there is work out there, but it also created a job.
No need to thank me, the look on your face right now is more than enough.
