Today, I had an interview, which is somewhat of a rare thing these days. But, I bailed. For good reasons. Read on.
However, when I got there, it was like something out of The Office. First off, I had been warned against using Craigslist in order to find work due to possible scams, rapists, general weirdness, et cetera. But I went for it, and applied to a random “We need a pt/ft webmaster” position.
Warning Signs:
1) No description of the job. But, I figured, “I can rock a webmaster position.
2) When I applied, I got an instant e-mail saying to call, however, when I called, I got number 3.
3) The people hiring don’t know what the job is for. More specifically “I only answer the phones and look pretty.”, said the receptionist. More on her later, and why I would hire her in a minute.
So, despite the warning signs, I decided to go. Besides, what if it’s some fabulous job that was trolling me?
So I went. When I got there, things were awfully different than what I was expecting.
Even More Warning Signs:
1) First off, the job wasn’t “marketing”, in the advertising or design sense. It was telemarketing. Bad telemarketing.
2) I’ve never had to sign an NDA for just walking through the door.
3) Every form had multiple spelling, grammar, and capitalization errors.
4) They were behind on interviews. 45 minutes behind.
5) Another person who showed up for the Webmaster position took one look at the paperwork, shook my hand and wished me good luck as he left in a hurry.
6) Any work that I do, even if it’s not used, is their property, not mine.
I sat with 2 other guys, one a .NET developer, the other some sort of Sales manager. They mentioned that online, the job was listed as a base rate, however, the paperwork we received stated “Contract only”. Also, I learned more about the position, which had apparently been turned down by others who walked through before us. Basically, I blindly design for people the telemarketers hound, and if we’re lucky, they take a website. Oh, and I would also have to perform sales, next to the guy with meth sores.
Definitely not meaningful or good design work.
And the big kicker? The job isn’t actually open for another 45 days.
So basically, the job was a bust. I grabbed everything I signed and put my important info on, and booked it.
But, there was one amazing thing today. The receptionist.
I would describe her as a fiery Vixen who was part New York Sass, part regal queen. In the short time I spent (approx. an hour after I was supposed to have an interview), she not only yelled at co-workers who were screwing with her, we danced in our chairs, talked about idiots, and I got to see her tear some Staples employee a new one.
And she answered the phone perfectly.
So what did I learn? If I search hard enough, I would say that Craigslist has, once again, proved to be home of the weird.
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