The Best Job I Didn’t Get
Fri., June 28, 04:35 PM
The Best Job I Didn’t Get
It’s nearly ten years since I last had a real job. When they closed down my department, I was almost glad. My analysis of the situation was that the company and I had advanced in different directions, and it was time to move on. Being let go – as opposed to quitting – meant that I got some severance pay and held on to my health insurance. Furthermore, I qualified for unemployment payments. I had been in this position before and survived. I had no doubt that I would soon find another job that was almost as good. (This had been the job of a lifetime; I knew I would never find its equal.)
As you can see, I was wrong. I’ve been doing temporary work since then – sometimes even long-term assignments – but I’ve never found another job. I submitted more than 200 résumés and received fewer than 10 per cent responses. Naturally, even fewer resulted in interviews.
Why wasn’t I successful? I can give you a lot of “excuses”; reasons are something else. I’m overqualified. I require too high a salary. (I got that comment when I requested about 60 per cent of what I made previously.) I can do too many things; human resources specialists can’t seem to concentrate when you have multiple skills.
I’m willing to do any number of things, so I was usually temping when I talked to an interviewer. Thus, I suppose, they thought I didn’t need a job because I already had one. Incidentally, many companies that use temporary help regularly have a policy that the temps will never be hired as permanent employees. (They think it’s in the contract with the agency, though they have probably misunderstood it.) The agency tells you this one is "temp-to-perm," but someone is lying, and it's never going to happen.
But the real reason – damn, I wish I could prove it – is that young people are hesitant to hire someone older than themselves, and almost no one will hire a person with greater skills. You spend your young life being told you need more experience, and when you get the experience, you’re too old.
The straw that broke this camel’s back came when I applied at a large, multinational company. I read the job description and understood it: it was like customer service to the thousands of people who worked for the companies or the franchises all over the world. Now, not only do I have years of experience in customer service as well as up-to-date computer skills, but my last company dealt with businesses and individuals on six different continents. This job was made for me.
I was called in for interview and testing. The interviewer was amazed at how well I did in the general knowledge tests; they don’t teach that stuff any more. I took skills tests too and did well in every one. The interviewer scheduled me to talk to the person who would be my supervisor.
She phoned me once, to confirm our appointment, and I thought we would hit it off well. So I went in to see her, and as soon as she caught sight of me, the job description changed – to something I was not yet qualified for. (Forget that they had said they would train me, or that I had been willing to take entry-level pay because the job was so interesting.) Absolutely nothing else mattered, because this young thing had decided I was too old. Of course she didn’t actually use those words, because they're actionable; but she said everything else to prove it.
That’s it. I’ve given up. I’m tired of fighting the system. I’ll drag along temping a while longer, and then I’ll just retire. I don’t owe any job anything.
