My job searching isn't off to a good start.
I was supposed to have my first post-college graduation interview today and it went … , well, it actually didn't go at all. I walked out completely disappointed and angry and feeling scammed.
A few weeks ago I applied for a job with the City of St. Petersburg — I won't say which job because I don't want the competition — and was delighted when I got a call a couple days ago to schedule an interview with someone I thought was the City of St. Petersburg. How could I have been mistaken, you ask? See the exchange below:
Stephanie: "I'm calling about a position we have available. Are you still looking for a position?"
Ben: "Weellllll, yyyess …" I said non-commitally. (At this point she hasn't told me where she is calling from. I get a lot of job offers to sell pest control services, cars and, ironically, insurance, and I suspected it was that type of call).
Stephanie: "You don't sound too sure about that."
Ben: "Well I am looking, but I just graduated from college on Saturday so I haven't really done a big search yet. Plus, I don't even know where you are calling from." (Here was the point at which a person with less underhanded leanings would have given me a company name, etc. Keep reading to see where the confusion lies.)
Stephanie: "I'm calling from St. Petersburg."
Ben: "You mean the City of St. Petersburg?"
Stephanie: "Yes
I realize that Stephanie had no way of knowing I had applied for a job with the City of St. Petersburg. She just got lucky that I was actually hoping to hear from someone who was calling from St. Petersburg — not the City, but the city — you know what I mean. So you can understand my confusion today when I couldn't find the place she sent me to — I was, after all, looking for an office of — that's right — St. Petersburg. After driving up and down Seminole Blvd. (within city limits according to Mapquest, but still: why would St. Petersburg have an office way out there? Not a giveaway, but certainly a red flag that was on my mind ever since Stephanie, if that is her real name, gave me the address), I finally found the place and … Damn! It belongs to United American Insurance Company (see above sentence regarding irony).
In my disbelief I actually parked and went in. A quick visual scan of the place confirmed that I definitely was not interviewing for the job I thought I was interviewing for. It was a small room with eight to 10 cubicles filed with a few young dudes in suits. One guy was asking another guy, who was obviously his superior, about a problem with a customer's policy (there may be problems for more than just one customer, as it turns out). I caught an unpleasant-smelling breeze from what I think was most likely a revolving door.
I asked and the woman at the desk by the front door said she was Stephanie. After getting my name she said she had some paperwork for me to fill out. I asked if it is for an insurance sales job and she confirmed that, yes, it is to sell insurance.
"Then don't bother, I'm not interested."
She asked me if I wanted Stephanie to take my name off the list (she lacks a firm grasp on the obvious, that one). I started to say "Aren't you Stephanie?" but then decided I just wanted to get out of there so I gave her a disgusted "Yes, please do" and walked out.
I could have said it much nicer over the phone a few days ago, had I been given the chance.
Back to the drawing board. Or the Monster job boards, anyway.
(Ben Fry just graduated from USF-St. Pete and completed an internship at Creative Loafing.)
This article appears in Oct 8-14, 2008.