The lamest explanation in history for not hiring someone:

I had an interview on Friday for a receptionist position at a chiropractors' office. It went reasonably well, it was short, but we seemed to connect (at least as much as possible in 10-15 minutes) in a good way. My employment agency woman said she would call later that day. When she still hadn't called at 5.20 pm, I figured I would call, maybe she had just forgotten. She said that none of the four candidates met their criteria, which was fine, because not everyone is right for every job...and then I asked if they had given any reasons. She said, "I think this is really unfair, but the main thing they said about you - no, the only thing they said about you - and the woman who was immediately after you was that when you came into the room and sat down, you sat up very straight and had good posture. They weren't sure that you would fit into their more relaxed office environment." That is a load of shit in my opinion. If you don't want to hire me because you think I'm too inexperienced, or because I am too young, or because I'm under/overqualified, that is just fine with me. I may not agree, but I can't argue with that. But to say that I sat up too straight? Ridiculous!

So tell me, why should we hire you?

That question is fast approaching the top of my "least favorite interview questions" list.

The job search experience has been, on the whole, positive. While it it certainly not something I will be doing just for fun in the coming years, it is good for my self esteem to hear complete strangers telling me how smart and capable I am, without even having seen what I can really do! I tend to think that I'm a rather average, if eccentric and quirky, person. Apparently, I have been wrong in that assumption. The woman I was working with today was an absolute gem. She, and just about everyone in their office, was so impressed with my personality and educational background and my all-important Test Scores (the MS Word, MS Excel, and typing proficiency tests). Most of the time I feel that my lack of Real work experience, for a Real employer (You're always Real to me, Kristi, you know that!), with a Real salary, and lasting for more than 9 months at a stretch, is all anyone sees when they look at my resume. I discovered something interesting and rather refreshing today: there are employers that care enough about their companies to hire good people, in spite of a lack of background, and train them, rather than just hiring someone because they have qualifications on paper. I will be so delighted when I find a job that I will feel good about getting up every day to go to. And not only because it will mean that I'm done filling out application forms (for now!), although it does astound me how many times one can write the same information about one's previous employers and still not have memorized it all. To be able to earn a living while making someone else's day brighter is what would make a job good for me. To know that I've made a difference, to even one person. And so I go to my job interview tomorrow with my best smile and crossed fingers, all of the wonderful things that have been said about me ringing in my ears (and hopefully theirs too!)

But don't you worry, I won't let all of the praise go to my head, I promise.

not a great photo, but not bad for one taken from a phone...

The very beginning, a very good place to start...

After talking to a friend online today, I discovered the wonders of the weblog. Up to this point, I had been skeptical of the idea, but who knows, I may come over to the dark side...This is definitely more pleasant than mass emails. Happy Tuesday!