World of Mayja

My fellow colleague, the other Special Agent, and I had a long discussion this holiday weekend about our jobs. We realized that our situation at work was, at best, horrible. We did not have a contract or a pay structure. "It's a work in progress," our boss said at the beginning and he made assurances that he would have something in place very soon.

This morning we confronted him stating that we would like to see our contracts before we continue our work. He got defensive, and began to describe how sales contracts normally are; listing charge-back clauses and a bunch of total garbage. His contract would be different. "This contract will protect both you and me. Mine is in my head."

I told him that I'm not a mindreader, so I would appreciate it if he could put his contract onto paper. That got him upset. He began to accuse us of lacking the commitment for this job. He showed his commitment to us by investing his time and energy into us, but we were not returning the favor and thus we were not loyal employees.

Wow. I've never heard such bullshit.

Needless to say, we are no longer Special Agents.

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"You're an intellectual."

I never thought that being an intellectual could cost me a job opportunity.

I interviewed for a marketing position in April for a rental property company that wanted to build an Internet presence. I found out in early May that they had chosen someone else for the job; someone they felt was a better fit. As it turned out, that person lasted two weeks before he quit stating that the position was too stressful.

Now that statement alone rattled me a bit. When I considered the job, it did not sound too stressful and in fact it sounded like fun! The recruiter had called me back for reconsideration and to review some of the changes they made to the job description after this other person left.

During this second interview, it was as an enjoyable a conversation as it was the first time around. Yet, I could tell that the recruiter was struggling with something. She still wasn't convinced that I would be the best person for the job. Her concern was that my customers (current and potential renters) were not as high a caliber as I was. "You have a college degree, and these are mostly blue collar workers," she explained.

I can see the possible reasons why this could be a problem: you'll get bored with the position easily, your intelligence will not be rewarded properly by the low salary or, most importantly, the challenges of reaching and communicating with your audience.

As a marketer, it is my job to know how to address, capture and retain ANY audience. If I am such an intellectual, wouldn't it make sense that I would have the know-how to find the niche, the slogans, the terminology and visuals to engage these customers? Not only am I smart, but I'm eager to put my intelligence to the test!

What is so ironic about this is that I was nervous that I might not be able to bring enough experience to the position since I have never worked with marketing rental properties. I knew that I had to build up my own confidence and remember that with my level of intelligence I should be able to handle the challenges of marketing to this audience. And I was so convincing to my potential employer that she felt that I was too much of an intellectual for the job.

Frankly, I am dumbstruck by this scenario.

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Image by assbach via Flickr

It's infuriating when you're in a hurry and everyone in front of you... isn't.

I had an interview scheduled for 9am this morning. It takes 5-10 minutes tops to reach downtown and park. I left the house running at 8:58am.

I must have cursed the names of five major automotive brands (VW, Saab, Ford, Honda and Kia) along the way because that was the only way to identify each individual in my way.

These people were literally driving in their own worlds with their own rules of the road. Some zig-zagged across the lanes while others would line up with each other and just crawl.

Most would say that it's my fault for falling behind schedule, but not this time. My interviewer had promised to email me the time/place for the interview on Friday afternoon.

Well, he didn't. And I had to catch him on the phone at 8am this morning to confirm that time and place.

By the time I got to my interview, I was running 7 minutes late (it took me 9min to get there). The good news is that it wasn't a one-on-one, and he had already begun talking with the other candidate.

Everything went well and I felt confident as I left the building, but I still had that residual "ARGH!!!" feeling grinding in the back of my teeth.

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A bizarre first topic, I'll admit. But this is something that irked me this morning for some reason and this is certainly the place to mention it!

I like eggs - real eggs, not this Egg Beater/Egg White crap. Granted, I see the health benefits associated with both of these products. However, the idea of choosing an "egg product" over the real deal just puts me off. Not to mention, they cost more at the restaurant! And to be honest, every penny counts when both of the bread winners of the house are unemployed. The extra $.75 for egg beaters/whites adds up fast.

Egg Beaters are good for one thing at a restaurant: scrambled eggs. Personally, I'm an over-medium type of gal and love the process of dipping my rye toast into the center. Scrambled eggs have their place, and I'll enjoy a serving now and then. But when they come in the Egg Beater variety, there's something missing. It's a mass of pale yellowish "egg". *shudder* And they don't taste right. Something's off no matter how you try to conceal it with Red Hot.

What's interesting is how the company describes Egg Beaters on their website,

Ack! So, they take out the good stuff and put it back with a chemical version. I guess if you're an egg fanatic and must have them on a daily basis, have at it. They do reduce your fat/cholesterol intake. But for me, there is no substitute for the real thing.

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