Pen-Elayne on the Web

Relearning Curve

Just back from my first visit to "Employment Agency Row," which is actually not a row as much as a specific area, centered approximately right between the New York Public Library's main branch and Grand Central Station, where I paid a five-minute visit to someone who had nothing to offer me. In the 6+ years I've been gainfully employed I've forgotten how dehumanizing and draining something like this can be - why I couldn't have just e-mailed him attachments of their application and my résumé I have no idea. Okay, I have a little idea, they want to make sure you're presentable and well-spoken and prompt, so you have to at least make one personal appearance, but honestly, recruiters - why put up these Hotjobs and Monster and Career Builder listings in the first place if you don't really have anything remotely resembling them when I set foot in your office? Doesn't it just waste my time and yours?

Ah well, regardless of this expected frustration it was a gorgeous day to walk around midtown, and I revelled in the sun after almost a week of gloom and rain. I found the Internet phone (see previous post) on the southwest corner of 43rd and 5th, but the screen was blank and there were no instructions anywhere so I didn't want to take a chance on losing my money. And I'm also grateful for the chance to fill out apps again because it's reminded me of the sorts of things prospective employers look for besides skills and stable work history and all that stuff that's on the résumé anyway. Two things I'd completely forgotten about were business references and salary history. So I put in calls to the appropriate people to gather info on the latter (it was very cool to call my former employer and get the voice mail of a person I remembered!), and sent out e-mails this morning to five high-level execs I've known during my tenure at this job asking if I could cite them as refs. Three of them e-mailed back almost immediately saying "sure," and one (a lawyer based in Washington DC) even offered to get me an interview at his firm's NY offices! Eris works in mysterous ways - you see, I know it was her today because when I got into the elevator to go outside only the buttons "5" and "17" were mysteriously lit up...