Pen-Elayne on the Web

Relearning Curve, Part 2

Following up on last Friday's post, I'm starting to remember more reasons I hate searching for a new job. Today's lesson, children, is "Caveat, um, Agency." Seems that some unscrupulous employment agencies, particularly small ones with no real clout or standing, have a tendency to misrepresent themselves on the phone with potential marks, leading those marks to believe they're being interviewed by actual employers. Yes, I was that mark today. I suppose I should have realized I was going to an agency when (1) I couldn't find a thing about the company online, and (2) they gave me an address right around "Employment Agency Row." So during my second "interview" at an agency that only consists of two people, I had the temerity to ask the woman for a business card. Her look could have melted stone. In a quiet, furious voice, she informed me that the interview was not over. I should have shot back, "You're not an employer, so this isn't an interview, it's only a screening to see if you can fit this big round peg in your little square holes and make yourself a chunk of change as commission." Instead I apologized. That's me, go along to get along. Damn, that's an hour of my life I'll never have back (and, thank goodness, ten minutes of my life spent exorcising it on my blog!). So the moral is, kids, when you're called about an interview, the first question you should ask the caller is whether she or he represents a placement agency or an actual employer. If it's the former, and it's the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and your boss isn't in and you're going home early, agree to the "interview" if you want to but for God's sake don't knock yourself out, wear jeans.