2.9.2002

Verio - now on F*****company.com!

Memories...

I remember when I interviewed with Verio. It was a phone screen some months before all the dot-bomb meltdowns. I talked to some British guy, who said he'd been with the company for a while - at least six months. During the entire time we talked, all he did was discuss vague generalities, use the latest buzzwords, and rhapsodize about all the places that he had worked before! Never once did he mention things like security, web hosting, or e-commerce - things that are a substantial part of Verio's core business. He was so boring and clueless that I eventually tuned out completely to what he was saying. I never even attempted to sell him on my technical skills or professional background. After forty-five minutes of his pointless yakking, he invited me to a second interview with Verio - saying that he was very interested in my background and that I had the kind of skill set Verio was looking for. What - complete disinterest and apathy? I made the appointment with them, but of course, never showed up. If a director in the company could not even do so much as recite their main product lines, then I did not need to be working there. I have never encountered such a clueless hiring manager in my life before or since. It serves NTT right for not doing sufficient diligence.

The best part of all is how recruiters regarded Verio. Last year, this aggressive bitch at Atlantis Partners was pushing me for the names of the hiring managers and companies that I'd been interviewing with - claiming that she needed them in order to "not duplicate my job search". Why should I provide her with free leads? So, I mentioned that I had been interviewing with Verio. She just about fell all over herself to find out whom, when, which department. I guess clueless companies deserve to be serviced by the sheep pimps of this world. Hope Verio's checks fail to clear!

It is nice when a story has a happy ending...

2.7.2002

"Title: Network Support Administrator
Compensation: Salary and options commiserate w/ experience"

I think they meant commensurate, but if this is the kind of position where misery immediately comes to mind...

This gem from monster.com, 2/7/02

2.5.2002

massively bummed...

the leather fairy is having to move to seattle. she's one of my oldest and dearest friends. her wife is in a union job over at qwest, and got 90 days' notice that either her position was no longer going to exist and she'd get severance, or she could find another job within qwest that would take her. what was she to do? leather had told her umpteen bazillion times to get more technical training, especially while qwest was still obligated to pay for it under the union contract, but she never really did have the time and it just didn't happen. so they were just not very prepared for this 90 day thing. even with job fairy assistance, i doubt she could have found another job that paid as much as her union one did. and she had nearly 12 years in with qwest... you don't want to throw that away if you can help it. so seattle was the first place that had openings and would accept her transfer. they move in three weeks... they have to sell their house, find an apartment in a city they've never been in before, pack their belongings, leave their relatives and friends... all in a fortnight's time. leather says she will find a job when she gets to seattle. she is really putting a good face on this. she's been such a trouper all along. first, they'd been planning this dream wedding for months, and 9/11 happened only a couple of days before. they didn't have to cancel it, but it wasn't the occasion of unrestrained joy that it should have been. her relatives barely were able to make it from halfway across the country in time. and now this... just when they started to get settled into their dream home... my heart is just so heavy for the two of them. however, they have faith, and so do i. we will all get though this together, despite something as trivial as distance.

i'm still going to miss her terribly though.

"Thank you for your interest but in today's buyers market, we have many candidates with apparently closer qualifications." - a recruiter with TRC

Well, if it's really such a buyer's market, and if you're so busy placing so many candidates, how come you have the time to send me a sarcastic little rejection letter?

"It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt." - Mark Twain

The same goes for e-mail. IT's a fairly small world, and Denver is smaller still. The point I'm trying to make is that if you're going to throw attitude, pick a big enough place to do it... and Denver doesn't qualify.

BTW, the answer to the above question of protocol is delete. That's right. If a recruiter sends you ads for out of state positions and you are not going to relocate - don't flame - just delete. It's the same for a recruiter. If you get a resume that isn't close, it's because companies tend not to know what to ask for in the first place and job ads are just wish lists, anyway. Besides, job seekers figure you'll have other jobs that they might fit. Just delete them if they're not what you need. If they still need a job, they'll apply for something else later.

You don't want to make a permanent enemy... of one of the job fairies. Because you never know where we'll turn up next.