Interviewing & common courtesy ... the Art of the "Callback"

This post is a venting post ... I will keep the names of the biz & people out of it .. who knows when you will need to fall back on something in the future!! ....

I had a job interview set up for June 14th 2007 for a Design position. I have been doing kitchen design work for the last 4 & half years, it is a career path that I wanted to follow (up until recently.. that is for another post when I have the energy)!

Well I went to the interview & it turned out that the Manager that I met with had traveled in the same "orange" circles, I knew/was privy to more than the Mngr. knew of me & my "orange" times. The Mngr's times, I knew, consisted of being terminated a year & a half ago for inappropriate conduct and some other issues that are not worth mentioning, but is seems that the tales that were spun put the Mngr. in a nice position i am sure the compensation package he/she was able to get makes life comfortable ...

I met & spent 2.5 hours .. mostly talking about the exploits of the Mngr. & how GREAT a job he/she did & how well loved they were @ the "Orange" locations ... and how he/she could make me a better designer because of my relatively "new" experience @ designing Kitchens when it came to his/her 17+ yrs of designing!! I was assured I was"OK" but under his/her guidance .. I would be great .. in time!!

I keep my cool ... was polite ... answered the questions that were asked of me ... to the best of my ability, honestly & did not overstate my self or my qualifications ... I was just looking for a chance to have a job that I loved & a company that I could work for & eventually retire from .. that was my goal as a Designer!! Well at the end of the 2.5 hours .. clients came a calling with out an appointment .. so we cut it short & I was told that he/she felt comfortable to send me the Corporate office to meet with the Owner of the company for a second interview .. & due to the holiday coming up that I should expect a call after the Holiday .. most likely .. some people were taking vacations!! No problem ... I am patient .. works well for me ... annual party at our hose for the 3rd of July!!!

No worries man!

Lets fast forward ...

June 28th 2007 ...

Well, it is a more than a 2 weeks later & I have not heard from the "company" re: the position I interviewed for, no calls, no emails, checked all my voicemail boxes just in case .. nothing!! Hell I even emailed HR at the company's HQ to ask about the status of my second interview ... I got a "form" type response back .. " thank you for interest in our company .. we are still interviewing .." etc. etc. ... hmmmmmmmmmm ... strange, I will give it another week, after the 4th, maybe, we will see?!

fast forward #2 ...

July 25th 2007

Last week on the "dole" ... I decided to email the Manager ... just asking about if I am still a candidate for the position? Here is a portion of the email ...

" Dear Mike,

Thank You for expressing further interest in the position. However at this time we’ve decided hold off on bringing any new designers on board.

I will keep your resume on file for future reference. "

OK .. cool .. I can understand ... in the Northeast area of the US .. construction is very slow .. New Home Sales are bad ... the house across the street has been on the market since August 2005 ... remodeling is slowing .. Hell, I understand ... because I was laid of in Dec. of 2006 ( week before Xmas )!

Were you even going to let me know?? Was I going to get the courtesy of a phone call to let me know that the position was not going to be filled ... you were going to hold off until things "turned" ... anything?!?!?

Well ... I am pretty sure that I will be going back to school & my (almost)5 years in the Kitchen Design Industry is over, no NKBA CKD for me .. bummer!

NEXT!!!

The Road to History? ... Barry Bonds Chase

I was just checking my daily dose of he sports sites & my favorite MMA sites as well .. then I came across this article on cnn-si.com ... take a look real quick





http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/jonah_freedman/07/17/bonds.endorsements/index.html?cnn=yes





It got me thinking real quick ... I grew up loving the game of Baseball ... my mom was my coach during most of my 6 years as a Little League ... I had the disappointments of 1975 & every September since .. right up until 1994 ... I lost interest in Baseball because of the greed .. not so much the player astronomical salaries ... they get paid what the market bears!?!? You pay for season tix's ... pay for those T-Shirts ... replica jersey's ... Hat's ... Alternate Jerseys etc. etc. ... You get no right to bitch about how much A-Rod gets paid!!!





1994 ... they canceled the season ... Owners Greed! Players Greed?! All I know .. owners said that they would make a payment to the pension fund for the Old timers & Negro League players who had no pension or medical plans ... players threatened a strike ... owners said "we will do it right after the All Star break" ... Players showed up for the All Star Game ... payment was never made ...





August 1994, Players go on strike!!





September 1994, World Series ... canceled!!





First time since 1904 ... (WWI, WWII, the Great Depression & the earthquake of 1989 ... all had world series ...) that there was no World Series?!?!? I lost interest in baseball ... yeah I would watch high lights on ESPN .. McGwire & Sosa was cool to watch ... 2004 the Sox's down 3-0 to the Yankees ... cool ... Sweeping the Cards .. even Cooler .. never thought I would EVER see the Sox's win the series in my life time ... Great times!!





Then .. I hear about the senate wanting to hear from some Players, Owners & the Asshat they call the Commissioner!! What a farce ... Mark McGwire ... here is some of his testimony!!!





{ While McGwire acknowledged "there has been a problem with steroid use in baseball," he responded to questions about his own involvement by saying, "I'm not here to discuss the past," or, "I'm here to be positive about this subject." }





I am not here to discuss the past???? Hello ... Wait .. here is another rocket scientist from Baltimore, MD ... Rafeal Palmiero





{ "Let me start by telling you this," Palmiero said in his opening statement, looking directly at Davis and pointing at the committee chairman with his index finger. "I have never used steroids, period." }





REEAAALLLLLYYYYY?!?!?!?!? Ahhhh care to revise your statement Mr. P.???







http://www.fanball.com/bb/article.cfm/ID.4267





Any way .. it is all messed up!!





Bonds is on his way to make his way into the record books ... I am guessing with an *-asterik ... like Roger Maris had ... he is about to break a record that has only been touched once since it stood ... Babe Ruth record stood for years until Hank Aaron shattered the record of 714 ... now bonds is ready to make his mark ... Who knows maybe A-Rod will beat Bonds eventual record ... one question comes to mind .... Hall of fame???





Baseball Hall of Fame ... Cooperstown, NY ... as rich in history as in tradition ... does Bonds automatically get a pass to get in? Ruth is there .. so is Aaron ... is the Hall about performance on the field only? Or does the integrity of the player come in to play?





There is a Grand Jury still sitting on whether or not bonds lied to a grand Jury about the Balco scandal ... if he is found guilty is he not eligible for the Hall? If he gets in ... shouldn't it make Pete Rose just as eligible?? I know he lied about gambling ... everyone knows he lied about gambling ... but does it take away from what he did on the field ... I do not see "Charlie Hustle" betting on himself to lose?!?!? No Way!!





Any way ... it is all messed up! Bonds goes on .. gets his place in history ...





I just hope EVERYONE speaks up & there is a big ol' * next to his mark in the record books There is one in my mind!!!




He is my vote for the Hall ... Baseball at it purest form ... This player will play all day ... give you 110% ... not take drugs ... would sign autographs all day long ... and he would do it for an Ice Cream cone after the day is over!!!

Thanks Douglas!!

You know it is funny ... I started to blog on my MySpace page & it was refreshing ... then it became more & more difficult to post something with all the error messages that would occur!! ... after spending 30 minutes writing something it became more & more depressing to have to worry about making the blog!??!?! ... so I had stopped ... now that I look back .. I was more happy getting it out than keeping it bottled up inside!! Then good old Doug Berger sends me a message on MySpace & ten hits me up with his current email & his Blog!! Just what I needed!!! Another chance to vent!! Another chance @ life??? sounded good .. not meant to be depressing ... life is good ... T.J. is getting more & more independent ( & defiant ) .. Baby Abigail is getting ready to crawl ... I just need to get a better job .... Kitchen Design has been great .. but I do not see a future in the building industry in the Northeast in the next 10-20 years!! It is time to go back to school ...