The Worst Job Interview Ever
Photo of my little sister by my cousin Kevin for LAist, to represent the fact that I was treated like a five-year-old!!! (And also how I currently feel.)
I would like to share a story with everyone about my morning. Last Friday, in my thrilling, endless job search, I stumbled upon a listing for a Marketing Director at a company that organizes conferences on subjects like digital media, the entertainment industry, etc. I would normally never apply for a director position, having no experience with that title, but the job description was almost exactly the same kind of online promotions as part of my previous job at a record label (writing newsletters, press releases, mass emails). So I applied, what the hell. I fully expected to hear nothing back, and wasn't all that thrilled about promoting conferences anyway, but hey, the salary was good.
A few hours later and I got an email from a woman at the company asking me to come in for an interview Monday. I responded that I certainly could, and then found out in an AIM conversation with my former coworker that someone had just called her as a reference about the same job. So they were definitely interested.
This morning I drove to Culver City (which took an hour) and found myself in a super quiet, dingy office (it had that school principle's office feel), where I was told the woman with whom I was supposed to meet was not there yet, but that they would "find someone to speak to me", so I had to seat. About 15 minutes later, a balding, smarmy-looking guy comes out and says so-and-so is still not there, but he guessed I was there about the graphics? I said no, marketing. (But I'm glad I could pass for a graphic designer.) He was totally bemused by this but lead me back into his office and sat there smugly reading my resume. He commented patronizingly on my Creative Writing degree and said that he was a writer himself, and I thought "Uh oh... Bitter, failed author alert..."
For everything he asked, I had a pretty good answer, and everything he mentioned about the job, I had done at the label since 2004, so I expected him to end by nodding his head and saying they would get back to me. Instead he declared that this was a director position and he was looking for someone a bit more "seasoned". (Funny, why was I called in then? Everything is clearly dated on my resume, including my college graduation in 2001.) He did mention that they might need some freelance writers to help out, however, which might be a good idea for me, so that I could "gain some more experience". Gee thanks! I answered politely that I'd have to think about it and then, as we were winding down, he said again that it might be a good idea for me since he "guessed [the label] was my first position out of college"!!!!
I almost threw my purse at him. Seriously, I'm approaching 30. To not have worked from 2001 until 2004 would've been a magical feat. That son of a !@%$# took one look at me and hated it that I was a young person who thought she had writing ability. I was obviously qualified, just not old and bitter!! Being pretty professional myself, I shook his hand politely and walked out. Then I went home and emailed the woman back:
"Thanks very much for not bothering to show up for my interview today, submitting me to the condescension of the dickhead in the back office. I'm glad you're working for him and not me."
(Okay, I didn't really. But I'm still considering it.)