To contact us Click
HERE
I just realized that I haven't written a blog post in nearly a year. A year. It's not like I haven't been looking for work in that time, but I haven't made it a full-time gig since I do have a life away from poring over job postings every waking minute.
But today is my 39th birthday. And I had what I thought was a good phone interview on Monday for a position that I was really qualified for. And then on my birthday, I got a punch in the gut when I received my latest rejection letter from the agency's HR director. It's a brief, two-paragraph affair which comes across as personal, yet is a form letter at heart.
My favorite bit is in the second graph where he starts off being nice to me "... your qualifications are impressive" and then closes with a kick to the crotch "...our needs would be best met by another candidate." Ouch. Why not be more straightforward and say "you suck"? If I am impressive, why don't even warrant a chance for a sit-down interview? I would rock that job big time. Part of it had to do with scripting videos, which I might not have a ton of experience with, but I could certainly come up with something superior and more entertaining than the single video the Texas County & District Retirement System put up on YouTube (See it here) which has a whopping 262 views in the four months it has been up there. To say it's dry would be an understatement. It's dull and pretty much word-for-word of what they have up on the website.
I know that it's a tough job market. Mr. Redd told me that they had 150 applicants and were doing phone interviews with "seven to 10 people." I felt fortunate that I got a call, and afterward, I felt confident that I had said and done everything to take me to the next step.
Here's what I hate about phone interviews: I wish HR people wouldn't ask for number rankings on people's skills. I am an honest person when they ask these questions, if I am not strong at something, I'll admit it. During this interview I was a nine/10 on anything having to do with publishing. I said I was an honest five on video based on the requirements laid out in the job description. It's not something that I have done professionally, but I am positive I could write a far more interesting script than what they've got out there.
This isn't the worst thing to happen to me on my birthday -- not by a long shot. That goes to the double-whammy that hit me back in 2007 where I was fired from the Central Kitsap Reporter and served a subpoena within a five-minute time span. It's going to take an act of God to top that.
Sean,Thank you for giving us the opportunity to consider you for employment with Texas County & District Retirement System. We were fortunate to have telephone screened a number of applicants with strong backgrounds such as yours. We appreciate your interest in our organization.Although your qualifications are impressive, we feel our needs would be best met by another candidate. We sincerely appreciate your interest in becoming associated with our agency and we wish you well in locating the opportunity you desire.Sincerely,David ReddDirector, Human ResourcesTexas County & District Retirement SystemNow, I am normally open to taking comments, but since the TCDRS won't take comments on its video, I thought I would do the same here.
