There are some people, the kind that answer telephone, that are just plain wierd!
Today I have been ringing around potential employers.
Employer #1's secretary answered the phone. 'Hello I said, I'd like to speak to Mrs. Bla de Bla', 'She's away on holiday' (no can I take a message, no she'll be back tomorrow/next week/next month).
'Ok, I'm calling about the position you are currently advertising.'
'WHAT? YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO CALL HERE!! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO CALL HR AND ASK FOR AN APPLICATION PACK. YOU'RE NOT TO CALL HERE!!!' she wailed. The poor woman seemed so distressed that I had somehow transgressed the laws of job applications, I didn't even bother to point out, well this is the number on the ad and Mrs Bla de Bla is the person it says to speak to for informal enquiries. I gave up and rang the HR answer phone service. Apparently they put something in the post.
Anyway, Employer #2 was able to put me through to Mr. Bla de Bla. And I said, 'Yes, I'm really interested, tell me some more.' So he waffles for a bit and then says, 'What are your experiences?' So I say, 'Well my experience is mainly in child and adolescent mental health' to which he interrupts with a more patronising tone than a children's TV presenter, 'Are you aware that this is an ADULT service'
'Er yes,' I say, 'that's why i'm interested. I'd like to get experience with a different client group to strengthen my clinical psychology training application. I'm sure that many of the skills I've gained in child are very much transferable.'
Yeah right!
There are some strange people at the end of telephones.
If you pick up a phone today - BEWARE - you might have to talk to one of them.
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10 comments:
Or you may BE one of them! :)
Were these jobs in the Health Service?
Me - wierd?!?! I'm insulted by the suggestion I tell you, insulted :P
Martin - where else specialises in such rudeness :) Indeed, these jobs are in our beloved NHS - NHS mental health no less, gotta love it!
Well... when you want the voice of sanity on the other end, call me... Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha... :D ...
Oh deary me...
Hey, email me the numbers... I'll phone... "I want that job, please..."
"What are your qualifications..."
"I have ADHD..."
"I mean your education and work qualificatins..."
"Ummmmm, let me see, ain't got none. Don't need to study ADHD, got it meself? Can I commute from New York? Does the job have bennifits... like ice-cream with lunch? Can I bring my pets? Can you help me find pets? Is it a nice place to work? Can I have a big desk? and a teliphone? Can I still draw cartoons? Can I call New Zealand on the phone from work? Can I have friends over? Can Amanda and Jeff and C.A. and Ryan and Rob and Genie and John Edminister, and Richard Accetta Evans, and (the list goes on for ten more at least...) all come over for an interview... and playtime and...."
Oh PLEASE send me the number!!!!!!!!
Lorcan and Justplain and the Gray Avenger ( all dancing a jig around me desk )
PS Yes there is a full moon...
Tin foil hat... that is what I recomend...
wearing mine...
lor
Darling Lorcan, you can get lots of numbers yourself if you look up the www.nhs.uk/jobs. Call 'em all! Then you can report back on the wierdest conversations you've had :)
Indeed. If you go the NHS and don't go through HR you're likely to get a reaction like that. I met a lady today who starts her job next week, but doesn't know which day, what hours or where. It's absolute chaos...
Shall we have a sweepstake on whether I get paid next week?
I applied for a job with the NHS once. the offered me the interview.
it clashed with an A-level exam.
I phoned HR, who said "okay, we'll forward your details on to the department. give them a call, let them know you're still interested.
I did, and they said "call HR and ask them to forward your details.."
"done that"
"well, do it again, because they haven't."
so i did, and they thought i'd insulted their honour, and promised they HAD passed them on. at which point I gave up.
And, in time, I got a better paid job in a hospital. A private mental health hospital, with a view of the NHS one I applied to.
The catch is, mine hasn't finished being built yet, and I'm not a porter I'm a labourer, and I don't help people I install roof insulation, and the healthcare won't be free, it will cost a fortune.
The plus side is, most of us who work there lack sanity, so when we finish building it, they are having a lock-in...
Thanks for the warning! I'm be on my guard.
Dear Lora:
Mooses (Meese? Moopie? ) don't need to be on guard so much on the phone, it is on the way to job interviews that a Moose has to be careful. Many of your fellows have run-ins with cars. I am not sure why, but you may notice there are signs where you may cross, and many (pl. of moose ) choose to ignore, or just don't notice ... and cross in front of fast moving vehicals.
I would also avoid job offers in Northern Quebec if I where you, in hunter gatherer Indian communities, and I wont tell you why, other than to say... don't eat anything but the veggies if you find yourself in that part of the world.
Your photo is quiet nice, reminds me of a friend of mine who used to hang around with this squirl... great one for the puns... I don't wish to imply that all Moose know each other, but... do you know Bullwinkle? I really loved his early movies. There was a moose on Northern Exposure, didn't have a large speaking part, well, hardly a speaking part at all, in fact, now that I think about it, the part was only walking through the town during the opening credits... and there you go, not at a moose crossing...
all the best
lor
PS I worked for years in Moose country but never saw a Moose in person ... not even in a zoo long story... may put it on my blog this week for ya's...
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