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Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Interview Confusion

My Dear Reader,

The post-graduation job hunt is not going very well! I've been pulling my hair out for the past few weeks and months, but I got my first interview yesterday for a glass/window place. It was great just to have an interview--after sending in so many resumes, and after searching through so many job listings. Of course, the job was going to be an hour away, so it was a long shot, but interview experience is worth the trouble.

When I got there, however, it was a little different of an experience than I had anticipated. The interviewer looked through my resume and immediately told me that I should try to work at a bookstore. Odd, I thought, that he had given up on me so quickly, and then something came out of his mouth that I never expected.

"So I see that you got your graduate degree* at BYU, so it seems that it would be obvious--or maybe not so obvious--that you're LDS," he said. I nodded. "So you have your sabbath on Friday night and Saturday . . ." he continued.

WHAT? What the what? "No," I said, "I think that you're confusing me with Seventh Day Adventists or Jews. My sabbath is Sunday." He backed down quickly, and I was grateful that I didn't get caught up in a "Yes, you do" "No, I don't" belief-battle as I have been in many a time before. Still, it was a weird interview. He ended up offering me a job as a door-to-door window salesperson, which wasn't what I applied for. I thought back to the month I spent as a struggling telemarketer (i.e. soul-seller), and I decided that I'm going to have to turn the job down.

At least I got a story out of it, right? Feel free to post your own weird interview or belief misunderstanding story below!

Regards, best wishes, and employment,

-Cecily Jane

*I don't know why he got the impression that I have a graduate degree, and he didn't seem to understand me when I tried to tell him that I have a bachelor's, he kept going on about this graduate degree that I don't have.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I remember getting an interview to be a knife salesman. It was like door-to-door, only it was set up so that instead you exploit all your friends by making them listen to your sales pitch. I couldn't do that, either, so I left before the second part of the interview (it was a group interview).

Anonymous said...

it's cuz you're so smart and intelligent looking :)

Anonymous said...

Sorry I'm so late commenting on this, but of course he thought you'd make a good door-to-door sales-person, you're mormon, isn't that what those guys on bikes in suits are basically doing? Selling a church? Clearly he understands the mormon religion well. (Yes, that is meant to be read as highly sarcastic).