www.womanthismonth.com 79 July 2014 I am self-taught at a number of things; the ‘school of life’ is my teacher and constant companion. Ageing gracefully but surely, this modern dinosaur recently found himself in the position of hiring new staff and feeling sorry for both the applicant and myself. My last job interview was a decade ago. It was a group exercise, followed by a psychological exam and then a one-on-five battle of smarts. In the group exercise, I was lucky to be paired with half wits. I was the shining example of pure luck. In the seven pages of something called a “psychological examination for compliance with company standards”, I was amused by the somewhat stupid questions, which were full of ‘what if’ and ‘what would you do’. I assume that every single person on the planet would give a different answer, therefore how could they ever score the examination. My future employers answered this by saying that I was indeed correct, but that every person that wanted the position I was applying for would answer similarly and in conformity of the corporation and not with the arrogance of the individual. At that moment I realised I had no interest in big corporations. I answered their questions true to my life’s work — with absolute and bluntest of honesty. Somehow, I still got the job. Even though I told the truth, it seemed those interviewing me lied to myself and 300 other staff, ruining the company and bankrupting it within the year. We should have been pyschtesting our employers. And there you have it, the point for the month. With all the dishonesty in the world, corporate shenanigans and financial rip-offs we have seen over the past decade or so, why do we stand by and allow others to judge us? It’s just a job for cash to send home after all. Our employers are so worried about trusting us, that we forget to ask if we can actually trust them. A job is a job; careers are few and far between. I used to want to be an astronaut, but NASA belonged to another country and my country of origin could not afford an entry in the space race. A career today is defined by simply staying in one job too long. So almost 50, I’m interviewing others. My attitude is to employ anyone silly enough to apply. You wouldn’t apply if you did not need work, right? However, my employer seeks to complicate matters by rigorously asking some of the stupidest questions. We need journalists; not brain surgeons. Why the dramatic charade? What’s your favourite animal, colour, day of the week or worse still, “If you were a brick in a wall, which brick would you be?” My favourite animal is a snake as everyone is scared and leaves them alone. My favourite colour is red as it denotes anger and people leave angry people alone. I love Thursday as it’s the last day of the week and then I can be alone and “I’d be the last brick who was not needed to complete the wall and hurl myself to break the wall down.” But why should anyone have to answer questions to strangers whom they have no idea if they can trust? Smart questions, tricky statements and psych testing are one thing. But is it not better to employ the eager, the hungry and the deserving? In this particular instance, I need a writer who can do shorthand, submit on deadline and live in a cubicle for the remainder of their days. Those of us who have chosen this for a career should be thankful that the younger generation are silly enough to still think working for a living is better than staying at school for as long as possible and that careers are still chosen. he says by JAMES CLAIRE My philosophy on life has always been what Theodore Roosevelt said: Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell them, “Certainly I can!” Then get busy and find out how to do it. Job VS Career
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