Today consisted of a yoghurt, a small portion of potato wedges, a cheese and onion pasty and some chocolate ice cream. Mmmm healthy, NOT. I did walk a fair bit around Putney though so lets say 2 mile of walking today.
So why such a bad day you ask? Well now I have a job interview WOOHOO the title of the job “Office assistant” for a music management company. Right up my street you would think? Me too!
Now first palaver was they never emailed me their address so I had to google it and google said they where in Wandsworth, so I booked myself a train return to Wandsworth (cheaper booking online than on the day if you go to trainline.co.uk). So I decide to call once I get to Vauxhall to check the address is right. Computer says no, the address is NOT right. They are in Putney – by Putney Bridge Tube Station apparently. So I get the train to Putney and walk to Putney Bridge station and ring the company again to ask what street they where on and the building number. Errr okay WHY is this address they are giving me RIGHT BY Putney station!? WHY have I walked all the way down to and over Putney Bridge when I didn’t need to! Doh. I get over it and head in for my interview.
At 10 past (my interview was at 12) reception was still empty so I actually rang the office to speak to somebody to say I was there… silly really when they where down the hall and should have been expecting me. Turned out the people interviewing me where busy until 12:40 so I just had to sit and wait.
They arrive and I go in for my interview. Great, this IS my time to shine and this job WILL be mine. Until they start asking me what relevance any admin work I have done had to their job, I give my answer and the male dismisses it. He honestly said “administration is hardly something you need to learn about is it?” Well actually thus far I have found good admin is essential to do a good job but I let it slide. Now it’s the woman’s turn. First she picked holes in the fact a lot of my CV was unpaid work and I pointed out I have just graduated and so I took on as much unpaid work as I could find going through uni to boost the CV. She is NOT impressed. Apparently they need somebody with “REAL” experience. I’m sorry, what exactly is going on here?! I have been an assistant co-ordinator for a national singer songwriter competition and liaised with companies MUCH bigger than this one, so why is the work I carried out not “real” because I didn’t get paid!? I worked full time and worked my ass off – so they can go swivel.
I change the subject and start to talk about a festival I did marketing for. The woman then says “oh it was only a little college thing then?” Oh yes 48 acts over 12 nights, and a capacity of 450 a night, its only a little thing… which I believe we spent approx £25k marketing? Your right, I have no clue what I am doing and I haven’t managed to do any “REAL” work, I really should have figured this out by now.
Then we get to the real arsey moment. “How is your knowledge of HTML?”, I know the basics, I can update, text and photos, but I’m no web designer. “oh well we are really looking for somebody who can update our websites and edit and embed videos, photos etc etc”. I’m sorry hold up….. THIS is the job description:
You must be able to pick up the necessary skills quickly and use them effectively and efficiently. duties will include:
collecting & delivering post
office stock maintenance
conducting email shots
press release writing
liasing with radio & club DJ's, journalists and artists
updating artist websites and profiles
compiling lists and databases
song plugging & liasing with labels
artist diary management
adhoc duties
All candidates must be computer literate with a firm grasp of MS Office and the internet, Photoshop, CD burning and archiving. Good understanding of html, video and audio editing and graphic design is highly advantageous.
Firstly let’s forget they have spelt liaising wrong. Now am I wrong, does THAT say graphic designer who is willing to do some office work? DOES IT!? I again explained that I can edit websites, use Photoshop etc but I am not a web designer and I was expecting this role to be more to do with the artist management and promotion side of things. Computer says no…. again. “Oh well you would do other stuff too, but it would just mainly be web work”. Riiiight, they have made it perfectly clear by this point this job is NOT what I have applied for. At this point the man starts to tell me “you know if you live in Liverpool, London is much more expensive”, yes I am aware of that, I lived in High Wycombe for a year, so although a little cheaper, it wasn’t a kick in the arse off London prices. The man laughs and says London is much more expensive. I happily tell him the cost of my flat in Wycombe and the current flat prices in London…. They aren’t much different and the price for my Wycombe flat is 3 years old so I am sure it costs more now anyway.
I wouldn’t have minded such a disastrous interview if I had tried to lie in my cover letter and CV, but I didn’t. I was as honest with them about my ability as I am with myself. I am good with computer usage, I know a fair bit more about web design than most and THAT IS a “good understanding” as they put it.
What a friggen waste of my time and money going to that interview.
So THAT my friends, is why I had a pasty and wedges on the train from Euston to Liverpool and ice-cream tonight while watching Eastenders.
Still… tomorrow is another day and no doubt will be filled with some fat fighting (care of fitness coach) and healthy eating. Oh, and job applications a plenty!
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