Your Life Might be a Joke When...

I wanted to wait a little longer to post this, but I'm getting depressed looking for jobs and although this is a tad bit of a depressing story, it's hilarious looking back.

A little over a month ago I had the worst phone interview. Ever. This HR person at this company pretty much called me to tell me my internships sucked, my resume sucked, I wasn't used well in my internships, and that I basically sucked. Thanks. While I was very upset, I decided to use this is as motivation. I would find an internship or job and show them (I mean, not really because I honestly hope to never come in contact with them or that company ever again).

So I went on a search for legit-looking ad agencies here in Tyler, because while a job in Fort Worth is the end goal, it might just be easier to get an internship/job here and then work my way back there. So I sent my resume, references, and a semi-generic cover letter to a handful of places that looked to be, by their websites, legit. I heard back from two. One wasn't hiring but said they'd keep my resume (sarcastic "I'm sure," here). The other wanted to interview me the next week.

So one Tuesday morning, I put my puppy in his crate, put on one of my favorite work/interview outfits and drove to this sketchy building connected to the back of a fast food restaurant. It's one of those building that just has offices in them, which isn't sketchy, but the people that work in these offices could be laundering money or something worse. I go in for my interview. The guy talks this "agency" up and tells me all about their endeavors (which I will save for another post because it's just too good). It sounds good to me. He hires me as an intern with the promise of what I consider a "commission" if I sell anything/bring in any business.

I go to work the next day. I get the puppy all set up in the kitchen so he has room to roam a little, has his water bowl, his crate, and a few toys. I spend all morning on the phone. Ok, not totally unusual. An "intern"-like person will have to surely work their way up. But I'm not given a script. No one makes a few phone calls for me to learn from. I'm just thrown there - on my own phone - to talk to all of these random businesses about this ad agency's magazine project while they play with a baby in the other office room they've rented in this building. I do this all morning. Then I decide it's lunch time and leave. They don't tell me to be back at any certain time, but I say I'll be back in an hour because I think that's pretty standard for lunch time.

I spent my lunch hour crying. My mom made me go back. And I spent my afternoon making more phone calls. MY "BOSS" FELL ASLEEP. FOR TWO HOURS. WHILE I WAS TALKING TO HIM. His phone rang at least 17 times. I lost count. His ring tone was some Drake or Lil Wayne song that finds it necessary to use expletives every other word. Before his nap, he spent a good 30 minutes trying to find me on facebook - thank God and Mark Zuckerberg for the option intense privacy settings. Finally about 4, my day was over.

I lied about going to an interview the next day to get out of going to work and was already off the hook for Friday. I spent the weekend mulling over what they could possibly be a front for and whether or not I wanted a job bad enough to feel like I needed to work for these people and gain ZERO experience. The answer now allows me to sit here looking for jobs and e-mailing my resume to more people in hopes of getting some real experience (AKA I still have no job).

So that next Monday, I called my "Boss." When the phone was answered, I heard a message something to the effect of," Hello, the Verizon number you are trying to reach is no longer in service." A few weeks later I learned my friend had worked there. FOR HALF A DAY. She felt like they were just as sketchy as I do. And they had a larger office building a few months back when she worked all of four hours for them.

So, your life might be a joke when: you spend all day on the phone so your "bosses" can play with a baby, your "boss" can take a TWO HOUR nap while you talk to him, your "boss"'s number gets disconnected over the weekend so you can't actually quit, and one of your friends only worked there for half a day before she quit. But hey, at least I made it a full day? HAH. MY life was certainly a joke that day and I'm back on the hunt for a job.