so maybe i'm more confrontational than the average bear. or maybe i'm just an impatient cunt. i dunno. however, back when i owned the gym people would come in all the time saying "hey! jamie, right? awesome, yeah so i was just in your area and wanted to drop by and talk to you about what my company is doing with crossfit gyms in your area - you're gonna love it!!" and it never failed to annoy me me. as i mentioned in the structure thread, my days were extremely regimented - mainly because i was juggling wayyyyy too many plates, single momming, and trying to keep it all together. showing up unannounced with something unsolicited was a great way to be told "leave your card. i'm busy, you didn't have an appointment, and i'm about to walk out the door/coach a class/do a private session/clean my gym/or one of the other countless things i had going on" and get absolutely zero face time with me. i'd try not to be rude about it, at first, but invariably, the unannounced guest would respond, "oh this won't take long, just give me five minutes". that was generally when i was less kind. "i'm sorry. i'm familiar with google, if there's something my gym needs i'll research it and reach out to the company i decide best fits our needs. have a good day." yeah it's snide and rude, but so is showing up unannounced and expecting me to sign a contract, give you money, or whatever else. to be fair - my irritation is probably because as crossfit was growing (is growing?) the number of companies trying to get in with the affiliate owners and make a buck is skyrocketing...the emails/phone calls/unannounced visits tend to pile up and blur together.
"gentlemen, by simply combining this bottle of chloroform with this sturdy nylon rope, you have yourself a party!"
one of the joys of working from home is that while you wait for code to compile and tests to run, you get to prep 24 individual servings of sangria for the weekend.
yeah, probably should have qualified my post by saying "this approach applies only if you're looking for a job." soliciters can get fucked, and i'm with you in that i'm probably more rude to them than most. when you're applying for a job, there's a good chance whomever you talk to is going to have at least some sympathy for you because they were in that exact same job-hunting position. hell, it's been over 10 years for me (the economy was different then) and i still remember what it was like. everyone has to start out somewhere. i guess every business has to start out somewhere too. but as far as door-to-door soliciting goes, that new business is much better served taking that money they'd spend on salespeople and spending it internally to improve their product/service. if it's good enough, i'll find you.
exactly. anybody that would take the time to come down in person and hand me a resume will get me to, at the least, accept it in person and shake their hand. they took the effort, it's only proper to respect that. if you don't, then fuck you.
it's the same (not actually) paradox of online dating -- sending generic messages allows you to reserve investment and talk to way more people, but people are much more likely to respond if you're willing to expend some energy and put yourself out there. on the flipside, when you do that and get radio silence, it's somewhat more discouraging and takes more time. i think my point is, make it clear that you're willing to put out to get what you want.
what's funny is, at least from what i've seen in person and heard (from respected sources), hiring is trending heavily back toward the "old-school" way of doing it, even though new-school social values and norms seem to still apply. for example: old school: show up in person with your resume and give a firm handshake. new school: but i don't give a flying fuck if your resume is on card stock (regular paper is easier on my shredder anyway), if you have tattoos or multiple piercings, or what you're dressed in so long as it doesn't look like you just woke up from a thunderbird binge. old school: anything more than 10 minutes late -- to allow for clock differences -- to the interview and there better be a damn good reason (you should have figured out the route beforehand and left early in case of traffic). new school: casual language is ok. even some light bsing and joking to let your guard down, so long as it does not go above the level of that set by the interviewer's dialogue. the interview is a conversation, not a standardized test. old school: even though your resume was sent on-line or delivered in-person, still bring a copy of it with you to the interview. just in case. even the most new-school interviewers would rather see something physical than refer to something they have on their desktop. new school: don't wear a suit to the interview. unless it's an interview for which you need to wear a suit. you'll know when that interview comes. if you think it might be that kind of interview, it isn't. just wear business casual.
you better have a damn good read on the culture of the place before you stroll in without a suit, copy of your resume, and start throwing around slang. if it's a new start-up or something, then maybe. a corporate gig -- forget it. also, if you're going to wear a suit, make sure it fucking fits. i've interviewed many people who dress like they've never worn a suit before or have never heard of an iron. i don't need you coming into to an interview dressed like you're reenacting chris farley in tommy boy.
i've always brought 5 copies of my resume to interviews, they are in a folder so all they have to do is flip it open and both pages are right there for them to read. out of all the people who interviewed for the job i am hoping to get i was the only one that brought a copy of my resume, let alone enough copies so the interviewers all had there own.
my last in-person interview was for an it position with a fashion company. i spent three days deciding what to wear. even then i felt like everyone was judging the shit out of what i was wearing.
did you spellcheck them first? sorrryyyyy flat_rate. i think the one time i impressed during a job interview was at the time (not sure if this is still the way) where you used to put that references were "available on request" and the interviewer told me to get them to him and i pulled out a separate piece of paper with all of their information on it, neatly typed up. he looked a little surprised.
at this point of endless black hole resume blast id be willing to try anything. i just don't see walking into kroger or p&g corporate offices' hr and asking to see someone providing more than an irritated receptionist telling me to submit anything online.
the thing is, if you can submit your resume to anyone who isn't in the hr department you automatically gain a 2x chance of getting an interview. the worst part is getting past the hr filter.
you'd be surprised. sometimes that boss asks his receptionist to pre-screen people for him. and sometimes that receptionist is a little more qualified than you may think. i'm working at a place right now where, the person in charge, i'm actually her boss. except i'm filling in for the receptionist because she hasn't found one yet and i worked that position for a few years, so i do that job for about half the day then do my normal job for the other half. it's gotten comical at this point how many people simply "look me over" and are rude to me and ask for my director, when actually, if they show a little respect and give me a reason to spend my time with them, they're gonna interview with me instead of her and have a much better chance at a job. and if they're rude to me, how are they gonna be to my customers? point being: you never know who you're really talking to, and in one way or another, every single one of them is a "gate keeper." treat every face-to-face meeting as an opportunity for a wide open door, because it damn well could be. if nothing else, making a friend out of that "irritated receptionist" is still one more friend inside the company than you had before. at least someone knows your name.
yeah, but your tumor gives them the groundhog day advantage. "have we met before?" "uhhh... nope, don't think so." "come right in... and look, you're wearing a green bay tie... what are the odds? that's my favourite team!" "you don't say..."