A Mixed Review

I had two interviews this week: one for a temp agency and one for a Curves club a couple blocks from my house.

Let's just say, neither went the way I expected.

First, the temp agency. I had actually applied here two weeks ago and was told my application was not successful, so imagine my surprise when they called me Tuesday and wanted to set up an interview. I was a little worried because I didn't know even what the job was for since I had deleted the ad I first applied to and hadn't applied with them since. I tried to get some more information about the position but in the end had to go to the interview without knowing what it was for. It turns out, the interview was actually for some data entry job I applied for the day before on Gumtree where there was no name for the poster. In the end, that job was filled before my interview but the lady felt rather certain that someone would leave before the end of the first week and put me down as an alternate. She went on to tell me that she felt I would do well in non-profit work since she could tell I was a very caring person and wanted to help recruit me for non-profit jobs in the future--yes!! I would love to work for a non-profit and I'm so glad that someone saw those elements of me and wanted to do something with them. It was so nice to be understood and valued for once. She also understood the visa situation because she too is an immigrant and said she really wanted to work with me despite that.

Afterwards, I did some skill testing. I had done some a few weeks ago for a different temp agency (the one that still doesn't have all my references checked and hasn't followed up at all) but they never gave me my results and I had no idea how I did. I was particularly worried because it's standard in Australia to double space between sentences (unlike recent trends in the US) and I wasn't prepared for it; it through me for a loop and I was pretty worried I would bomb the test. This time, however, I did get my results and I made 65wpm which is just under my usual 72! Great success!! And my numeric test came back average which is great since I've never been trained in 10-key and was worried about that. And my Microsoft Word test? 100%. Yeah, I rocked that one. The lady who gave me my results was shocked and congratulated me because she said she's never seen a perfect score on it. So, I'm feeling pretty good. Hopefully some good jobs will be coming my way soon because I'm getting tired of looking at an empty bank account!

The second interview at Curves did not go as well which surprised me so much. I actually worked at Curves in Kirkland for a year and was consistently told I was one of their best employees. I loved it, I understood the business and the system, I did all the daily duties, I was fully trained--there is really no reason why anyone should question my experience. However, this lady here did. She started by telling me a bit about their club and how they were losing members and barely making money and then asked me a few questions about my experience. I can honestly and confidently say there were no faults in my answers but I continued to get this kind of chilly look from her (the owner) and a rather unfriendly vibe. In the end, she tried to pitch me a membership saying "it would be good for me to get a feel for the club, reacquainted with the machines, and to know the members before being a part of the team, and then maybe when we start hiring we can bring you on." Um, maybe when we start hiring??? I felt like asking if this was a membership sale or an interview because it really didn't sound like they were interested in hiring me at all. Even after I told them I couldn't afford to join any club since my previous employer didn't pay my taxes and we were living off one salary, she STILL tried to pitch me the membership! And guess what, this membership is $129 joining fee + $64 a month! Yikes!! No wonder they are losing business!! That's waaaay too much for a Curves club and SO much more than all of their competition--like double the price at Sydney Uni, triple the price at Victoria Park, and nearly double Fitness First--all fitness clubs within a mile of this Curves. And I was actually a bit insulted that they didn't believe I understood the concepts of the program or how to use the machines. I really wanted to ask her if she only hires people who were first members! Anyway, I just got home from the interview and feel pretty certain that 1. they are not looking for anyone and probably wouldn't hire me anyway, 2. I don't think I'd want to work there, 3. I can't afford to work out there, and 4. to them, my experience means squat anyway.

So there you have it! A mixed review of interviews! And the beat goes on...