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Subversive Career Research
Sep. 24th, 2008 03:15 pmOne thing I do at work is train staff around campus how to use the degree audit system. I just got called to train someone new who's in a job I applied for (and did not get, and did not even interview for).
Heh, time for subversive research. These trainings are one-on-one, so I always start out by assessing their current knowledge so that I know where to start from. This means I ask questions like whether they've used the degree audit system before and whether they've been an adviser before. Here is a chance to learn about what's better than me about the person they picked.
I asked about experience with the degree audit system: no experience with the mainframe. How about the online version? No. Has she been an adviser? No. Is she familiar with our course numbering system? No. For training purposes, that meant I had to start at the very beginning, which I rarely do, and which I particularly did not expect for an adviser in one of the few departments that does their own overrides. I couldn't quite figure out a way to ask her why she got hired or what her qualifications were.
So basically my plan failed utterly. I could not figure out what was better about her than about me for this position. It most shocked me that she hadn't been an adviser. She has one less degree than I have, too, so it's not that either.
Unbelievable. I cannot figure it out. Why didn't they even want to interview me?
Did they consider me overqualified? Is that even possible?
Less unlikely: Did they never get my resume? I walked it over
there. They would have had to have lost it between the front desk and the person's mailbox. Or maybe it accidentally got paper-clipped to the back of a resume they didn't like and set aside.
Age discrimination? Assuming I graduated from high school at age 18, then went to college 4 years and grad school 1 year and then worked the 18 years shown, that makes me a minimum of 43 years old. I don't think that's scary, but maybe they want someone young they can hope to hang on to for a while. (Can't be gender discrimination--she's my same gender.)
Or maybe the fact that I have no clue what they even want is a sign that I am the wrong person for the job. Or maybe thinking that I don't know what they want is a sign of paranoia. (And who wants to hire a paranoid?)
Anyway, I'm just going to continue with the conclusion that I should apply for jobs that I think I can do, regardless of what I think (or read) they're looking for.
Heh, time for subversive research. These trainings are one-on-one, so I always start out by assessing their current knowledge so that I know where to start from. This means I ask questions like whether they've used the degree audit system before and whether they've been an adviser before. Here is a chance to learn about what's better than me about the person they picked.
I asked about experience with the degree audit system: no experience with the mainframe. How about the online version? No. Has she been an adviser? No. Is she familiar with our course numbering system? No. For training purposes, that meant I had to start at the very beginning, which I rarely do, and which I particularly did not expect for an adviser in one of the few departments that does their own overrides. I couldn't quite figure out a way to ask her why she got hired or what her qualifications were.
So basically my plan failed utterly. I could not figure out what was better about her than about me for this position. It most shocked me that she hadn't been an adviser. She has one less degree than I have, too, so it's not that either.
Unbelievable. I cannot figure it out. Why didn't they even want to interview me?
Did they consider me overqualified? Is that even possible?
Less unlikely: Did they never get my resume? I walked it over
there. They would have had to have lost it between the front desk and the person's mailbox. Or maybe it accidentally got paper-clipped to the back of a resume they didn't like and set aside.
Age discrimination? Assuming I graduated from high school at age 18, then went to college 4 years and grad school 1 year and then worked the 18 years shown, that makes me a minimum of 43 years old. I don't think that's scary, but maybe they want someone young they can hope to hang on to for a while. (Can't be gender discrimination--she's my same gender.)
Or maybe the fact that I have no clue what they even want is a sign that I am the wrong person for the job. Or maybe thinking that I don't know what they want is a sign of paranoia. (And who wants to hire a paranoid?)
Anyway, I'm just going to continue with the conclusion that I should apply for jobs that I think I can do, regardless of what I think (or read) they're looking for.