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The Interview, by Candace Arthuria Williams

29/10/2021

 
“Good morning, Candace. Thanks for coming in. I’m Marilyn Green. I’ve been HR Manager for seventeen years.”

‘Pleased to meet you, Ms. Green.’

“Your reputation precedes you. My colleagues have run out of adjectives—well-groomed, personable, articulate.”

‘That’s funny. I was thinking the same thing about you.’

“Really?....Ummm….okayyy….I know you met Kris, our Northeastern Team Leader. He found you absolutely delightful. I think ‘refreshing’ is the word he used. Love that outfit. How do you get your hair to crinkle like that? Do you do it yourself?”

‘No, I have a stylist. Did you have a chance to review my work?’

“We’ll get to that later. Tell me why you think you’d be a good fit for this company.”

‘Well, if you read my résumé you probably saw that my background is well-suited to this type of structure. Decentralization allows for more creativity and fewer layers of approval. I have my portfolio right here if you would care to see it.’

“Maybe later. You talked to Jeff. He would be your immediate supervisor. What did you think?”

‘I’m not sure what you mean. He seemed nice.’

“Oh, absolutely. He gets along with all kinds of people.”

‘I see.’

“Do you have any questions for me?”

‘Yes. I’d like to know when you plan to make a decision.’

“Oh, really soon. By the end of the week. I’ll get you in to see Joanie as soon as possible.”

‘Joanie?’

“Yes, she’s our staff secretary. We couldn’t hire anyone without a sit-down with Joanie. But be warned. She’s the toughest member of the team. She’ll grill you until you’re done. Any more questions?”

‘I don’t think so. Tell Joanie not to bother clearing her calendar. I have a pretty busy one myself. Thanks for the interview. Good luck with finding a candidate.’

“Are you saying….?”

‘That’s exactly what I’m saying. Have a good day, Marilyn.’
Peggy Gerber
29/10/2021 08:38:27 pm

After graduating college I was shocked that at every job interview all anybody wanted to know was how many words a minute I could type. It seems like Candace is experiencing the same kind of narrow mindedness. Good day, Marilyn.

Jim B. link
29/10/2021 09:57:39 pm

And next we'll have you talk to the landscaping folks to make sure you get along with them, and then the mail carrier and then the...
Wow - I am so glad I am not out there looking for a job. This is probably more truth than fiction.
Nice one, Candace.
Jim

Jim link
30/10/2021 03:35:47 pm

Well, Candace, your story stuck with me and I found myself coming back to read it again, as I felt I missed something. The line about the immediate supervisor "liking all 'kinds' of people" stuck in my craw, and I found myself back here again. With new eyes I saw the deeper level of this story, and wow, this really hits it hard. Such a statement as to how and where we are still - it just made me sad (and realize how naive I am. Maybe one day (one can hope) we'll not worry about what "kind" of people a person is and rather how kind they are. Excellent story.
Jim

Marie Johnson-Ladson
30/10/2021 12:40:30 am

Ms. Green let Candace know who was the real decision maker, Joanie. Someone that didn't even have the qualifications she had to do the job. We already know that Joanie seemed like she was going to be a handful to get along with. Also, Ms. Green as a 17 year HR Manager didn't feel confident to make a decision in hiring.

Candace did the right thing, walk.

Hopefully, there would be another employer that would appreciate Candace experience and give her a greater opportunity.

Juanita Brown
30/10/2021 12:49:04 am

Why would the HR manager not review your portfolio but want you to be interviewed by the secretary? To me that’s insulting! Is the secretary qualified to do the job you interviewed for? I think not, otherwise she’d interview for it herself. I wouldn’t want to work for a company like that.

Sue Clayton
30/10/2021 02:25:32 am

Stuck it right to them, Candace. Way to go.

Dee Lorraine
30/10/2021 02:26:31 am

Good for you, Candace! Racism and job discrimination are still alive but you struck a hard blow against them. You go, girl!

David Chek Ling Ngo
30/10/2021 03:53:14 am

Yes, Candace did the right thing, walked. Sometime the main power play isn't as simple as what you see in the chart. Very well described.

Helen L. Ray
30/10/2021 03:58:00 am

Your story reflects the "double standard" that are placed on certain people deemed to be automatically less qualified than others. Good story, good observation Candace.

JEM/Shane
30/10/2021 09:11:55 am

Yes, such Interviews became opportunities to uncover, and defeat racism, ignorance. In the minds eye, we won, and the manager who denied suffered more because of it. I became his competitor, the victor in a battle that empowered my determination to succeed by making that last sales-call, closing the order that might have been his when my body ached to quit. Realizing this made victory more the sweeter.

Well Done, Candace!

Padmini Krishnan
30/10/2021 02:31:05 pm

My experience is that most of the HR personnel never go through your resume and they spend unnecessary time in talking about our clothing and hair-do (apparently to put us at ease:) I talked to a HR manager for sometime only to realize that he had mixed up my resume with someone else's. Very realistic, Candace.

Candace Arthuria Williams
30/10/2021 04:58:36 pm

Regards everybody. Hope I opened a few eyes about stereotypes and diversity. I am not an anomaly. I am no more personable or articulate than the rest of you. Thanks for listening.

Eunice Pruitt
30/10/2021 09:06:57 pm

Excellent story. The interview went two ways; the interviewer became the interviewee. The H.R. interviewer didn't realize that Candace was interviewing her,

Candace didn't like what she heard for all the reasons posted in other comments. She decided on the spot she did not want to work there and walked. The company lost an excellent candidate.

Candace Arthuria Williams
30/10/2021 10:21:06 pm

Thank you, Eunice.

Lillian Lewis
31/10/2021 12:53:00 am

What I really want to say, it’s best for me not to
say, so I’ll just say “fiction “ hmm.....

Candace Arthuria Williams
31/10/2021 02:38:35 am

Back in the sixties, there was an American TV show called "It's Not What You Say, It's What You Don't Say." Remember that, Lillian?

Don Tassone link
31/10/2021 04:44:18 am

What a poor representative Marilyn is for her organization. Well done, Candace.

Candace Arthuria Williams
31/10/2021 02:16:08 pm

I agree. Thank you, Don.

Greg Vander-Haeghen
3/11/2021 01:06:43 pm

Yes. Walk the walk.

Mercedes Gomez
4/11/2021 08:45:59 am

Every sentence spoken by the interviewer was innuendo laden. And she wasn’t as smart as she thought she was.

Doug
5/11/2021 05:11:18 pm

Nicely done. Goes deeper than the surface.

Candace Arthuria Williams
7/11/2021 01:05:21 am

Thank you Greg, Mercedes, and Doug. "Walk the walk, innuendo-laden, deeper than the surface." You are all pretty deep in my estimation. Thank you for digging through the layers.


Comments are closed.

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