It was something with some organisation
September 1, 2004 @ 1200
Off the top of the head there's the note of the interviewer being a heavy mouth breather. When the details are tracked and the new database up, it'll be all fleshed out.Online Production Editor with WorkPlaceInfo
July 8, 2004 @ 1000
Greg Dickins is a hippie. How about that. Anyway, things were cosy. But unsure. So no on this go.sDocumentation Specialist with KPMG
July 6, 2004 @ 1000
Shannon Trueman flew up from Melbourne to hold this interview. Simple test. Quick and easy. Day later, a contract was signed. Needless to say I'm writing this backward.Warehouse Assistant with Kingtex International
June 2, 2004 @ 1400
Of all that has ever been, this would have been the perfect setting for a sabotage. Thinking absolutely nothing of the results, a car trip was taken with another guy to a warehouse in the Smithfield industrial area. The man interrogating, David Li, managed to come across as this really mean type. A vicious nature boiling under the surface. The lady who'd set up the meeting in the first place was spoiling all plans for a self-destruct. Her notes would be passed on to others in a position of regulation and whatnot.Definitely fuelled by the prospect of being paid a handsome finder's fee, the lady was singing all sorts of praise for the both of us. The manager looked right disinterested and bothered by the whole ordeal.
Sly hacks were attempted; rocking back and forth on the heavy chair on rollers like a nut, even illiciting the response, "are you alright?"; laughing on the news of a previous employee running off with a hundred dollars of merchandise; apathetic turns of reply for questions of looking for full-time work and such; shrugging a lot to present a defeated gesture.
Located hardly with any intent for the user of public transport, asides were pushed at the hard and arduous task of even getting there everyday. A last ditch effort to throw in the towel and hopefully fail this particular interview.
Nothing worked though. A few days later it would turn out to be an exercise in racial alignment. With the other guys on the warehouse floor being Asian and the other contender a bearded Caucasian, it was a heart stopping moment of hearing news of the impending doom for the start of the next week.
This one isn't considered a success.
Here the plot to hatch a free bike transpired. Enduring the first week would start the loan of the bike. Staying a full three months would turn over the possession. Hard decisions later thrown out when the workload was discovered and the measly pay compared to counterparts in other suburbs. Forget the bike, get fired instead. Not an easy task when they're looking to keep their kickbacks flowing in for the minimum stay needed by their end.
Shelving Unit with Credo
May 31, 2004 @ 1000
Asked to turn up at 0900 for a car shuttle, the trip started ninety minutes later. Somewhere on a street in Harris Park, the front for recruiter Credo stood in an emptied house. The others in the car ride were girls. One of which affected a look of Brooklyn ghetto chic and another resembling that of one of the workers at a government related office. Then there was the one with a supposed sling bag taken from the set of Farscape following the news of its axing. We started a little dialogue in this vein only to run into the question of how it even got started.A big man, who introduced himself only as Mick, was holding the interviews. A mock display set of shelves in future assigning rested in an adjacent room and the short sleeve uniform displayed itself on a whiteboard.
An interview, this was in label only. Forms filled out days prior were double checked with verbal cues and much head nodding. Hardly anything new was presented here. Save for the mention of a 0500. Stumbling for a way out, Mick mentioned that the others being interviewed lived in the neighbourhood and could car pool.
No way out?
The girls offered at first to hang around so as to have the entire four walk to Parramatta train station. One of them checked their watch and bolted did three. Alone walked one, fearful of news that may be positive. A lesser of two evils magically appeared days later. Thankfully a dusk start was averted.
Tech Support with Atari Australia & NZ
February 4, 2004 @ 1100
With an email, the day was pushed forth from the Thursday into the Wednesday, still at the same time. The sudden move didn't even factor into the need to wash the interview clothes saved from May of last year. Pants, socks, shirt and tie, all good and without an odour.
Enough time was taken to arrive at Green Square station with at least five minutes breather. This quickly dissolved as the wrong road was taken. The street directory listed two roads, one of which lies directly over the underground rail. What was planned as an easy stroll up the road turned into a beating around a huge radius in the other direction.
Alexandria was the destination so seeing it on the road signs was a shock. But not as much as finding Waterloo addresses along the streets and then at one point, standing outside the Moorepark shopping complex. One wrong turn at the first crossroads was all that nailed the coffin.
Accepting the fact that turning back would be hopeless given that a few too many inner streets were taken and hoping logic would win out, the big green street signs were followed, only some pointed toward Alexandria. The rest was guess work using an estimated arc of a few dozen blocks.
Fifteen minutes in and the rain started to crack down showing the umbrella what for.
Half an hour later and the familiar site of the train station exit was spotted and suddenly, so was the right road. Five minutes following the right path and like a beacon, the Atari logo.
Through the doors and up the stairs. In the lobby, Lara Croft in full size mode with dual guns and a few gaming station stands, one with a dance mat. The receptionist made a joke about bringing along the bad weather. Diffusion was half breathed and ended up dripping the umbrella all over the counter during sign in.
A tall man, real tall, about 6'6", introduced himself as Stephen O'Leary, the webmaster and interviewer. Pass the work space and back into the rear boardroom section. Posters all over the place and a soundproofed toilet were quick in the glimpse.
Still having never come up with something to answer at the gun of "So, tell me about yourself," it started and pretty much stopped with "An insomniac who writes of paranoid delusions and falls awake with short term memory lapses." Or thoughts to that effect. It stopped at insomniac.
The usual questions appeared in a different form and things such as pinpointing a weakness grew into a fixation with hair and the rampant feel of having to pluck the sideburn(s) every week.
"What can you bring to the role?"
"I'm not sure really. I spent half of my uni years playing video games and I guess there's the writing thing and the hammering of code every now and then."
Blanking out here was not a great thing and it was showing on O'Leary's face. Videogames, consoles, edutainment, Conker's Bad Fur Day. Little by little, things were getting a whole lot more hazy. Of course, learning a little of the lunch hour set things into a weird spin. Was it a positive sign, standard fare or just teasing?
Close to wrapping up, the role felt like that much surer until the gaffe of closed short answers about history and paid experience were summarised into short and blank shots of "No." No doubt, the mention of a freeballing love would have put things into a higher reason. But then, this is an interview and these things never work out.
