So on Thursday i took jen to work at 6:30 am, came home, gathered my things and set out for Alexandria, VA.
I was headed to a job fair for PSAV, an audio visual services company in the DC area. I arrived without much incident. I enjoyed the speech the women gave at the information session, took a few notes.
The first interview was rather dull. The man interviewing me was reading off of some worksheet and the questions were things like 'name an experience in which you had to compromise your decision for the good of the team' and all those other nonsense worthless questions. I put them down with ease.
Another women shortly afterwards came to interview me, she seemed to be more on top of things. It didn't take long for her to cut right to it. I had put on my application that my desired salary was $47,000/year. (aim high, negotiate lower). She said the position they'd offer me paid about $13.00/hour, topping out at $14.00/hour. (thats about $27,000/year)
strike 1.
They mentioned in the info session that the hours would not be set, some mornings, some nights, about 30% of work would involve a little bit of regional travel. What they didn't mention until the 2nd interview was the fact that hours were not guaranteed. The interviewer told me that during busy months, full time hours wouldn't be a problem, but during slower months, to expect around 18 hours per week. For an hourly paid job, you can't live on half pay.
strike 2.
After a few more questions she came to the point of dress code. During the info session, the HR women had talked about professional attire, mostly varying upon the venue at which you worked at. PSAV runs the AV set ups for various hotels and convention centers. They're considered hotel employees and have offices at the hotels they work at. So hotels have personal appearance standards. Basically here was the line up:
No tattoos, piercings, etc - Check.
No hair below the neckline - Check, i specifically keep mine trimmed above the neck.
Hairstyle must be of a conservative nature - Check?
Personally i think i'm quite well groomed, and most people would agree.
However, I apparently don't meet the "conservative nature" guideline. The 2nd interviewer told me pretty must flat out that I would have to cut my hair.
strike 3. You're out.
Now keep in mind, the hair really isn't a deal breaker, if they guaranteed me enough hours to live on throughout the year, and gave me a wage at/close to what I asked for. I think I'd be happy to cut my hair to just about whatever they wanted.
but to afford an apartment, student loans, food, gas, and entertainment on $13.00 an hour at something in between a part time and full time job in the DC metro area? Not a chance.
The nice thing is, they told everyone that they'd be calling everyone who interviewed within 7-10 days, regardless of if they get an offer or not, which is uncharacteristic and considerate of them. Gotta give them that.
They might offer me a job still. I did a killer job on the interviewing, but from what they laid out for me there, I certainly won't take it.
Lets hope that meeting the president of WHYY next week will be helpful. I'm eager to get out of lifting produce.
PS - paying $2.40 for a 20 oz cherry coke at the hotel gift shop is highway robbery. Screw you Hilton.
I was headed to a job fair for PSAV, an audio visual services company in the DC area. I arrived without much incident. I enjoyed the speech the women gave at the information session, took a few notes.
The first interview was rather dull. The man interviewing me was reading off of some worksheet and the questions were things like 'name an experience in which you had to compromise your decision for the good of the team' and all those other nonsense worthless questions. I put them down with ease.
Another women shortly afterwards came to interview me, she seemed to be more on top of things. It didn't take long for her to cut right to it. I had put on my application that my desired salary was $47,000/year. (aim high, negotiate lower). She said the position they'd offer me paid about $13.00/hour, topping out at $14.00/hour. (thats about $27,000/year)
strike 1.
They mentioned in the info session that the hours would not be set, some mornings, some nights, about 30% of work would involve a little bit of regional travel. What they didn't mention until the 2nd interview was the fact that hours were not guaranteed. The interviewer told me that during busy months, full time hours wouldn't be a problem, but during slower months, to expect around 18 hours per week. For an hourly paid job, you can't live on half pay.
strike 2.
After a few more questions she came to the point of dress code. During the info session, the HR women had talked about professional attire, mostly varying upon the venue at which you worked at. PSAV runs the AV set ups for various hotels and convention centers. They're considered hotel employees and have offices at the hotels they work at. So hotels have personal appearance standards. Basically here was the line up:
No tattoos, piercings, etc - Check.
No hair below the neckline - Check, i specifically keep mine trimmed above the neck.
Hairstyle must be of a conservative nature - Check?
Personally i think i'm quite well groomed, and most people would agree.
However, I apparently don't meet the "conservative nature" guideline. The 2nd interviewer told me pretty must flat out that I would have to cut my hair.
strike 3. You're out.
Now keep in mind, the hair really isn't a deal breaker, if they guaranteed me enough hours to live on throughout the year, and gave me a wage at/close to what I asked for. I think I'd be happy to cut my hair to just about whatever they wanted.
but to afford an apartment, student loans, food, gas, and entertainment on $13.00 an hour at something in between a part time and full time job in the DC metro area? Not a chance.
The nice thing is, they told everyone that they'd be calling everyone who interviewed within 7-10 days, regardless of if they get an offer or not, which is uncharacteristic and considerate of them. Gotta give them that.
They might offer me a job still. I did a killer job on the interviewing, but from what they laid out for me there, I certainly won't take it.
Lets hope that meeting the president of WHYY next week will be helpful. I'm eager to get out of lifting produce.
PS - paying $2.40 for a 20 oz cherry coke at the hotel gift shop is highway robbery. Screw you Hilton.
