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June 14, 2005
Letting Go
Yesterday, I learned a couple of chilling lessons about large bureaucracies when I called the HR department where I applied for a job. First off they are slow. I was told that it can take several months for the department to decide whether or not I will be granted an interview. The fact that they held the job listing open for an additional week tells me that they will not have "50 or 100 applicants" to interview, but I was told quite specifically that "they will call you if they are interested" and that "there is nothing for you to do now but wait." The second lesson is that large bureaucracies are opaque. The only way I will know if they have interviewed and hired anyone is if I check in at the website and see the little column "Job Filled" turn from "No" to "Yes." The good news is that when I followed the instructions I was given on the telephone, I learned that my qualifications met the minimum standard and thus that my application and résumé presumably has been forwarded to the decision-makers.
The silver lining of this cloud, if there is one at all, is that I am now at liberty to go to Albuquerque in my own time and see what is available there. This is of course a total crapshoot: I might be there on the day that something comes up, and I may spend most of my time checking out the ever-expanding set of neighborhoods we are considering moving into. I may also poke around at finding a quonset hut. Should the househunt fail and we need to put our stuff somewhere temporarily, such a building might offer short as well as long-term conveniences.
Posted by Underblog at 7:40 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack