A quick rant before bed
So I'm 95% sure that I didn't get that internship I wanted. For anyone who missed the story, it was a paid editorial internship for a magazine/news blog about the Olympics from a business/political angle. Yeah, exactly my interests all over the place. I had an interview yesterday and a "writing test" today. I showed up to the writing test, and the boss there set me up and gave me this spiel about how they like to use present and future tense in their articles, and not to say "this happened" or "yesterday." They gave me two articles to summarize, one of which was about a meeting that happened yesterday. So I figured that it would be okay to use the term "yesterday" because it gives a sense of time ("when," of course, being one of the essential facts in a news article). The boss read the first sentence of my story, saw that word, and said, "Yeah, that's exactly what I told you not to do," then stopped reading and said that he'd call me. I've been to enough job interviews to know that "we'll call you" means the exact opposite.
I was so upset earlier, but now I'm just pissed at the company. My mom and I both think that they weren't necessarily looking at my writing skills with that test, but seeing how I responded to criticism or whatever (for the record, I offered suggestions as to how to fix the "problem" in the story because as a writer that's what you do). If so, that's some shady fucking shit and I don't want to work for a company that feels the need to "test" its potential employees through tricky means. I'm very honest and up-front with people, and I expect that same courtesy to be paid back to me. I don't do well with subtlety, sorry.
Secondly, looking back, I realize that the interview itself was pretty crappy on their part. I did exactly what was asked of me- I showed up on time (even after having to reschedule the interview), I asked all questions asked of me, and talked more on the topic than was asked, and I was polite and well-spoken. The interviewers, on the other hand, asked really terrible questions. The boss, for example, saw where I went to high school and asked if I still lived there or visited there often. And another interviewer asked me what classes I took last semester and why I liked them.
...what? That has no bearing on my writing/editing skills or the topics of the job. Ask me about my favorite athletes. Ask me what I like about the sports I follow. Ask me about my writing style. Give me a piece of copy to edit. ANYTHING THAT RELATES TO THE GODDAM JOB.
So I'm ready to call it a wash. If they do call me back to offer me the job (which probably won't happen), I'm ready to explain to them that I am a well-qualified candidate, and I deserve better than to have shady tricks pulled on me when I'm the one who would be doing them a favor. My current job (for which, btw, I have no qualifications) pays better than that internship and gives me better hours anyway.
It's just so frustrating. I know I'm the best-qualified candidate they're going to get for that job, and if they would rather try to trick me into failing at their tasks, that's their problem. I have way better things to do with my time.
I was so upset earlier, but now I'm just pissed at the company. My mom and I both think that they weren't necessarily looking at my writing skills with that test, but seeing how I responded to criticism or whatever (for the record, I offered suggestions as to how to fix the "problem" in the story because as a writer that's what you do). If so, that's some shady fucking shit and I don't want to work for a company that feels the need to "test" its potential employees through tricky means. I'm very honest and up-front with people, and I expect that same courtesy to be paid back to me. I don't do well with subtlety, sorry.
Secondly, looking back, I realize that the interview itself was pretty crappy on their part. I did exactly what was asked of me- I showed up on time (even after having to reschedule the interview), I asked all questions asked of me, and talked more on the topic than was asked, and I was polite and well-spoken. The interviewers, on the other hand, asked really terrible questions. The boss, for example, saw where I went to high school and asked if I still lived there or visited there often. And another interviewer asked me what classes I took last semester and why I liked them.
...what? That has no bearing on my writing/editing skills or the topics of the job. Ask me about my favorite athletes. Ask me what I like about the sports I follow. Ask me about my writing style. Give me a piece of copy to edit. ANYTHING THAT RELATES TO THE GODDAM JOB.
So I'm ready to call it a wash. If they do call me back to offer me the job (which probably won't happen), I'm ready to explain to them that I am a well-qualified candidate, and I deserve better than to have shady tricks pulled on me when I'm the one who would be doing them a favor. My current job (for which, btw, I have no qualifications) pays better than that internship and gives me better hours anyway.
It's just so frustrating. I know I'm the best-qualified candidate they're going to get for that job, and if they would rather try to trick me into failing at their tasks, that's their problem. I have way better things to do with my time.