I actually got my hopes up...
So yesterday I dove back into applying for other (hopefully better) jobs than the miserable minimum-wage part-time on-call slog I'm currently in. I applied for five positions in the afternoon, and actually got an email back from one of them by 6:30 that evening! Crazy, right? Then I got a phone call and another email from them this morning, wanting me to come in today and talk to them and fill out some paperwork.
I was at work already, so I talked to my dispatcher before lunch and the other guys in the van today and we managed to get me out of there by 1:45. I ran home and did a quick change out of my hideous green polyester work shirt and grabbed my folder of application information and with great anticipation, busted my butt over there.
Before I go any farther, I shall include here the exact wording on the job posting:
Looking for a part time van driver that would transport our nursing home residents to and from medical appointments. Experience with the elderly a plus.
Job Type: Part-time
That was it. It has been posted for 2 days. I thought, "I qualify for that," and shot off an application with the following cover letter:
"Dear Sir or Madam,
I am looking to change jobs to one that serves my community rather than a faceless corporation. I have maintained a perfect driving record while driving 300-500 miles a week for the past two years. I have experience from my days as a home care aide with the elderly, both those able and alert and those needing extra care and attention. I transported my mother using a wheelchair lift van for eight years, and am familiar with safety and securing of wheelchairs in vehicles. I also have excellent customer service skills, and am very patient and organized.
If you can beat my current wages ($225/week), I would be very interested in working with seniors in our community with you!
Regards,
Karen Jake"
They were very excited to receive my application, and eager to have me fill out a complete application, background check form, and talk to the fellow in charge of that position. Let's call him Joe. Joe is the one who called me this morning, and really didn't want to wait until monday to meet with me, hence all the finagling to get off early.
Back to this afternoon. I called to let Joe know I got out early and could meet him about 2:30. He seemed distracted, but was glad that I could come in, only saying that he was hoping to leave by 3, so the earlier I could get there, the better. I arrived at 2:20, and he was just unloading a resident from the van. He sat me in a small conference room and I waited while he took the resident back to their wing.
First impressions: Joe reminded me of my junior high head custodian. Skinny, bushy wild hair that looked like it was way past due for a haircut, kind of hollow cheeks, and one eye that pointed right all the time. His clothes were a kind of ratty and worn faded black long-sleeved tee and dirty work pants. His name badge said he was "Facilities".
Joe comes back, tells me how great to have someone apply with a clean driving record (hard to believe how rare that is) and did I have the background check form the other gal had sent me printed out and filled out? I didn't, but offered to fill it out there if he could get me a copy printed out. He left, went to the office, and got one for me, then left while I filled it out.
Dang, I thought, these guys are really hot to trot! I filled out the form and waited for Joe to return. When he did, he disappeared again for a few moments to get the form sent in, then came right back. I let him sit, catch his breath, and asked him to tell me about the job. "Tell me what you're looking for," he replied.
I told him how I was looking to change jobs to one that serves the community, one where I had regular dependable hours, and where I could be part of a team rather than an easily replaceable cog. I told how my current position has unreliable hours and zero benefits. I also restated that I was looking for a part time job with better wages, one that would net me around $300 a week. Then I again asked for information about this position.
Joe waffled around a bit, asked me what part time meant to me. I said 20-30 hours or so. Then he asked me if I was "handy with a paintbrush"...? I shrugged and said I've painted rooms before, and I'm not some helpless gal, perfectly able to change light bulbs and change air filters for myself.
Then he dropped the bomb. The van driving job is only TWO DAYS A WEEK, Fridays and Saturdays, and he's not sure quite what I'll be doing on Saturdays except maybe taking people to dialysis and picking them up again 4-6 hours later. "Oh, and how are you about evenings?" Apparently I could also be on call for late pickups, if I so desired. I could even be first on the call list for those occasional extra hours and "make some extra money." I told him I have a class that I help teach every monday and wednesday evening, and that wasn't really what I was looking for.
"How about outside?" Joe asked. I gave him a blank look. "Like gardening and stuff," he elaborated. I said I'm not above pulling weeds and mowing lawns. "Oh, we have a service for the lawns." Okay, well I can pull weeds and plant flowers and stuff, sure.
Turns out since the driving part is only two days a week with the option of being on call for late nights, any down time between trips is spent doing light handyman tasks around the facility. He is looking for someone to drive the van those two days (so he doesn't have to) and fill in the rest of however many hours I want with handyman stuff!
Go back and read that job listing again. I don't see anything about handyman work in there anywhere, do you? Didn't think so.
So, he couldn't give me any specifics on exactly what I'd be doing other than on Fridays, and didn't really tell me much about that, either. I asked him again about the hourly wage for the position, and he told me "I'm sure I can get you better than minimum wage."
That was all he said. He then complained a bit about the guy they've got who is their full time weekday driver, monday through thursday, how he's "out of there at 3:30 no matter what and if there's any later pickups, I have to go do them myself."
He asked me if I was interested in full time. I told him that if he could get me weekdays, I'd be all over that and I'd gladly do light maintenance work between driving runs, and my work ethic wouldn't allow me to just leave without the job being done.
He wanted me to come back in on Monday to talk some more after he spoke with management for more details about the actual duties on saturdays and get the rest of my paperwork filled out. He said he'd call me in the morning to see when I could come in. (I shared earlier how I find out at 4 the day before if I'm scheduled to work or not the next day, and he understood about how "that sucks".) Nevermind that I already told my boss I'd be needing monday off for an interview, I wasn't telling Joe that. He went on to say that if the background check comes back by monday, we'd do paperwork then and I could come in tuesday for orientation and that would be my hire date and first paid day.
As I left, I thanked him for seeing me, reiterated that more definite information would be appreciated, and said if he could get me weekdays, "he'd have to beat me off with a stick." He said he'd keep that in mind, with a wave and a smile.
TL:DR, the whole thing was pretty much a colossal waste of time. Vague job duties, only two days a week driving the van, over half my time doing handyman stuff, and no definite wage information or even a mention if there are any benefits.
I was at work already, so I talked to my dispatcher before lunch and the other guys in the van today and we managed to get me out of there by 1:45. I ran home and did a quick change out of my hideous green polyester work shirt and grabbed my folder of application information and with great anticipation, busted my butt over there.
Before I go any farther, I shall include here the exact wording on the job posting:
Looking for a part time van driver that would transport our nursing home residents to and from medical appointments. Experience with the elderly a plus.
Job Type: Part-time
That was it. It has been posted for 2 days. I thought, "I qualify for that," and shot off an application with the following cover letter:
"Dear Sir or Madam,
I am looking to change jobs to one that serves my community rather than a faceless corporation. I have maintained a perfect driving record while driving 300-500 miles a week for the past two years. I have experience from my days as a home care aide with the elderly, both those able and alert and those needing extra care and attention. I transported my mother using a wheelchair lift van for eight years, and am familiar with safety and securing of wheelchairs in vehicles. I also have excellent customer service skills, and am very patient and organized.
If you can beat my current wages ($225/week), I would be very interested in working with seniors in our community with you!
Regards,
Karen Jake"
They were very excited to receive my application, and eager to have me fill out a complete application, background check form, and talk to the fellow in charge of that position. Let's call him Joe. Joe is the one who called me this morning, and really didn't want to wait until monday to meet with me, hence all the finagling to get off early.
Back to this afternoon. I called to let Joe know I got out early and could meet him about 2:30. He seemed distracted, but was glad that I could come in, only saying that he was hoping to leave by 3, so the earlier I could get there, the better. I arrived at 2:20, and he was just unloading a resident from the van. He sat me in a small conference room and I waited while he took the resident back to their wing.
First impressions: Joe reminded me of my junior high head custodian. Skinny, bushy wild hair that looked like it was way past due for a haircut, kind of hollow cheeks, and one eye that pointed right all the time. His clothes were a kind of ratty and worn faded black long-sleeved tee and dirty work pants. His name badge said he was "Facilities".
Joe comes back, tells me how great to have someone apply with a clean driving record (hard to believe how rare that is) and did I have the background check form the other gal had sent me printed out and filled out? I didn't, but offered to fill it out there if he could get me a copy printed out. He left, went to the office, and got one for me, then left while I filled it out.
Dang, I thought, these guys are really hot to trot! I filled out the form and waited for Joe to return. When he did, he disappeared again for a few moments to get the form sent in, then came right back. I let him sit, catch his breath, and asked him to tell me about the job. "Tell me what you're looking for," he replied.
I told him how I was looking to change jobs to one that serves the community, one where I had regular dependable hours, and where I could be part of a team rather than an easily replaceable cog. I told how my current position has unreliable hours and zero benefits. I also restated that I was looking for a part time job with better wages, one that would net me around $300 a week. Then I again asked for information about this position.
Joe waffled around a bit, asked me what part time meant to me. I said 20-30 hours or so. Then he asked me if I was "handy with a paintbrush"...? I shrugged and said I've painted rooms before, and I'm not some helpless gal, perfectly able to change light bulbs and change air filters for myself.
Then he dropped the bomb. The van driving job is only TWO DAYS A WEEK, Fridays and Saturdays, and he's not sure quite what I'll be doing on Saturdays except maybe taking people to dialysis and picking them up again 4-6 hours later. "Oh, and how are you about evenings?" Apparently I could also be on call for late pickups, if I so desired. I could even be first on the call list for those occasional extra hours and "make some extra money." I told him I have a class that I help teach every monday and wednesday evening, and that wasn't really what I was looking for.
"How about outside?" Joe asked. I gave him a blank look. "Like gardening and stuff," he elaborated. I said I'm not above pulling weeds and mowing lawns. "Oh, we have a service for the lawns." Okay, well I can pull weeds and plant flowers and stuff, sure.
Turns out since the driving part is only two days a week with the option of being on call for late nights, any down time between trips is spent doing light handyman tasks around the facility. He is looking for someone to drive the van those two days (so he doesn't have to) and fill in the rest of however many hours I want with handyman stuff!
Go back and read that job listing again. I don't see anything about handyman work in there anywhere, do you? Didn't think so.
So, he couldn't give me any specifics on exactly what I'd be doing other than on Fridays, and didn't really tell me much about that, either. I asked him again about the hourly wage for the position, and he told me "I'm sure I can get you better than minimum wage."
That was all he said. He then complained a bit about the guy they've got who is their full time weekday driver, monday through thursday, how he's "out of there at 3:30 no matter what and if there's any later pickups, I have to go do them myself."
He asked me if I was interested in full time. I told him that if he could get me weekdays, I'd be all over that and I'd gladly do light maintenance work between driving runs, and my work ethic wouldn't allow me to just leave without the job being done.
He wanted me to come back in on Monday to talk some more after he spoke with management for more details about the actual duties on saturdays and get the rest of my paperwork filled out. He said he'd call me in the morning to see when I could come in. (I shared earlier how I find out at 4 the day before if I'm scheduled to work or not the next day, and he understood about how "that sucks".) Nevermind that I already told my boss I'd be needing monday off for an interview, I wasn't telling Joe that. He went on to say that if the background check comes back by monday, we'd do paperwork then and I could come in tuesday for orientation and that would be my hire date and first paid day.
As I left, I thanked him for seeing me, reiterated that more definite information would be appreciated, and said if he could get me weekdays, "he'd have to beat me off with a stick." He said he'd keep that in mind, with a wave and a smile.
TL:DR, the whole thing was pretty much a colossal waste of time. Vague job duties, only two days a week driving the van, over half my time doing handyman stuff, and no definite wage information or even a mention if there are any benefits.