Saturday, November 08, 2003

An unexpected caller

Just got the oddest call.

It was from a headhunter from Jobstreet, the recruitment agency.

I posted my resume on Jobstreet when I first got back from Australia back in 1998. Fresh out of uni and in search of my first real job. When job applications were mailed out by the dozens and then the long wait for the first call for interview.

The first one came from Acer. The company was really close to home but they were not offerring a programming position which was what I was looking for at that time. I think they were looking for more customer service personnels as that was the customer service branch but I didn't take up the offer. Tempting as it might be to work for Acer, quite a well known brand here, customer service wasn't what I had in mind at that time. Plus ... the manager was an arrogant bastard. "We're actually looking for someone who knows hardware and you don't have much knowledge on hardware but since you're desperate for a job, I'm willing to offer the position to you." he said. Whatever gave him that idea? That I don't know much about hardware? Ok, this is a valid point as I actually truly do not know much about them but how the heck can he deduce that based on the interview that did not garner much about my hardware know-hows? Secondly, whoever said I was desperate for a job? I'm more than happy to just sit at home and bum around for a few more months thank you very much! So, I kept a smile on my face, how genuine that looked I'll never know, and thanked him for his time and rejected the offer.

There was really no other offers from the other applications I've sent out. My resume must not have been very outstanding. Average student with average marks. I don't remember if any other companies called or whether I've gone for any other interviews after that excepting the interview that landed me my first job which was at Silverlake Systems. I guess the first ones will usually stick with you. Either that or it was such an experience that I could not seem to forget it.

So, anyway, the call from Jobstreet came as a real surprise. My colleague and I was just talking while having dim-sum this morning, bitching about the low bonus and increment that we've received, calculated the length of time we've worked for the company and how we've been meaning to get a new job and never gotten around to it. I told him I'm just lazy and he said, "what? You're waiting for a job to land on your lap?" Then a couple hours later, rrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnggg, ok it wasn't so much of a ring as much as it's a ringtone on my mobile, the beginning phrase of Linkin Park's Papercut to be exact, and then the voice on the other side saying, "Hi, this is Ann, I'm a headhunter from Jobstreet".

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