It seems that they have really taken an overdose of stupid pills or something.
If you know any young person looking for a summer job, or a job in general, I have some great tips.
Make sure you have someone check your spelling before you hit send.
If I say I want your CV, I actually want your CV-so don't bother sending me a cute e-mail with emoticoms instead of what I have actually asked for.
If I specify that I am looking for someone with experience-guess what? I'm looking for someone with some experience. If I don't write "learn on the job" I actually don't mean "learn on the job".
When I say my kid is "developmentally disabled" that means that he's not like other kids. I really mean it. That means he can't do stuff regular kids do-so he needs help. That's why I am hiring someone to help him.
When I specify a salary in the job posting, guess what? That's the actual salary. If you think you are worth more money-perhaps you should first meet my child, prove your worth to me and subsequently woo me over.
If you make an appointment to come to my house-please either show up or cancel or change the appointed time. There are these marvelous inventions nowadays called "the telephone" and "e-mail" and "voice mail" which make it virtually impossible for someone to be unreachable.
On your cover letter-I'm actually less interested in how great an opportunity this will be for you, as opposed to how comfortable I will feel having you work with my child. In other words-it's not about you really. REALLY.
ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
2 comments:
The young have been marinated in the now-universal pedagogic practice of "self-esteem enhancement." Even Catholic parochial schools, which would in days of yore emphasize the abnegation of the self in the service of God and one's fellow man, do it. (My wife had to de-program our kids on a regular basis when they were in parochial school.) The result has been to create at least two generations of stupendously egotistical--to the point of solipsism--young fools.
I was pondering this very same phenomenon the other day when I came across my dad's old copy of Dale Carnegie's wonderful self-help book on interpersonal relationships, _How to Win Friends and Influence People_, which emphasizes over and over again, with the aid of some really interesting and entertaining anecdotes, that getting on well in life is all about seeing things from the other fellow's point of view. None of this was new when Carnegie wrote the book in the 1920s: one of the hallmarks of a lady or gentleman--as Carnegie himself pointed out repeatedly--was to demonstrate sincere interest in others' interests, needs, and wants. He simply applied it to commercial good manners (including job seeking!). Would that schools taught this approach to life again.
Agree totally. A lost art.
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