I should have known my job wasn’t the right fit when, during the interview with my soon-to-be boss, it became obvious he hadn’t even glanced at my resume. Although I have years of experience in both writing and finance, he asked me questions that made his ignorance of these facts clear. It also didn’t help that he had no idea what to ask me and kept asking pointed questions about my future plans for a family. At one point, he stated that the two previous women he’d hired had left as soon as they became pregnant. I had no idea how to respond.
He called me immediately after the interview and offered me the position. When I requested an offer letter, he brushed it aside and asked me to come in the next morning! I had to explain that I needed to give my current employer notice and renegotiate a start date. He also couldn’t tell me the precise starting salary. Instead, he provided me with the name and number of a man who worked in accounting.
When I arrived for orientation, I was dumbfounded by the tasks I was being shown how to perform. For several hours, I was shown how to code in photos onto the company website. The person assigned to instruct me seemed dumbfounded that I wasn’t familiar with this process whatsoever. After conferring with my boss, the man who had interviewed me, it was discovered that he had hired the wrong person entirely.
Before I started a company, I was an employee with a bad attitude. I was always felt like, bosses are stupid, and people weren’t well treated.
Mitch Kapor
Amazingly, I was transferred to another job within the same company that he believed was more suited to my considerable experience. My boss has never lived down his huge mistake and has taken every opportunity available to remind me that he hired me accidentally. He schedules me to work every weekend and major holiday. He also hands me the worst, most tedious projects available, none of which require much writing or financial acumen.
Hopefully, I will not be saddled with my boss for much longer. While he didn’t bother to read my resume and confirm my identity, I have much more faith in other companies. My perfectly polished resume is making the rounds and I am praying for another offer to come my way.