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May 2003: Paul Smith - Scrapheap Challenge
The day I left school was a momentous one for me. Like others, I had pent up feelings of escape and a desire to meet a future beyond the gates. My joy was enhanced by winning the Christopher Trophy for Outstanding Academic Achievement, which is awarded yearly to the pupil who's scored the best results in their exams. I made the double when I also got the Dennis Trophy for Public Speaking. An award for talking and I went into telesales? Who’d have thought it?
Looking back on those 'best days', it’s hard to believe I'm on the employment scrapheap, past my prime at 31. The cause of my woe is a job I applied for a couple of months ago when I saw an advert by one of my previous employers competitors. I'll not name them, as they might yet come crawling back to me on their bellies. Suffice to say it's a distributor you probably know. They wanted someone to do sales. I said to myself, "I can do sales". Their advert stated 'no sales experience necessary', and here I was, not just a veteran salesman, but also someone with many years of experience in the very independent PC retail marketplace they were trying to sell into! What a golden opportunity, for me as well as them.
I sent them a polished CV and a covering letter that outlined my history and knowledge of their products, customers...etc. A couple of weeks later I e-mailed them to check that they'd received them, but was told they hadn't. So found my best paper and sent another. And then I waited. And waited some more. I sent another e-mail asking if the second letter had reached them, and if the position had already been filled. That was over a month ago. I'm still waiting for a response. It’s very disparaging. I can't imagine a better-equipped candidate for the job they advertised, and I don't even get a: 'Sadly we're unable to offer you an interview at this stage. Thanks for your interest in C- Oops, almost gave it away then - and we wish you good luck with your job search in the future'. Being unemployed is a nasty business at the best of times, and not having your efforts to find a job acknowledged is highly de-motivational. I had to cheer myself up by buying a Jaguar and flying to Milan, but that's another story.
My challenge to you is this: If you advertise a position, have the common decency to reply to everyone who makes the effort to contact you about it. After all, you can better afford the stamp than the person writing to you can.
What of my future? I'm going back to school. I'm starting an advanced course in web design in September, two evenings a week. An evening course because I'm an optimist.
Paul Smith still seeks employment Nirvana. Please e-mail him at info@snapsandbytes.co.uk with your offers.
478 cross words Dale. I hope they leave you moved.