I missed working in a creative field.
Not that I didn't enjoy the 4 years I spent surrounded by office supplies and technical integrations, it was educational at best and I met some really outstanding characters along the way.
No, now though, as I have voluntarily re-entered the ranks of interviewee after 4 years I am struck again by something that I have known all too well for all too long...
People DO NOT listen when you speak.
They may HEAR you, but this, this, is MUCH different than actually LISTENing.
Online application for a Digital Retoucher position.
I apply. I have retouched, retouched again and touched up peoples retouches, I am qualified. I have had my resume reviewed and it reflects all my qualifications in this regard.
I submit my resume and appropriate cover letter.
Two weeks pass. The phone rings.
My latest experience. Earlier today, middle of the afternoon.
"Hello." I answer.
Silence."Hi, this is Lauren." I say again.
Delay, papers shuffle, "Hhhello?! I am looking for Lauren Hill."
"This is she." I reply.
"Hi, Ms. Hill, I am calling from 'Enter Recruiter/HR company here' you recently applied for a position with our company."
"I believe that I did."
"Ms. Hill, I said, you recently applied for a position with our company."
I reply again, "Yes, I believe that I did."
Recruiter/HR person continues, "Would you like to know more about continuing your education?"
"I'm sorry, what?"
"We are a career counseling service that can also set you up with a college of your choice."
I reply, "Uhm, well I would like to hear a little more about the position I applied for first."
HR/Recruiter, "SO you don't want to know more about how you can receive your Associate's Degree."
"I actually already have my Associates Degree. You do have my resume, yes? I can resend it if necessary?"
"Well if you would like to continue your education and receive your Associate's Degree I would be happy to assist you with that."
I sit down and readjust the phone on my shoulder, "I have a question, are you in fact a recruiter?"
"I am a recruiter sir."
"Sir?" I respond.
"Ma'am, we can also offer you a credit counseling service along with job placement."
At this point in the call I was not sure if I was signing up for a credit check, going through a phone interview, speaking with a call center or what...
"No thank you, I am not interested. I would like to hear more about the Digital Retoucher position that I applied for though."
Recruiter. "The position? Yes. The position is in Morristown, NJ. Are you familiar with the field of Digital Retouching?"
"What? Yes. You do have my resume don't you?"
"Your resume says here that you have an Associates Degree in Commercial Design and Photography. Can you describe further what Commercial Photography is?"
"Sure, it is really photography and design that is meant to sell a clients product or service. As opposed to creating for yourself you are creating for a client and/or their vision."
"I see. And the commercial aspect, I have never heard of that before, is it, for both photography and design?"
"I'm sorry?" I respond puzzled. "Yes. I am sorry, you are a recruiter for Creative Staffing, correct?"
"So do you also have experience in this field?"
"Yes. As outlined on my resume, I have over 7 years of experience."
"I see and how many years experience do you have?"
Silence. "7 years."
"I see." Pen clicking in the echo of the phone. "Ms. Hill, I think you could be a good fit for this position."
Excellent, I think. Maybe this conversation has been some sort of Meyers Briggs personality test... maybe this is the way the recruiter weeds ppl out?
"Ms. Hill can you send me a copy of your resume and cover letter?"
"Of course, but if I may ask, what have you been reading off of? "
"Your resume and cover letter."
Silence.
"Oh, I see, yes, we won't be needing that I suppose."
The conversation went on in this fashion for about 10 more minutes. It's culmination was the icing on the cupcake that was this conversation.
"So Ms. Hill, do you have plans on going back to school for you Associate's Degree?"
"As I stated before I already have my Associate's degree. If you don't mind me asking, are you reading from a script of sorts?"
"No, Lauren, I am most certainly not."
In my head, I was hoping for a response of at least a, 'I do have a list of questions to assist as an outline for these types of conversations...' or maybe a 'We like to be prepared with questions to assess out candidates...' but no, I received a 'most certainly not'.
Frightening. I thought, maybe this poor recruiter has sifted through so many applicants that now all the responses roll together.
"Ms. Hill, my last question for this preliminary conversation..."
And here it was.
"What commercial experience do have if any in this field?"
Yes. This was my conversation.
I realize that in this day and age of text messages, emails, blogging, such as this one, Skype, tele-conferencing... you get the point, in this day and age, shouldn't our reading and hearing skills be improving as opposed to regressing?
I mean, we as a society are smarter than we ever were in times past, children as young as 6 are able to log on to their iBook play a customized Dora game, build a farm online and then print our the coloring book pages they want to color. SO why are conversations, especially professional ones, becoming harder and more frustrating.
I submit the rule of 3's. An idea, memo, statement, direction, finding, suggestion, answer and any other synonym you can think of for the above words, should be repeated at a minimum of 3 times to ensure the recipient not only hears it but LISTENS to it.
This submission could be in an either written form or verbal but 3 times. I am sure if a scientific study was done, the rule of 3rds would hold true. 3 times is the charm. 3 times is the minimum, 3 times and you may get a response.
Yes, listening doesn't mean that you are hearing and this is becomming more and more evident as each day progresses.
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