Bakotopia

As a hard working, reliable individual with drive and experience, you wouldn’t think that it would be hard to find employment.  I am satisfied at my current job, but it isn’t going towards a career path I would like to take, so I decided to “explore my options”.  I posted my resume on an online website and pretty soon, I received many phone calls and e-mails for a variety of positions. 

A couple weeks ago, I had an interview that I was heavily recruited for.  I believe I had the right experience and attitude that this particular company was looking for.  Like a good interviewee should, the week before I had to attend the careering briefing set up by the company, I researched the company history, products and target market.

I went into the conference room, business-attire-clad, with a confident attitude. There were only a couple other people there, one of them very professional looking. The company representative gave us a spiel about why he was frustrated with his recruiting in Bakersfield.  He said that most people in Bakersfield were looking for “$10-an-hour job” and nothing else, that we weren’t putting our expectations any higher.  It kind of excited me because I was one of those people with a “$10-an-hour” job that was willing to work my butt off because I wanted something more out of life.  I admit that I tried to look a little older than I am for this career briefing because I knew how young I look could be a “minus-point” for this recruiter, but I believed that I carried myself well, I worked really hard on my resume, and I asked questions that showed that I had actually done some homework. Too bad I was the only that saw that.

In the end, the recruiter basically interviewed the older woman, while subtly ignoring me. He took both of our resumes (I guess he never took a look at them beforehand) and said he’d give us a call.  I went home and decided that although I would’ve made a great representative for the company, I wanted to work people that took me seriously.  The recruiter called me multiple times to see if I had made a decision and wanted to check out their office (guess he finally looked at my resume). I did not call them back.

It’s 2008 and our workforce is younger and more educated, but prejudice and stereotypes are still around.  I am going to continue working hard because after all, “good things come to those who wait”.  I do not resent that company but thank them for motivating me even harder to get my dream job.  My comment to employers: I understand that the teenage rebel wearing jeans and all their facial piercings and tattoos might not be the employee for you, but get to know the whole picture before you reject them out right.