Another Bad Interview.

Recently, a dear friend (Marian) texted me asking if I was interested in teaching English, I replied yes. At the time, I was working at a frnachised coffee shop, unhappy but thankful for the opportunity of not starving and keep visiting potential work places, having money in my wallet and food in the fridge.

And so, Marian told me that a friend of hers (Yani) was looking for someone with a good level of English, not her, precisely but her boss. It was at a private elementary school, miles away from my house and it was 1:30 p.m., one hour away from taking the bus to work. I don’t own a car, and neither can drive, by the way. So I packed my uniform and rushed outside to the bustop, I intended to take another at the downtown, but a fast calculation of waiting times and urban traffic yielded that a taxi was the best way to arrive on time.

And so I did, my heart was pumping blood fast and as I was on the back sit watching the time, I was forseeing a call from my boss asking why I wasn’t at the coffee shop yet.

The thing I hate the most of that job is that checking in, is just the boss watching you cross the door through a monitor thanks to the cameras, while he’s sitting somewhere else. If it is 2:56 p.m., for example, and I haven’t arrived yet, my phone rings and is either him or the supervisor.

My reasoning (or excuse) is: ‘I’m coming late, and don’t know the exact time I’ll be there. Yet I’m sure I will arrive, late by minutes. If I was to come an hour late for any motive, I would call to give notice, and/or face the consequences. To be minutes late is not cause to give notice in advance, so calling me if I am ok and will arrive ASAP is harassment.’

But well, I arrived at the so called “Haze Institute”, paid 70 pesos (almost 4 USD, yeah that cheap) to the taxi driver. I was received by a friendly young woman, my age or younger, was interviewed, exceeded expectations, and it was over quicker than I thought. Afterwards, Yani gave me a ride to a bus stop, and there I launched to work.

I kept track, my interview was on a wednesday, by friday I was told by Yani that they haven’t hired yet. What puzzled me was that classes started next monday. That monday Yani stopped replying my texts. The message was clear: you are not longer part of the process.

Fuck!

This causes me anger and frustration. I understand that there is some kind of etiquette after the interview, and part of it seems to be a lot of obscurity from they, the recruiters. I am mature enough to see how they’re approaching this process. Why aren’t they the same to us, the job hunters? In this particular case, they were just as desperate for teachers as I was for quitting the coffee shop, as soon as possible. I showed interest, and asked politely to be contacted no matter the results. I assume they eased their hurry, hiring the staff needed, and didn’t deem necessary to send a message saying: you are not hired, sorry. Good luck!”

Why would they?

Well, they are not obligated, but nowadays it just takes a simple whatsapp text, from a person that isn’t even the hiring manager. Why again? Well, you were in a hurry looking desperately for English teachers, when classes started right next monday, somehow you managed to snatch me out of my ritualistic peaceful intermission, made me spend 85 pesos more than I have budgeted for that day (It’s kind of big for me, sorry), just to arrive there on time. For what? A simple interview were I dazzled you (your eyes revealed it, dear hiring manager younger than me), and yet I was aware that I couldn’t get it. A ‘sorry, we won’t hire you’ wouldn’t hurt. It would even help, because thanks to you I discovered that I don’t need a special paper to demonstrate my level and capacity to teach English (ahem!, in Mexico).

Sadly, this silence makes me feel like a cheap commodity. The one that arrives at your home, and lets you inspect it for your own judgement, and then leaves at your command without a secure notion of wether you are or not buying. That commodity doesn’t exist, of course. Unless that you call that way the job applicants that enter your office.

Clearly, I’m tired of being on the side that has to put the must understanding about the other part’s needs and customs. I might need to calm down and carry on with my life, thankful for the opportunity of not starving and actively job hunting.