Simon Square Hole
Simon makes sure he fits the square hole.
Scrutinising the Job Description and Person Spec,
He copies and pastes the pertinent extracts,
Mixing up the order a little,
Varying the verbiage,
Until he produces something
That’ll make them think he’s a natural fit.
Until they see him as the square block for their vacant square hole.
And when they interview him,
Which they do more often now he does it this way,
He’ll regurgitate their mission statement
And the policies he’s read on the net the night before,
And they’ll nod as they tick surreptitiously
All the things they need to hear said
Above and beyond anything honest,
Anything genuine.
And Simon will get the job,
And he will do well,
For a while,
Showing up in the expected suit,
And showing off the expected skills.
Confining his conversation to the expected, too.
And the company will love it,
If they notice him at all,
He will be precisely what they were looking for,
Because they only appoint precisely what they’re looking for,
So the Simons of this word become ever less precisely themselves.
Which is why he’ll be applying for another job before his first month is out.
