I've been interviewing people for the last few days, trying to find someone to replace the unfortunate staff member whose performance has been so abysmal and who, I hated to decide, had to be dismissed. She's still on board and seems to have actually gotten better, but it's too late. I hate it that she will be on the market again and will, no doubt, find it extremely hard to find a job. Anyway, I've been talking to applicants.
The applicants have ranged from a brand-new, fresh, wet-behind-the-ears college grad (today) to a well-seasoned manager who's "seen it all." During this stint of interviewing, I've decided that I'm actually looking for two positions, at least: one to replace the departing staffer...a person who can lead the client, serve as a sounding board for clients, and have credibility with them; and another to be a support person, someone with high energy, a quick learner with unbridled enthusiasm. The "college kid" I talked to today will come back on Monday; I liked him and he seems like a malleable person, but one who has sufficient backbone to avoid being molded into something he's not.
Yesterday, I interviewed a woman who is my age (she says), 53, but I was appalled to look at her. She was shriveled and her face was crossed with lines and wrinkles and there is evidence of a hard life behind her. That, alone, was hard to get beyond, but she added to the burden: her answers to all my questions were 95% longer than I'd had hoped and she blathered on about meaningless drivel. And she admitted it. This woman is close to unemployable, in my view, and I felt a deep sadness as I talked to her, knowing I would never offer her a job and feeling certain that few people would. Her husband died recently and she moved back to Dallas recently...and she is unemployable. That's heartbreaking. I wish I could snap my fingers and change her appearance and personal presentation so she could get a job. She has skills and knowledge, I'm convinced of it, but they do not overcome her own persona. I asked her if she smoked and she said no...but, as an ex-smoker (I smoked for more than 35 years), I could tell she does...and she can't control it. Shit. Poor woman. Why did I invite her in for an interview? It just depressed me.
Things continue to be troubling for me. Firing staff, looking for replacement, wishing I could just cash it all it and retire.
You who are better-situated than I, enjoy your lives. You who are in my position, get into a new one. I'm working on that, myself.
On another topic, my yard looks nice today. Rain helps.
1 comment:
You have so much empathy. I can see why these experiences really trouble you. There are no answers, other than people live the lives they have, they end up with the face that their living gives them. You can have compassion, but you can't undo how a life has been lived. That's not within anyone's power.
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