Sunday, January 3, 2021

Another Day, Another Dollar

A recruiter reached out to arrange an interview for a full-time position after I moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to the San Joaquin Valley near Sacramento.

At the time, I thought that the interview went well enough when it came to questions about my qualifications (ie, whittling down the square pegs of past positions to fit the round holes of the job description).

However, the issue of "fit" came down to the unspoken presumptions  of certain questions:

"Could you tell me something about yourself?" could be interpreted as "Are you the kind of person I already have in mind for the position?"

"What do you really want to do?" could be interpreted as "Are you after my job?"

"How would you handle this situation?" could be interpreted as "Tell me how to handle this situation because nothing I did seemed to work."

As I tried to read between the lines of those interview questions, I was reminded of a quote from my favorite author Robert Heinlein: "Sure the game is rigged, but you can't win if you don't play." In other words, I am responsible for the footwork, not the outcome.

I waited for over a week after the interview with no feedback from the recruiter. So, I sent a message that I was no longer interested in the position.

Still, I was not disappointed about the outcome, You see, I know that my life has a meaning, purpose, and plan. I just need to remember that it's not up to me to know (or understand) all of the details.

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