A nasty story that happened to a guy I know

[tomtom]

Well, this is a true story that happened to a guy I know. It’s a somewhat depressing story and requires some thinking about those guys without a job who are in their 40’s, and may warn some about preparing well for their middle and /or older ages..

Well, somehow a really smart, well-educated and skilled guy didn’t have a job for some time and decided to apply for a minimum wage delivery job. He was in his forties or such.Those required skills he possessed for sure, since has had previous extensive customer service skills and newer has had an accident in the long driving carrier. So, he applied in a local well-known company, found a proper inside references and was pretty happy reading – jobs are based on a merit only. Therefore, it's nothing with ages there.So the guy waited, and somehow found that they skipped his application. Instead of him, they hired a less than 20 years old. So, that’s OK. The young one needed a job also, for sure. But, soon after that young and inexperienced one had a pretty big accident, driving the company’s car. So, the person in charge from the company was asked, well, why you didn’t hire someone who applied much earlier, who is more experienced and at the end why you didn’t hire the person I honestly recommended ? Ok , will give that old dude a chance, but he must apply again, do the same, references, driving record, application and stuff….so the old dude naively applied again …and sucked again.
Well, this make me sad somehow…especially knowing the guy's qualities and that he really needed a job to support his family.

 

[Maggie]

It's difficult enough these days for a young person to secure a decent job coming out of university or college, but, if you happen to be in your 40's or 50's, it's even more brutal and you're facing some mighty tough competition out there. The company I work for makes it a point to hire "kids" right out of university and place them in management positions. I've seen it many times and just recently in my own office. It's easier for the company to shape and mould them into what their vision of a leader is. Not always a good thing in my opinion.

But, getting back to finding work, if I had to start over and go through the interview process again, I would be very nervous. Interviews today are not what they were 10-20 years ago and your resume better be up to par. Today most interviews are of the "behavioural " type and the whole process can be quite intimidating for some, especially when having to sit across from a panel of 4-5 people who are judging you, so to speak. I'm trying to transfer out to another dept, and I have my resume up to date plus a folder of about 15 pages filled with "stories" (which is what they ask for at these interviews) You have to be well prepared!

Here is a sample of a few questions I'd be asked at an interview:

1. Could you describe the most stressful job (or situation) you have ever faced? How did you handle it?
2. In which circumstances did you use your communication skills at its best? What were the comments?
3. An unsatisfied customer threatens to end the business relationship with your company. What do you do?
4. Were you ever involved in a situation where you had to make a decision without having enough information? What did you do?

All these questions have to be answered in a story fashion, that is what they require and expect from you.

 

[tomtom]

...it's even more brutal ...

You chose a proper word. I should have named the thread A brutal story instead of A nasty story, since it was about a minimum wage job which was far below the guy's qualities...

3.An unsatisfied customer threatens to end the business relationship with your company. What do you do?

Well, a customer always should be right...despite some of them might take a nice advantage of that.

4. Were you ever involved in a situation where you had to make a decision without having enough information? What did you do?

Oh, yes ...but because of my extensive experience I was able to make it without any supervision. For example...which saved a lot of money for the company(or such the most important stuff )...

 

[Maggie]

Well, you chose a proper word. I should have named the thread A brutal story instead of A nasty story, since it was about a minimum wage job which was far below the guy's qualities...

Sadly enough, that is far too common anymore. You see it all the time. We've got cabbies here who are trained physicians in other countries, but, they can't practice their profession here in Canada. Granted, I realize they do need to return to school and be re-trained so as to qualify under Canadian medical standards, but, the government makes it very difficult for them to do even that. I would think with the shortage of doctors our towns are faced with these days they would embrace them and help them get the training they need. These are not stupid people.

 

[tomtom]

Sadly enough, that is far too common anymore. You see it all the time. We've got cabbies here who are trained physicians in other countries, but, they can't practice their profession here in Canada.

More sadly, I heard about an engineer , with 20 years driving experience and finished local truck driving school who failed to get a truck driving licence..it seems they expected him to take exams more times than he has money to pay for it...and he didn't have a proof what actually happened during those exams that he had paid for..BTW, he had near 100 % taking the computer parts of testing...

 

[Maggie]

I'm just glad I'm not starting out, it's almost impossible for anyone to find a full time job anymore. My daughter works 2 part-time jobs, one is in a nursing home and the other in a hospital. She would give anything to be able to work one job with regular hours. She has no benefits through either place, so dental, eye glasses, and prescription drugs all have to come out of her own pocket. Can get costly.

I just wanna win the lottery and move to Easy Street.

 

[tomtom]

so dental, eye glasses, and prescription drugs all have to come out of her own pocket. Can get costly.

I just wanna win the lottery and move to Easy Street.

Well, I spent my $1500 available insurance money in less than a year here. Next time I need a dentist , will fly somewhere, and at same time will get a nice vacation and finish the job for the same money. Don't know how is in your province, but here a root canal work may cost about $750.

 

[Maggie]

A root canal here is about 5-6 hundred dollars. Not easy to come up with when you have no benefits and don't make a whole lot of money.

 

[baileyb8]

i know i had one done in november and it was $750 ...that is not including the crown to put on it ..thats next

 

[peter]

Apparently it's lotto jackpot day at the Dentists office everyday. My daughter had two wisdom teeth removed in Dec. cost $1800.
luckily we have a dental plan, and got 80% back.

 

[nipsirc]

Good for you... now you have $$$ dollars more to spend for this week's Lotto 9 million draw

 

[tomtom]

....cost $1800
....

WOW... ...the dental plan I have covers something like up to $1500 yearly for my kid. And it is also 80% one...