But you didn’t have to cut me off
Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing
And I don’t even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger and that feels so rough
No you didn’t have to stoop so low
Have your friends collect your records and then change your number
I guess that I don’t need that though
Now you’re just somebody that I used to know
Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing
And I don’t even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger and that feels so rough
No you didn’t have to stoop so low
Have your friends collect your records and then change your number
I guess that I don’t need that though
Now you’re just somebody that I used to know
As I might have mentioned I am looking for a job. A part of this process is interviewing. Lots and lots of interviewing. Today I was reminded of an interview story from a few years ago and I thought it seemed like the perfect time to tell this story.
I am a trainer. I train. I was working in Atlanta and the company I work for was closing the site where I worked. (could I use the word work one more time in that sentence? Probably not). I was doing anything I could to stay with the company, including looking to relocate anywhere in the country that I could keep training. I am an amazing trainer. This is not hubris. It is what I am good at. When I was first hired at my current employer I had a horrible new hire experience. The trainer was really never there for us. I don’t just mean physically, although that was the case most days, but he was not interested in our training at all. He had personal problems, which he let us know about as a way of letting us know he didn’t suck at his job. We were just not his priority at the time. I completed my training and had no clue what I was doing and thought I would be fired at any moment. I decided when I got into training I would never let that happen to a new hire I trained…and it never did.
I was hired as a collector and I became damn good at it. When I went to training, I mostly trained collections. So when I began looking for a training job to continue my career with my employer, naturally I wanted to keep training collectors. There was not an opportunity for me (well there was one that I screwed up big time…BIG TIME…but that is a story I am not quite ready to tell yet). I was offered an interview for a customer service trainer in Texas. I had never been to Texas and only knew one mexican, but paychecks on the 15th and the last day of the month are a great motivator, and I began the process. The first part is always a phone interview and those are pretty much the same. “Tell me about a time when you blahblahblah” or “Think about a time when blahblahblah happened. Tell me how you blahblahblah”, etc. You get the point. Well as a trainer there is another layer of this process. Dance Monkey Dance.
“We know you have been training for over 8 years and have a proven track record of success that we can see. We still want you to fly out here and present a training class to 14 fellow trainers you have never met that all want their friend here locally to get the job that you are interviewing for and they all hate you because they are some of the same people that your class results are better than and you have been compared to on a semi-regular basis. (Am I not the master of the run on sentence? Are you not entertained????) Those same people will judge you and decide whether we will offer you a seat at the table”. Ok, maybe I am remembering this a little differently because of the outcome, but stick with me true believers. This one is pretty funny.
So in some of these T-3 (train the trainer) situations you are given no topic and you can do whatever you want. Other times you are given a topic and told to present on it. Any creative person would prefer the former, but you can probably guess which type this one was…yep, and the topic was Customer Service Excellence. I am going to step away from this story to tell a tiny side story…I hope you will indulge me. I assure you it is worth the sidebar.
When I first was asked about being a trainer, at my employer, we were told to come up with a presentation, but we could do whatever we wanted. I asked a few of the other potentials and they stupidly told me their ideas…trusting goats that they were. I wouldn’t do anything to sabotage someone, but I was sure amused with the subjects they chose. Now remember this was a call center I worked at. Some of the topics were PHONE ETIQUETTE, or CUSTOMER IDENTITY VERIFICATION STEPS.Sheep. I chose to teach how to assemble and disassemble a Berretta 92fs Stainless Steel semi-automatic handgun. “Who’s House????? Tom’s House.” I did my presentation for the training manager and 2 HR managers. All 3 were women. Needless to say it was quiet room while I presented. At the end I tied it together with a statement on how with a job aid, a little hands-on and coaching with their trainer, in very little time they would be able to do something they never thought they could. The same thing for the new hires I would train. They would probably be a tad nervous, as were the 3 ladies on that day I assure you. But with a little help from me, the training materials and the system, I would get them where they needed to be, just like I got myself there 8 months before. Long story short, they loved my creativity, my thinking outside the box style, and I got the job.
I am going to stop here I think to catch my breath. I promise to finish this story before the end of the week. LOVEYOUMEANIT
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.