A Very Different Interview

I was scheduled for the second interview, this one a face-to-face, in one of the towns of Alberta last week. This was as the second part of a job application with one of the major manufacturers in North America which I had a telephone interview with nearly three weeks ago. However I have started this job which I have started two weeks ago (not that anyone cares!) and I had to make up a story to sell them to be able to leave for the interview on time. 

This guy that I work with, or I'd say I work for, is a fruitcake (whom I will write about later) and I told him that I had to see a doctor. The nut-job agreed to let me go at 13:00 but kept forgetting and when I told him I was leaving, almost 1 hour and half before the time said that he had forgotten! I was going to say: Why the hell don't you fucking forget the bullshit you say to me every day and when I forget something you get mad! But I didn't. I hope I get a chance to give him shit one day before I go! 

Anyways I left at 13:00 and that was the worst time due to traffic. I hit a few red lights as well and by the time reached The Chef's where I was supposed to change based on our appointment, it was already late. I left quickly and followed the damn GPS but that was a mistake! 

The damn machine took me through Metis Tr. where the speed limit is 60 and 70 Km/h! I eventually got myself to QEII, of course after wasting so much time and drove to the said town but it was a very bad time for driving and I was already 30 min. behind the schedule! I was going over the posted limit at times and I have to say that while I admit it was a mistake, everyone does that! I didn't see even one single cruiser and if there had been, there would have been barely any car without ticket on that highway that afternoon! 

I decided to pull over and call the recruiting lady and ask her to call the interviewers and let them know that I would be late. I called but she didn't pick up and I don't think she even bothered checking the voice message I left. Pulling to the side of highway, where the shoulder is narrow, could be a fatal mistake because you're not supposed to do that and I even think there might be a penalty for it and then the drivers don't care, most of them. They speed off by you and miss you with 1 feet! Some drive so fast that the wind they create pushes you aside! 

I continued the trip to the town but I realized that there was a road construction on the way and then I was diverted into the town where the speed limit is 50 Km/h! I was so mad at myself, the freaking stupid supervisor and the damn company which selected the worst time of the week for this interview that my head was about to explode! I finally reached my destination with 20 min. delay and I was admitted in. I have to add this that I had already postponed this interview once because the recruiting lady called me once at about 16:45 and wanted me to go there the next morning! I could go but I was worried about the current job, especially because it is through a recruiting agency. I told myself: What if I don't get hired by them and lose this freaking stupid job too? How many more weeks or months I would have to wait to get something? 

I made an excuse and sold it to the lady, I hoped! The other reason that I postponed the interview was that I checked the interview panel people's profiles in Linkedin and I didn't like any of them! Actually there were only three of them had profile but I liked none! I think regardless of the fact that I have tried different jobs here in Canada and the old country and mostly worked with everyone easily, I'm not generally a type of person who can work with others easily at the beginning. I either have problems with people right at the beginning or when I leave the job! That's a different topic which I might cover later. 

Only two out of the four interviewers were available. It certainly was in my favour. Unlike what I had expected the main person who interviewed me and would be my manager if I get the position was a very nice guy. The other one was not a bad one, at least in the first encounter. He seemed less impressed and he mostly listened and asked a few questions only. That was because he was much younger and almost a recent graduate. Plus he was from here while the older gentleman was a foreigner like me. The interview took about 01:30 hour with the second person, the sidekick(!) leaving 15 min. before the end. I was told that there would be another interview if I'm successful in this one! 

I understand that completely. This is a hard job in a very successful company which offers good salary and benefit and perhaps lasts for years. They want to make sure that they have the right person for it. 

I and The Chef were supposed to go to a local bar that he had been to once and liked it after the interview but I felt a very bad pain in my right foot and I know it was because I hadn't have any water for nearly 5 hours. The drive back to the city was a very irritating and disturbing one. Not just because the pain I had in my right foot but also because the highway was almost packed with big trucks, 18-wheelers and SUVs which all were being driven like crazy and all, without exception, were over the speed limit. I called The Chef to see if he's ready to go to that bar when I reached the city limit (to avoid long distance call!). He didn't pick up the first time and then when he picked up the second time he sounded sleepy and drunk, both and said that he didn't want to go!

That added more to my miserable day and I missed an exit when I was going home. When I finally reached the nasty apartment building I was just looking for someone to break his jaw with a kick or punch! Fortunately that opportunity didn't present itself and the day ended peacefully!
(Photo: Fortunately I didn't experience such a craziness on my way to the interview but in this image from a dash camera clip you see a crazy stupid driver trying to pass two cars from in between them! This was handed over to CTV, I guess and I hope they don't mind me using them here now that I mention their name. However what baffles me is lack of police presence during the entire trip)