Ponzi, Peanuts and Prayers

I am at a loss for how to explain today except in one word:

Sucky.

I went to an "interview" that wound up to be just as I imagined a "business opportunity" in disguise (they didn't even want my resume and were ready to sign me up without a single sentence out of my mouth). I said no thank you and left. Ponzi schemes are not for me.

I went on to an open house for what I thought was a serious, professional position in the sales field. While sales is not necessarily what I WANT to be doing, I am pretty good at it and it usually pays well. I get there and I'm actually watching the "sales office" as I wait for my interview.

It was telemarketing for ads (which I did at our local paper for several years) with nothing but a headset and a phone book. (No personal computer, no email, no pictures, nothing.) The phones are designed so that you can only get an inside line if the office manager allows it. Your time on the phone is monitored and you are docked if you are even a minute low. Your breaks are scheduled a la "2nd grade". You don't even lock in and confirm your own sales- you pass if over the the "floor manager" to confirm that you can write down what the customer ordered appropriately. You don't do any layout, design- you don't even keep track of how much of the page is left to sell- it's all handled by the manager. This is all stuff I did the first WEEK I worked at the paper, so I am seeing it as a serious step backwards.

I get to the interview. The interviewer talks for a moment, shows me the product, and then asks me to read from their standard script (which is crummy, btw).

I frickin rock the script. I have an OUTSTANDING phone voice and I know how to modulate, breathe and follow a script well. I nail it and I know it.


The interviewer is trying to fill X amount of positions and tells me that he will know by the end of the day and expects to make calls tomorrow morning. He "has a feeling" he will be calling me. The job would start Monday.

I don't want to take this job.

I'm in the middle of my career and trying to move forward as a professional. This is a job that I would have gladly taken 6 or 7 years ago, but today is a different story.

The pay is about half what I currently make. Absolutely no mention of benefits or anything else.

If I decline, I might not qualify for unemployment. But taking it would be career suicide. This is a seriously peanuts job.

And the prayer:

The local clinic called me back; after I had a great 2nd interview last Friday. The call came while I was in a training session for my part time job.

I'm calling back tomorrow morning, right away. I'm praying for good news.