Time really flies when you're not having fun. It seems like October just started and already it's Halloween. For the last month my days have followed the same dull pattern: the alarm clock at 7 a.m. is ignored until 7:45; I rush around preparing for work and dash out the door around 8:40; arrive at work by 9 to sit in front of a computer screen for the next 9-10 hours; leave the office between 6 and 7 p.m.; feed the cats, watch TV, go to bed around 11. Rinse and repeat.
Fortunately, I'm planning another vacation in a few weeks. I'm going to stay with my sister Two over Thanksgiving. This will give me an opportunity to see my best friend's new house, which she purchased in July. I will probably leave with a severe case of design-envy, as the only thing I've really done to change the appearance of my house is tearing out the lilacs this summer. I'm excited to see my nephews and my sisters again. Nine will be there too and she has big plans for a Cheesecake Factory coupon. Yea!
In case you were wondering, I needn't have worried: Dizzy bombed her interview. When asked why she applied for the job she responded, "My boss told me you had 3 openings and I should apply." Um... the correct answer would have been something along the lines of "I enjoy working with numbers" or "I'm looking for a new experience to grow my skill set". We are getting a new hire tomorrow. I hope I get along with her. I hope she doesn't outshine me!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Dizzy
I've worked for the same company since early 2004, although technically I was a temp for the first 13 months so on paper I've only worked there 5 years. In that time the company has changed names twice and I have changed job titles 6 times. When I was hired into a permanent position I interviewed replacement temps with my supervisor. I didn't like the girl she selected. Not at all. She was a bubble-headed redneck who giggled in the interview. A lot. But the guy I wanted to hire turned us down so we took a chance on "Dizzy".
Fast-forward 5 1/2 years and Dizzy still works as a temp in that department. I worked beside her for 18 months before changing departments. She wasn't terrible but she had limited software skills and no inclination to improve them. It frustrated me because I am the type who likes to learn shortcuts and find ways to improve processes. Dizzy did things the hard way. She was slow to pick up new systems and was often scrambling to fix her mistakes.
I lost whatever respect I had for Dizzy when I had to start dealing with her as an end-user. The girl asked the same questions over and over. She couldn't retain anything we told her. The final nail in the coffin was when she accidentally tagged a record to be deleted and, not knowing how to correct her error, she told an outside vendor they had to recreate the file and asked my department to delete our version of it. I explained to her why this was a bad idea and told her how to re-import the file from our system. A week later Dizzy emailed asking us to delete a "duplication" that occurred when the vendor recreated their file. I was spitting mad. I still am, a little bit.
My old supervisor loves her. I can't explain why. She wasn't allowed to back fill when I left the position. I think she feels guilty about not hiring Dizzy permanently because every time there's a job opening in my department I hear from her. The funny thing (to me) is that I never hear about how qualified Dizzy is, just that she deserves to be hired because she works so hard. Yeah. If she were a little smarter she wouldn't have to work so hard.
Fortunately, in my last department the supervisor knew the kind of dingbat we were dealing with and swore she would never hire Dizzy. But now there's an opening in my new department. I saw Dizzy's resume in the pile of candidates to be interviewed next week and I nearly choked. This group has never worked with her but some of them know her from taking smoke breaks together. They may even like her. I told our Lead a little about her and why I didn't think she would be a good fit. I don't know if that was an ethical thing to do or not. I really don't want to work with her again. I might go crazy.
Fast-forward 5 1/2 years and Dizzy still works as a temp in that department. I worked beside her for 18 months before changing departments. She wasn't terrible but she had limited software skills and no inclination to improve them. It frustrated me because I am the type who likes to learn shortcuts and find ways to improve processes. Dizzy did things the hard way. She was slow to pick up new systems and was often scrambling to fix her mistakes.
I lost whatever respect I had for Dizzy when I had to start dealing with her as an end-user. The girl asked the same questions over and over. She couldn't retain anything we told her. The final nail in the coffin was when she accidentally tagged a record to be deleted and, not knowing how to correct her error, she told an outside vendor they had to recreate the file and asked my department to delete our version of it. I explained to her why this was a bad idea and told her how to re-import the file from our system. A week later Dizzy emailed asking us to delete a "duplication" that occurred when the vendor recreated their file. I was spitting mad. I still am, a little bit.
My old supervisor loves her. I can't explain why. She wasn't allowed to back fill when I left the position. I think she feels guilty about not hiring Dizzy permanently because every time there's a job opening in my department I hear from her. The funny thing (to me) is that I never hear about how qualified Dizzy is, just that she deserves to be hired because she works so hard. Yeah. If she were a little smarter she wouldn't have to work so hard.
Fortunately, in my last department the supervisor knew the kind of dingbat we were dealing with and swore she would never hire Dizzy. But now there's an opening in my new department. I saw Dizzy's resume in the pile of candidates to be interviewed next week and I nearly choked. This group has never worked with her but some of them know her from taking smoke breaks together. They may even like her. I told our Lead a little about her and why I didn't think she would be a good fit. I don't know if that was an ethical thing to do or not. I really don't want to work with her again. I might go crazy.
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