The One With the Chicken

I honestly thought I'd write this either very soon (same night) after the last post or at most, the next day. Meanwhile, 18 days later....

My wife applied for a job at my old office (From Hell!) in July. She's done the job, essentially, for a few years already on an on-call basis, but finally decided when the opportunity arose, to apply for a full-time position. Good pay, good benefits... paid holidays. Who can complain? That, and she figured after doing the job for so long that she's a natural shoe-in for the position.

And that's when the ol' gears started turning and some From Hell flashbacks occurred.

See, at the office From Hell, if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and even flies like a duck. Well, around there they call that a chicken.

As the days passed after she applied, my wife received more news:

• There were actually 2 open positions, so she had double the chance of landing the job (looks like a duck).
• 2 former co-worker/friends of mine were on the hiring committee (quacks like a duck).
• My wife, having worked in the union environment for years had earned enough hours of seniority to become an internal candidate, and the only internal candidate being interviewed (flies like a duck).

My wife didn't get the job. And I'm down 2 friends after how upset she got. While that chicken walked, quacked and flew, it was definitely a chicken.

See, although my wife has worked in that specific position for years, teaches the skills in adult education classes 7 weekends a year, and has over 15 years experience in similar positions, she didn't have the right "qualifications" for the job. It's an entry-level job and one of the new-hires had no experience.

Although my wife was informed, in writing, that she was an internal candidate (and that following the union rules, internal candidates take precedence over external ones), it turns out she was given the wrong information by both the HR and Union reps. Good job, people!

Although I had 2 (very much former) friends on the hiring committee, they felt that 2 other candidates were better suited for the job --than 2 people who have worked there for over 5 years. Yep, see, it wasn't just my wife who didn't get hired, her on-call co-worker didn't either.

I've encouraged my wife that it is, indeed, the office From Hell nd that no good will ever come from continuing to work there. As crazy as life is on the "outside" she can be assured that if she sees something that looks, quacks, and flies.... no one will think she's crazy for saying "duck."