Life at Work

So Bob wasn't such a bad guy, but the whole temp agency thing really sucks. I mean, they review your resume, have you fill out eight million forms, then stick you in a room to take a bunch of computerized tests. Apparently I have an aptitude for editing people's correspondence.

My spelling and grammar skills are way up there, but strangely enough, I suck at Word - which I've only been using periodically since the program came out - almost as badly as I suck at Excel, which I pretty much lied about having any experience using. At least my scores were above the 50th percentile; I can still claim to be above average.

Now I play the waiting game. They submit my resume to potentially interested parties, who will request a face-to-face interview, and then decide whether or not to hire me (a) temporarily, (b) indefinitely, or (c) permanently. Or d) not at all, of course.

The whole thing actually has a vaguely Asian business practice feel to it, not that I have any point of reference when it comes to Asian business practices, but it's kind of how I imagine them. Middle-men, and so forth. Maybe when I go in for the face-to-face I should bring a gift.

J. Bird is the Beachwood's psuedononmyous workplace affairs correspondent. Bird is currently, um, without work. Catch up on the series here.