My friend, Roger, is a Human Resources something or other. He says, “an employer must match skills to need. Imagine the chaos if you hire a file clerk unfamiliar with the ColorCodedHorizontalReverseAlphabetical System!” Who can dispute the value of knowledge and experience?
What if your local pizza parlor hired inexperienced delivery boys? Pies would grow cold, taste buds would wither away, couch potatoes would faint from hunger and TV commercials would be missed. The economy could collapse in the time it takes to learn the quickest route, where to park and whether to knock or ring the doorbell.
I thought about work experience as I listened to Diane’s side of the conversation:
“I ran ad agencies in LA and New York for decades…No, but I’ve worked with dozens of other software applications… No, but I’ve promoted hundreds of similar items… Yes it is helpful, but I’ve managed multi-media national campaigns…No, but don’t you want someone familiar with the big picture?...Can you think beyond the script in front of you?...Are you FRIGGING STUPID or what?”
This phone interview was over milliseconds after the ‘frigging stupid’ query. Roger would have done the same; you must show respect for Human Resources, making the right hiring decision isn’t easy.
“The job was running a campaign blitz for a retail giant,” Diane told me. “They wanted all the usual things, including working under strict budgetary and deadline demands. They’ve also got the latest miracle software, it’s one more of a jillion applications that’s supposed to do everything but sign your paycheck,” she explained.
Diane has directed some of those TV spots with the girl in jeans sipping Scotch atop a towering, solitary butte in Utah. She’s supervised teams of writers, designers, photographers, models and the other assorted folk charged with bringing promotional ideas onto print or screen. Now she’s freelancing, and occasionally sending off resumes.
Diane kept shaking her head and mumbling, “You know what that dummy kept asking - Yes, but do you have experience with BingoBoppo2gBoolaWare?”
I didn’t know how to respond. Everybody knows you gotta have experience.
No comments:
Post a Comment