I started my day with the following statement to the management team, "You ever see that Robin Williams movie, What Dreams May Come? The part where he is walking over all those dead people that are in purgatory and they are all reaching out, calling to him and needing him? Well that is how I feel today. I apologize in advance for all the times I bite your head off and send nasty emails. Okay? Okay. I'll try and behave, I'm just saying, it isn't looking good."
It turned out to be a stressful day for little return. The hiring open house was a semi-flop...and that is being generous. I won't bore you with all the mundane details of the day (like when I broke my nail...and it was a long one), but I will share about the one person that made the open house memorable for me.
I was sitting at the greeter/screener table with my partners in crime, Valerie and "Flower Girl." We were sitting there talking about the fashion statements the guys were making with their ensembles. Turns out some people think charcoal slacks and a black shirt are not appropriate to wear together. Anyway, the conversation turned, as it always does with girls, to our fashion. We started talking about FCD's and which ones we liked. To those that are not up on past blogs, an FCD is a Fat Controlling Device, aka, girdle, Spanx, etc. Well, this ran the guys off. Apparently they were unprepared to discuss female underclothes. Wimps. It was at that moment that my blog fodder walked up to the table.
This guy comes walking up looking kind of confused. Apparently he had been sent here to apply for a job. He wasn't really sure what job, just that we were hiring. I told him about the job and asked him if he was interested. He shrugged and said, "I guess, sure." A real go-getter. I'm going to call him, "Taco Bob."
I have a series of questions I have to ask every applicant. I was asking Taco Bob about his sales experience. He informed me Taco Bell was his experience. Okay. I ask him the second question and he exclaims, "WAIT! I forgot, I had another job." He looked in pain. His eyes squished shut, his fist went to his head, his mouth was tense. He tilted his head back and was thinking for all he was worth...nothing. His arms started to kind of swing around and he was seriously thinking harder than I have seen anyone think...ever. Now, he only looks like he is like 22 - 26 years old, maybe, so what could have transpired in his short working career that could have caused him to block out a job? Finally he bursts out that he sold something to people. I don't really know what it was, but it was something, I guess.
So, back to the second question. Taco Bob reaches over and grabs one of my questionnaires and starts reading the questions and answering them before I can even ask them, shooting answers at me. I was making notes and kind of stopped. He says, "I'm sorry, is it too forward of me to answer the questions before you ask them?" I said, "Well, I'd like to be able to ask the full questions and not skip over any parts." Sensing he had crossed a line, he put the paper down. So, I am asking him about the sales process and if he is ok with suggesting products and services to customers. He shrugged and said, "Well, at Taco Bell, I always tried to make sure if they wanted a Taco I would upsell them to a second one and some fiesta potatoes. And then I would try and see if they wanted a large fiesta potatoes or...." and he went on and on. By the time he was done he had sold me on two taco's, a crunchwrap and a large order of fiesta potatoes. Seriously. I got a real insight to what goes on in the drive-through. Taco Bob went on to tell me that talking to customers on the phone couldn't possibly be any different than talking to customers in person, so you know, upselling shouldn't be a problem.
I finished asking him all his questions and sent him on his way to the typing test...against my better judgement. I was exhausted and, quite frankly, I wanted a taco. My pal, Marie, was working down in the "holding room" where we have applicants wait for the typing test. She came up to check in with us and I asked her how Taco Bob was doing. She informed me that Taco Bob told her that working at Taco Bell was ok, but he kind of got irritated by the customers. This story seems to vary from the one he gave me. Hmmmm. You know, it isn't often that our customers call, wait 20 minutes to talk to someone and then say, "Hey, just wanted you to know that I love my service, have a nice day!" I don't know what Taco Bob was thinking, but if you think people get pissed when you forget their hot sauce, just wait till you have to explain taxes. In retrospect, I should have asked Taco Bob what shift he worked. Like, did he work the "fourth meal" crowd with the late night munchies? Or was he working the lunch crowd. I mean, I think I let my company down by not clarifying.
The sad part of the day is that Taco Bob is probably our lead candidate. We had one cute guy, a few normal-seeming people, a girl that worked at a place called Yogurt Monkey (seriously?) and then some people that I am not sure why they came. I gave a pep talk to one guy that had been through the process two other times before. Valerie said I sounded like I really cared and she said she didn't know what brought this on. I felt bad for him. He seems like a nice guy. You go and help one person and then you're a freakin humanitarian or something. I don't need that kind of reputation.
Hopefully, tomorrow will go better. And I hope I get someone from Wendy's cuz I am going to ask them about the size of their Junior Frosty. That still pisses me off and I'd like some answers. Upsize that, butthead.
Damn it!!! "I got the late night munchies...." Taco Bell song stuck in my head!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfD6DXnvULU
It turned out to be a stressful day for little return. The hiring open house was a semi-flop...and that is being generous. I won't bore you with all the mundane details of the day (like when I broke my nail...and it was a long one), but I will share about the one person that made the open house memorable for me.
I was sitting at the greeter/screener table with my partners in crime, Valerie and "Flower Girl." We were sitting there talking about the fashion statements the guys were making with their ensembles. Turns out some people think charcoal slacks and a black shirt are not appropriate to wear together. Anyway, the conversation turned, as it always does with girls, to our fashion. We started talking about FCD's and which ones we liked. To those that are not up on past blogs, an FCD is a Fat Controlling Device, aka, girdle, Spanx, etc. Well, this ran the guys off. Apparently they were unprepared to discuss female underclothes. Wimps. It was at that moment that my blog fodder walked up to the table.
This guy comes walking up looking kind of confused. Apparently he had been sent here to apply for a job. He wasn't really sure what job, just that we were hiring. I told him about the job and asked him if he was interested. He shrugged and said, "I guess, sure." A real go-getter. I'm going to call him, "Taco Bob."
I have a series of questions I have to ask every applicant. I was asking Taco Bob about his sales experience. He informed me Taco Bell was his experience. Okay. I ask him the second question and he exclaims, "WAIT! I forgot, I had another job." He looked in pain. His eyes squished shut, his fist went to his head, his mouth was tense. He tilted his head back and was thinking for all he was worth...nothing. His arms started to kind of swing around and he was seriously thinking harder than I have seen anyone think...ever. Now, he only looks like he is like 22 - 26 years old, maybe, so what could have transpired in his short working career that could have caused him to block out a job? Finally he bursts out that he sold something to people. I don't really know what it was, but it was something, I guess.
So, back to the second question. Taco Bob reaches over and grabs one of my questionnaires and starts reading the questions and answering them before I can even ask them, shooting answers at me. I was making notes and kind of stopped. He says, "I'm sorry, is it too forward of me to answer the questions before you ask them?" I said, "Well, I'd like to be able to ask the full questions and not skip over any parts." Sensing he had crossed a line, he put the paper down. So, I am asking him about the sales process and if he is ok with suggesting products and services to customers. He shrugged and said, "Well, at Taco Bell, I always tried to make sure if they wanted a Taco I would upsell them to a second one and some fiesta potatoes. And then I would try and see if they wanted a large fiesta potatoes or...." and he went on and on. By the time he was done he had sold me on two taco's, a crunchwrap and a large order of fiesta potatoes. Seriously. I got a real insight to what goes on in the drive-through. Taco Bob went on to tell me that talking to customers on the phone couldn't possibly be any different than talking to customers in person, so you know, upselling shouldn't be a problem.
I finished asking him all his questions and sent him on his way to the typing test...against my better judgement. I was exhausted and, quite frankly, I wanted a taco. My pal, Marie, was working down in the "holding room" where we have applicants wait for the typing test. She came up to check in with us and I asked her how Taco Bob was doing. She informed me that Taco Bob told her that working at Taco Bell was ok, but he kind of got irritated by the customers. This story seems to vary from the one he gave me. Hmmmm. You know, it isn't often that our customers call, wait 20 minutes to talk to someone and then say, "Hey, just wanted you to know that I love my service, have a nice day!" I don't know what Taco Bob was thinking, but if you think people get pissed when you forget their hot sauce, just wait till you have to explain taxes. In retrospect, I should have asked Taco Bob what shift he worked. Like, did he work the "fourth meal" crowd with the late night munchies? Or was he working the lunch crowd. I mean, I think I let my company down by not clarifying.
The sad part of the day is that Taco Bob is probably our lead candidate. We had one cute guy, a few normal-seeming people, a girl that worked at a place called Yogurt Monkey (seriously?) and then some people that I am not sure why they came. I gave a pep talk to one guy that had been through the process two other times before. Valerie said I sounded like I really cared and she said she didn't know what brought this on. I felt bad for him. He seems like a nice guy. You go and help one person and then you're a freakin humanitarian or something. I don't need that kind of reputation.
Hopefully, tomorrow will go better. And I hope I get someone from Wendy's cuz I am going to ask them about the size of their Junior Frosty. That still pisses me off and I'd like some answers. Upsize that, butthead.
Damn it!!! "I got the late night munchies...." Taco Bell song stuck in my head!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfD6DXnvULU
for the integrity of my blog reporting, I have changed mexi-fries to fiesta potatoes. I had misquoted Taco Bob. I have now righted my wrong.
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