Let’s start with the bad news and then work on up to the good news, shall we? Well first of all, as you know, I had an interview today in El Paso, TX with DialAmerica. What I didn’t mention is that later that same day another company, Convergys, contacted me and scheduled me for an interview as well. They’re located in Las Cruces on Del Rey Blvd off of highway 70. In other words, way the hell out there on the other side of town. That was at 10am and the whole process was estimated to take 2 to 3 hours because due to the forms and tests you have to fill out before even doing the interview.

Well I got halfway through the process and then a woman called me in to an office. “This is it”, I thought, “I’m about to be interviewed now”. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Instead I was told that on the 180 question test I had scored a little under the accepted number followed with a “thank you and feel free to apply again in 90 days”. Yeah, like I’m really going to wait around for three months just so I can apply with you guys again! It was a little after 12pm when they rejected me, I was so bummed. I wasn’t even interviewed, they didn’t talk to me hardly or anything. Just, sit down in front of this computer, create an account, and do this test. The test was like a cruel combination of the MMPI¹ and SAT² too. No joke. They would ask you a handful of questions per screen and there would be a question like “I think it is okay to tell a little white lie” and your choices to answer with were: strongly disagree, slightly disagree, unsure/don’t know, slightly agree, and strongly agree. Then on the next page there would be a question like “I never lie”; then one that said something to the affect of “Everyone tells a lie”; and “All businesses lie in some way to get ahead”. Seeing as how I was a Criminal Justice student and know all about personality tests from multiple classes, I saw all of the questions, knew that they were markers, and started panicking. I mean wow, I went in to apply and get an interview and here I am getting a crude personality exam done on me before they’ll even talk to me. No pressure or anything! I swear I dropped ten pounds in sweat sitting there doing that exam. No need for weight loss pills just go sit their “little test”.

Then there was a section that falls under their “Sales” category and it was like I was sitting my SAT all over again. Except this time, instead of having half of my attention drifting to my great grandmother’s condition (she had just had a stroke and been admitted to the hospital back then) I was just completely unprepared. No reference materials or tools allowed – just all from your head. I was a CJ major, my last math class was years ago. I cannot even remember cosigns and whatnot anymore. And those stupid “Complete the sequence: A F I E M Z” or “1 3 9 16 34″ questions never made sense to me. That is, unfortunately, the section that I was told I scored low in. I guess my personality was okay. But yeah, it felt like such a waste of time. Not to mention, they don’t even get to meet me and judge me on my character and experiance, it’s just a test they spring on you. Because they so did not mention an 180 question exam, plus whatever else was left. It was just “Fill out an application, get a brief overview of the job and do an interview”. Bastards.

What sucked even worse was seeing some chump in sandals, baggy and stained jeans, a wrinkled t-shirt, with long greasy hair pulled roughly back and a five o’clock shadow get hired while I get sent on my merry way. I ask you, where is the logic?

After all that I stopped at Sonic to grab something to eat then booked it over to El Paso. Montana is a very long street and with an address in the 8000’s I knew the place was way on the other side of El Paso – the farthest away. I got lost for a bit because I missed the exit I knew led to Montana, turned out that exact would have been way early. The exit I did eventually take off of was still pretty soon too. If I had stayed on I would have come off right near the place.

Anyway, I went in, filled out a very long application and turned in my resume. An interviewer saw me, seemed to like me and said she’d be giving management a recommendation for me. I was told to sit in the waiting room and handed more forms, including an I9 and a W-4 to fill out. Then the manager called me and spoke with me. Tomorrow she’s going to be giving me a call, and if she calls, it’ll be with my start date. I get PAID training to start off with, no problem. But the over all tone of both women sounded good. It really sounded like they liked me. I hit it off well with both of them and they were impressed with my resume, appearance, and attitude. I really hope I get this job.

Coming back from DialAmerica I clocked the distance. Now keep in mind, I’m not very familiar with the layout of El Paso. I know how to get to certain places, as those are the places I visit semi-regularly, and that’s about it. So since it took me a while to find the place, when I was leaving I paid attention to what streets I turned on and what got me back to the freeway the fastest. I didn’t start clocking the time and mileage until I was safely on the freeway and it wasn’t quite so bumper-tobumper. But here’s what I got. Coming back from DialAmerica it’s 35 miles, considering I obviously missed some, it’s probably about 40. And it took me a little over forty minutes to get from there to here.

So a round trip, mileage-wise, is going to be about 80 miles a day. Yowza. But hey, that’s the price you pay when you live in the boonies. Definately going to get Pyro some new shoes, an oil change, and a tune up as soon as possible. Some repair will keep me from eating up the gas too much.

So keep your fingers crossed for me guys and gals!

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1. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory – (MMPI) is one of the most frequently used personality tests in mental health. The test is used by trained professionals to assist in identifying personality structure and psychopathology. souce [↩]
2. The SAT Reasoning Test – (formerly Scholastic Aptitude Test and Scholastic Assessment Test) is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. [↩]