Job Hunting

Dysfunction annoys me. I’m not saying that everything in life has to be in perfect little boxes, I’m just asking for some semblance of order. Job hunting in Kuwait is dysfunctional. People saying they’ll call you in a week actually will go on vacation and not answer your calls. You’ll schedule a meeting and people will be late. It’s just a way of life.

The other day, I got a call from a company. I really had no idea what the name of the company was, nor was I familiar with what they did. (I feel it is best to mention here that I’ve been sending out my resume through my father, who really has the contacts in this country). So, I asked. Turns out they were a real estate company. I was trying to get away from real estate.

I was not pleased.

But, I was polite. They wanted me to come in that morning at 11 a.m. (it was 9 a.m. at this point). I agreed. I asked where, exactly, the office was located. A pause. The lady asked if I knew where Random Street in Kuwait City was. I did not. Which isn’t unusual, considering identifying streets in Kuwait is like identifying chickens in a hen house. There was another pause. “Well… can someone bring you here?” Considering you called me two hours before an interview on a weekday when both my parents are at work? I doubt it, lady. And what would I tell a taxi driver? “Hi, take me to this building.” “Where is it?” “I have no idea.”

I asked if anyone else knew. She transferred me to someone, who also had no idea.

Seriously, people, how are we getting to work every day?

So I show up at the interview, dutifully answer the questions, and I think I Bomb it. The whole thing was a half hour, including filling out the application., Not promising.

But this morning, I get another call from Dysfunctional Real Estate Company.

Lady: “You have a meeting tomorrow.”
Me: (frantically, in my head: “I do? What? When? Why did no one tell me? WHAT?”)

Turns out, she was trying to schedule a meeting for me tomorrow. Fine. We set up an appointment for 10 a.m. Fine. She asks if I know how to get there. I tell her no.

I tell her no, because when she had called me initially, she mumbled the company name. I figured she could give me directions, tell me what company name to look for and I would no. No problem, right?

No, big problem. Instead of giving me directions, she immediately, without warning, transfers me to someone. Who? I don’t know. Why? To give me directions. The problem?

She never told me who I’m supposed to be meeting with tomorrow.

So, this guy gives me (terrible) directions, and when he’s done, I ask him, praying that he’d know, who, exactly I’m supposed to meet with tomorrow. He, of course, has no idea. I asked him who I spoke with before (because, again, she failed to identify herself. COMMON SENSE, PEOPLE), and, of course, he had no idea.

He tells me to call back in five minutes and he’ll try hunting down who I’m supposed to meet with.

I am seething. I mean, I’m not asking for rocket science here, I’m just asking for proper etiquette. Identifying yourself, who the meeting is with, the company name… it’s all very simple.

I call back, and this time he’s figured out who called me in the first place and transfers me to her (DREC, by the way, has “Home on the Range” as their hold music). She tells me who I’m supposed to meet with, and then adds that she did, in fact, tell me when she called me the first time.

Lady. I assure you, you did not. I'm not sure what part of any of this will make me want to work for their company.

I’m going to borrow a line from Jessica: How is this my life?