In her new position as a Marketing Manager for the Department of Stodge, Winona is supervising two staff. One of them, a sonsy, mild-mannered woman, is half-time doing desktop publishing and suchlike. Winona had lunch with her Tuesday and found her pleasant, if opaque. Today she is having lunch with her other staffer, who is […]
Entries Tagged as 'jobs'
Any Way The Wind Blows
May 28th, 2010 Comments Off on Any Way The Wind Blows
What has Will been up to, anyway? At work, he has been accepted into the tribe. He goes around with colleagues to lunches, drinks, software user groups, and the occasional sporting match. A great mob of them always go out for curry on Wednesday. The rest of the week, three or four of them tend […]
Mud and Petals
May 26th, 2010 1 Comment
It’s done. Winona emerges from an unrenovated office tower, clenching a mud-colored folder to her chest. The mud tone is the official branded colour of the Department of Stodge – all the signed paperwork for her Winona’s new job is now being clasped to her breast against a sudden downpour. The stony, low sky might […]
It’s About Time
May 19th, 2010 Comments Off on It’s About Time
Winona has received a job offer from the Department of Stodge. She is not surprised. Twenty years ago, an offer like this would have meant a job for life. Everyone knows that it isn’t, anymore. But the employee selection system around it is still constructed as if this had not changed. Winona has been through […]
Tags: government · jobs · will · winona
The Department of Stodge
May 5th, 2010 1 Comment
Sit bolt upright on the edge of your seat, rigid as a post, and you’ll have the same posture as Winona, who is in the middle of her job interview. On her way in, she surveyed the Department’s location with interest. They are tucked into the bad side of an office tower in the middle […]
Tags: government · jobs · old city · winona
The Guardian Sphinx
April 28th, 2010 Comments Off on The Guardian Sphinx
It is now Winona’s turn to navigate the intricacies of a job interview. In Wellington, the mushy term “Business Analyst” can be read as “Smart Person Wanted.” So Winona sent in a CV for a position being guarded by an employment agency. Gratifyingly, her cellphone rang two days later. Now, she is facing off across […]
Tags: government · jobs · winona
Not An Interview
March 19th, 2010 Comments Off on Not An Interview
Will is at the strange ritual of Having Coffee With A Potential Employer, a Wellington phenomenon as measured as a Japanese tea ceremony. First, there is the hosts’ disclaimer that this meeting of minds isn’t an interview. They just wanted to meet him. It is unspoken that, if he is found worthy, an actual job […]
Tags: coffee · jobs · social mores · will