Thanksgiving 2019

Yesterday.

On the eve of Thanksgiving 2019, the last Thanksgiving of this Decade, I found myself attending one of the few interviews I was invited to in some god awful location. I knew this location was godawful when I attempted to go to it. When I received the invite to the interview I knew darn good and well that even if I got the job (which was a slim chance in and of itself) that that location could not reasonably constitute my daily commute. But I went anyway. Since I haven't really been feeling like writing much. I am still so numbed by the events, I tweeted about the stupidity of it all. That's what I term almost everything in Nigeria these days, as "STUPIDITY'. My vocabulary is considerably limited and cannot accommodate events or acts of the human condition that flummox me, so instead I term them simply as, "stupidity".  Below is the Twitter thread. I am providing this just so I can chronicle this time and look back at them - hopefully in better days when I can put all this nonsense behind me.

Thanksgiving 2019. Where was I on Thanksgiving eve? Now I know.

10:45 am:

I'm at one of those interviews where they invite about 30 of us and make us all arrive at the same time and keep us in one room and make us wait for hours on end just to ask us insipid questions. Oh joy!

10:54am:

Just sitting here thinking about my life. Weighing my life choices. Could I have made better choices? Is it my bad choices that led me to this? How did I end up here at Thanksgiving, FFS?

(side note - Oh I know, cos I some French man I got as my manager didn't have the balls to stand up for me. I hope to God he isn't gay, if not that's a waste of balls)

10:59am:

Really didn't think this through when I decided to attend. But I didn't want to shun an invitation to interview since I rarely get callbacks.

The location is closer to Ibadan! One of the candidates actually does live in Ibadan. It'll be a great commute for her!! For me it's like moving to a different city.

4:32pm: (ordeal and excruciatingly long drive back home over)

In the end there weren't 30 of us. They were aiming for about 35 and instead about 25 showed up. The absentee 10 were on to something. They made us complete a written exam, timed and everything. So archaic. Reminds me of Jamb/WAEC.

(Side note - and that's the thing with Nigerians and the relative stupidity - am I supposed to cram the knowledge or am I supposed to have the opportunity to do some research, ruminate, brainstorm and ponder before I provide my opinion. They just want you to cram the knowledge and regurgitate it to them as and when needed with no appreciation of the theoretical study behind making an informed decision.)

4:32pm:

Enjoyed it cos it gave me an opportunity to exercise my brain cells a little bit in an academic setting. Plus, when I thought I had stooped low, I saw my senior in law school a few rows from me and she felt like she was kicked in the nuts too by having to take a written exam.

So, yeah...the job hunt continues.

It has gone international now. Remember writing into this same blog about my harrowing discouraging job search experience in Atlanta, so many years ago. Then I felt they were affected by cultural differences and having to interpret my Nigerian law degree and assimilate who this being is that is so in your face and asking for recognition. I assumed with those issues that there would be an element of comprehension of my skill set when I return to Nigeria (where the degrees were obtained). However, that is not the case. The skills they are familiar with I don't have and that keeps me constantly hitting my head against a wall. Hitting. 

Constant career frustration.