Marriage woes and interviews…

Hmm…It has been long since I wrote anything. And of course no one but I am supposed to be blamed for that. The internship story that I intended to write is very much an intention still. So it will take time to get published. In the meanwhile I have some interesting things to tell.

During one of my expeditions to find work in media I landed up at the door of a famous radio station in Hyderabad. Let us name it ‘X’ for the time being (As decency demands- I am not suppose to reveal the original name of the organization). Well the story began some 8 months ago when the radio station was at its inception level and I was called for the interview for a producer’s post. Everything went fine and I also said yes to the peanuts (when I say ‘peanuts’, I mean it literally) they offered me. Thinking- as a fresher the opportunity itself is the greatest salary I can have, I kept hope to hear the final call from them. The call did come but with a few changes. They told me I don’t have enough experience and therefore I am not taken.

So…What did I think? Well there wasn’t much to think…as usual I joined a ‘decent’ 9 to 6 job with a ‘decent’ salary.

Eventually ‘X’ called me again after a couple of months and expressed a wish to hire me. ‘Perhaps they are in severe dearth of people’ I thought. But this time I was a little apprehensive about the peanuts they offered me. So they again backed off their offer for the less than ‘decent’ salary I asked for. I thought it is ‘The End’ of the matter.

Amazingly a month ago ‘X’ knocked at my door again and this time with an interesting profile. Also I had a little amount of experience in internet radio to boast about. I told them ‘the profile was indeed interesting but I also need a ‘decent’ package (when I write ‘decent’ it doesn’t mean the eligible one, in stead it means a ‘manageable’ one) as I have my parents to look after and also save for a marriage somewhere in future’ (I thought, as a 24 year old woman, saving for your own marriage and not burdening your parents was a responsible thing to do). The deal was fixed and the papers were supposed to arrive in a couple of weeks.

By now you must have already guessed how unprofessional things have been with ‘X’, so naturally, ‘I’ who was the subject of the above incidents was extra careful not to expect a ready acceptance call. And I was proved right- the HR lady spoke to me about the official matter.

NOTE: She spoke to me when I was striking a personal conversation with my friend, who works in ‘X’, over phone at my own expense (thoroughly unprofessional I thought).

Anyway, the lady tells me my resume was on hold because I mentioned saving for ‘marriage’ during my talk with her. For a second I couldn’t understand what she was trying to communicate. Probably she realized that I was confused and was kind enough to explain things further. She said, “We were wondering if you will continue to work with us in case you get married and that’s why your resume is on hold”.

I clarified saying, “Nothing apart from an unhealthy work atmosphere and a low salary package can induce me to quit the job.” I thought, that sentence should satisfy the lady’s query but she went ahead and asked me again when was I getting married. My answer was ‘I don’t Know…I just said I have to save money’!

Now that was a genuine reaction from my side but probably the lady got vexed. She said she will get back to me but I haven’t heard from her till now. I have no hopes that she will ever get back to me! Probably because she must have thought that after three years I might have a kid to look after so how will I continue working then- future vision I presume. I wonder if she plans to take up celibacy!!!

So I learned two things-

(a) Being a woman, never mention your personal interests in family if you intend to join a firm (not even when you think you can pass yourself off as the responsible woman who could manage home and work).

(b) Don’t try to be genuine while attending interviews. Lie under the person’s nose and you will get the job.

And so I am back to my expeditions again.