Monday, July 09, 2007

nope, not done yet.

they gave us an extra week to work on the project, so the final due date is next friday. only 4 days to go.


i got another phone call from this lady asking me to work in her firm as soon as i'm done with the project. i had already made up my mind that i didn't want to work in an architectural firm, at least not in egypt. so instead of excusing myself politely and thanking her for the opportunity (which would be the mature/responsible way of handling the situation) i decided to have a little fun and and let her have second thoughts about hiring me. childish and stupid? probably. but it felt like it would be something that would cheer me up at the time.

normally when someone is applying for a job he tries to give the impression that he's really eager to work, and that he can do anything they ask for. i did the exact opposite of that.


this is how the phone call went:

her: "introducing herself and politely asking if i needed help with my project"

me: thank you. so if i do work for you, what exactly will i be doing? working drawings, designing, photoshop, 3d modeling?

her: a little bit of everything.

me: ok will i be working inside the office? or will i be supervising the project's construction in the field??

her: both. you'll visit the field every once in a while to see how everything's going.

(here's when i started having second thoughts - it sounds like an awesome job : tons of experience and a flexible job description.....but if you know me at all, u'll know that i don't miss a chance to have a little fun. especially if i'm not hurting anyone....so i decided to stick to my plan)

me: ok but you should know that i'm still technically a student, and my main objective would be to gain experience about the architectural practice in egypt, and ur firm would be helping me alot in that. so i'll be more like an intern rather than an architect.

her: uuuhh- well we all need a little help at first. that's perfectly normal.

me: great. so when do u expect me to start?

her: well ofcourse ur gonna need a vacation after ur done..

me: (interrupting) yeah, i'm gonna need like 2 months or so...i've spent alot of time in college and i need some time to relax - feel like i graduated.

her: 2 months?! ummm..(i could feel the disappointment in her voice) well that's fair i guess. but if you feel like you want to drop by at anytime during the vacation just to see what the environment is like, feel free to do so.

me: (really surprised at her tolerance) yeah sure, i'll do that definitely...thanks again for this great opportunity, and i'm looking forward to seeing you soon.

her: great! and if you want, u can bring a friend or two to work here as well.


ok so that phone call showed how cool that lady is. i felt like a complete idiot afterwards. she actually got me seriously thinking about working for her.

i hopefully will visit the firm as soon as i'm done, and if i like the place and if the pay is good enough i probably will be working there after i graduate. just because of that lady- seems like she would make a good, understanding boss.

2 comments:

Deeeeeee said...

Lol, she could be understanding or someone who thinks your work is great told her about it and she's pulling your leg! :P

It is childish, but I did the exact same thing in a job interview recently and they were just as tolerant about it... I'm beginning to wonder.. I'd say take it and keep looking for what you have in mind and enjoy the rest of the project and your vacation! :)

grey said...

yep. that's the plan i had in mind...keda keda i have to wait till january to finish the military stuff. so i can't get a decent job with a contract until then. so like you said, i might as well take the job until something better comes up.