I had an interesting interview like the one you just mentioned, with a
twist.

A few years ago I moved to Australia. I hadn't even had my feet firmly
on the ground when I decided to look for a day job. Because of my
interest with water and a local water organization was doing incredible
state of the art purification of the public water supply, I decided it
would be worth a visit to see if they had a management position for me.

I met with the HR Manager. After he had an ear-full of my qualifications
and a few eye-rolls along the way, he pleasantly stated that I was way
too overqualified for any of the present openings he had. So I asked
him, "What position would I best be suited for here?" After almost a
belly laugh (I was to find out later the joke was on me.), he said I
would be most suited for one of the executive positions. But all of the
executive positions had been filled with the same people for no less
than 10 years.

He went on to say, I would be a wonderful HR Manager (his position), but
he had no plans to leave either. He told me that he would keep my CV and
pass it around to the other executives to see if anything could be done.

As he talked about some of the problems they were currently having with
some of the staff, he lightly mentioned how the company was heavily
entrenched in the 'Boy's Club', and if you are not born here, well,...
Many of the staff had been referred in by their family members that work
there.

I went on my merry way.

About 6 months later, I notice in the want ads, the HR position that my
'friend' filled was open. So I did what any responsible person would do.
I went down to the office, presented my CV again, informed them that I
had been pre-qualified for the position by the previous HR Manager. I
was there to fill the job!

Sure, that is a bit bold. In the end it never mattered anyway. After a
multitude of one-way traffic on follow up and phone calls, sending
another CV, etc. to courteously let them know that I am still interested
in the position, I never received a single appointment, a single letter
that they had even received anything from me, a single communication in
any way whatsoever. Silence.

Through some local queries I was able to establish the reason why I was
not even given a chance to present myself. To my surprise, Americans
were NOT on the menu. Well the joke WAS on me. All the time I wasted!

Well, that was a first. Not considered because you are an American.

EPILOGUE: Blessings in disguise! About a year later I noticed the new HR
manager was not having such a good time at his new position. It seems
that the other executives wanted a Scapegoat. You know the rest of the
story from there.

Now I have the pleasure of helping people achieve wonderful things in
their lives. That is much more valuable for me.

Great Things Happen Here!

Shannon Panzo

MLPF: http://mylinkingpowerforum.ning.com/profile/ShannonPanzo
The Brain Accelerator Blog: http://MINDtoMIND.com/blog/
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