They Need To Act With More Agency

(This happens when I am 18 and working part-time in retail. I’m sure you can all guess why I want to get a different job, so I sign on with a temp agency to help me find a full-time admin position. The agency phones me, and we go through my details:)

Staff: “Okay, that’s you loaded onto the system. All I need is for you to come in and meet with one of our consultants.”

Me: “Sure, when can I come in?”

Staff: “How about the day after tomorrow?”

Me: “No problem. I’m available in the morning.”

Staff: “Okay, see you then. Bye!”

Me: “Wait! What time do I show up?”

Staff: “Oh, um… Some time around eleven should be fine.” *click*

(On the day of the meeting, I wear something nice and drive to the next town. I’m there by 10:30, so I decide to kill a bit of time. Various things hold me up, but I think, “No problem; they don’t have a slot booked for me.” It’s 11:15 by the time I get there, and I go to reception and tell them my name.)

Receptionist: “Oh, you’re down as a no-show, as your appointment has passed.”

Me: “Seriously? I wasn’t told what time to come here. The woman I spoke to was about to hang up before I managed to catch her. Then I was told, ‘around 11.’ It’s currently around 11.”

Receptionist: “I don’t know what to say.”

(We rescheduled for the next week, and I left in a foul mood. I made it an hour early the next week — because screw them, that’s why — and everything was fine. Even so, it was no surprise that they didn’t get me a job. A year and a half later, a consultant phoned me to tell me about an amazing opportunity for training and then a nine-to-five job. I put my name down, but he phoned me back a few days later to say I “didn’t make the cut with all the other applicants,” but that he’d keep looking for similar positions. I never heard from that agency again. By this time, I had been made redundant from my retail job, so I signed on with a second agency. They had me working a 36-hour contract six days after I met them.)