the road to employment

jobstreet.com has become a friendster for the past couple of months; every time i'm online, i just have to log-in and check if anything's up. i applied for any pharmacist position that suits me and there isn't much. and after waiting for what seems like an eternity, i finally got a couple of calls from would-be employers. the dates were set and my journey has begun.

makati city is undoubtedly the business mecca of the philippines and being familiar with every street and every corner of the busy city is invaluable to a job hunter like me. and since makati is 2 hours away from valenzuela, i knew finding the right buildings would be tough. that was until the information superhighway offered some help. after searching for maps, i found the website kabeet.com, an interactive internet mapping system. a few more clicks and there it was. zoom in and zoom out, pan left and right, every building and every street is just a click a way. getting lost was an impossibility.


thursday, september 14th. i was scheduled for an exam by LBP Service Corp. at Petron Mega Plaza, Makati. so i went there looking like a million bucks and arrived 30 minutes early. the waiting room was filled with applicants for various jobs. i looked around and i was the only one wearing a long-sleeved shirt. are long-sleeves out of style? i felt like i was overdressed. we then had a 30-item exam with a time limit of 15 minutes. i thought this'll be a piece of cake but i was wrong. some of the questions were tricky ones like: if mary is 12 years old and she was twice the age of helen 3 years ago, how old is helen? i only managed to answer around 20 questions but snooping around other's test papers, i think i did well. but it was a recruitment agency and my resume was still to be forwarded to Novartis who would have the final say.

friday, september 15th. an interview was set by the HR department of GlaxoSmithKline. the night before, i played ball with my highschool friends from 8 to around 10:30pm. i earlier declined to play, afraid i might not do well on my interview or even wake up on time for that matter. but the call of the game got the better of me and i paid the price. an aching body and an active mind led to a 4am sleep and i have to get up at 6. the odds are against me. i only had 2 hours of sleep and the company's history of hiring male clinical research associates are not in my favor. i was surprised that they even gave me a shot.

twenty minutes early, i had to entertain myself or stare into a blank space while i wait for the interviewees. two women entered the room and began the interview. i did my homework researching the company's profile and prepared for the common interview questions. it won't be a candidate for best job interview ever, i think the interview did ok. from the start i knew it would be a long shot since GSK has yet to hire a male CRA and i think they didn't see anything from me that would change their mind, but my fingers are crossed. and after the interview, i went off and slept my ass off.

i woke up at around 4 or 5 in the afternoon and checked my email. to my surprise there was a message with the subject "GSK Application." i opened the email and started reading "thank you for your interest in joining our company blah blah blah..." so ok i didn't get it. i just woke up and didn't know if i'll be amazed by the processing speed of the company or be offended by it. for all i know, the minute i stepped out of the room, they were already shredding my resume saying "still NO to boys!"

the misadventure continues...