My defense is impregnable, and I’m just ferocious

When did hating become synonymous with having an opinion, being realistic, and true to yourself?  People feel like if you don’t love something then you hate it.  Love and Hate are opposites yes, but there is a spectrum of emotion in between. I feel like millennials are way too sensitive these days.  If you’re not up their ass or spout truth outside of rainbows, sprinkles, and unicorns then you might as well be Satan himself.  

This rant is inspired by the clip below:

A post shared by The Shade Room (@theshaderoom) on May 4, 2017 at 2:14pm PDT

I first saw this posted on The Shade Room’s Instagram. Hardly my source for real news or thoughtful commentary but they have a huge following and it is interesting to read through the comments.  So many of the comments were calling Joe Budden a bully and many felt like Lil Yachty was attacked.  Comments further went on to say that Lil Yachty is only 19 and is too young to have the mindset to think about the issues Joe presented.  PAUSE! 

Since when is 19 a kid?  19 is a young adult.  I agree he is going to be more young-minded than a 40 yr old man but it’s not like Joe asked him about these concepts would only be able to comprehend much later in life.  I was expected to find a job and work as soon as I was legal to do so (16 y/o).  Is it not basic standards to be able to answer interview questions like “Why do you want to work here?” “What do you expect to get out of this?” “What can you contribute to this company?” Joe asking “What do you want from hip hop?” seemed like such a basic question and I can’t believe people were calling him harsh for asking. I did watch some other clips of the interview and I can see some instances when Joe did seem to be a little harsh but at the same time he is passionate and calling things like he see’s it.  People have become so sensitive to opinions and people being vocal about their opposing opinions.  While Joe could have certainly had a better approach for trying to get a message across to Yachty, I felt it was only completely lost to those who are used to having people hold their hand through life and praise them.  

I have had 3 interviews last month.  Finally, after well over 100 applications this year I felt I was finally getting somewhere.  Let me outline a little bit how each one went.

#1. After a phone interview, I was asked to come in the following day for an in-person interview with 4 employees.  After about 2 hours of interviewing, I went home, sent my 4 thoughtful unique thank you letters out and thanked HR for coordinating everything.  I received one response from HR, asking me to complete a 2 part assignment.  The assignment itself was not too difficult but extremely lengthy.  Nonetheless, I completed the assignment and sent it to the company 4 days before the due date.  The hours I spent on the assignment were pretty much a full days worth of work.  

#2. Similar to company 1, I had a phone interview and was quickly asked to come for an in-person interview.  This was the company I was most excited to interview for and really saw long-term potential in.  The organization is a non-profit that helps homeless people transition back into self-sufficiency.  They claim to love to hire employees as diverse at the community they serve.  Upon arriving, the doors were closed and I couldn’t get into the building.  I noticed there was a line of people waiting to get in to receive services.  One of the employees walked over and quickly opened the door saying “We will be open in 5 minutes” and then closed the door back.  There was some special event going on where they had closed for a portion of the day.  Well the time was coming close to my interview time so I emailed my interviewer to let her know I was outside and could not get in and I am not late!  A few more minutes pass. Then, a different employee opens the door and says they are letting people in 3 at a time.  I try to grab her attention and say “Excuse me, I’m actually here for an interview with **** at 1pm. only to me dismissed with an “Uh huh uh huh we’re letting people in 3 at a time.”  I go to the back of the line and wait for my turn.  I am almost at the door when I see another employee come out and she says my name.  Quickly, I raise my hand to get her attention but she just looks past me and keeps looking around and says my name again.  I step closer and say “I’m *******” She briefly apologizes and says they usually aren’t closed at that time blah blah.  We walk through the office space and I think to myself it’s quite white in here. We enter the conference room where there is another employee interviewing me with her (which she also failed to mention).  They ask pretty general questions and I hold most of the interview myself, as they really didn’t seem to care to ask anything that would showcase my skills or qualifications.  I left feeling like it was either too easy or they had already decided they weren’t so interested.  Despite the ambiguous feeling I was very much into the company and what it stood for and new I was more than qualified for the position. When I got back home I decided to send a nice handwritten note (which I only do for the companies I really like), using some beautiful stationary from my collection. 

#3. The most recent interview was a phone interview with another non-profit.  I was immediately asked to complete an assignment before moving on to the next round of interviews.  More and more companies these days seem to be sending assignments out.  I understand it may be a fast, efficient, easy way to weed out candidates.  However, some of these assignments are really just free work.  Anyways, I complete the assignment.  This assignment ended up being about 2 days worth of work, as it was much more detailed and I realized I had been approaching it wrong, in the beginning.  So, I spent a little extra time going back over things. Once again, I send it back ahead of the due date. 

Enter Rant... 

None of these bitch ass companies have had the decency to communicate with me since.  I notice a trend these days where companies no longer need to engage in basic etiquette when it comes to the hiring process.   However, given that these companies asked a little more with homework in coming in at the drop of a dime, I did expect a little more.  I did call company #2 as I had totally drank the kool-aid and really believed in the company mission and knew that I had all the skills and requirements listed on the job description.  My voicemail was responded to in email form.  The email was your typical sandwich feedback: You’re so amazing| BUT....| You’re so amazing.  Sometimes, I would much rather just hear “You’re too brown.” -- it’s much more real.  I mean, if I was so amazing you would have hired me, no?  

One thing all of these companies had in common is that all of the people I interviewed with are White.  Okay there was one person at company 1 who was Asian.  Another commonality - Each person I talked to over the phone was overwhelmingly receptive.