I advertised for an admin assistant
2005-08-15, 3:51 p.m.

I advertised for an admin assistant a couple of Sundays ago. It was a simple ad, one that I copied from another admin assistant ad that I had read in the paper and thought was good: I thought that I would like to answer that ad, so I ran one almost just like it, tailored to our needs.

This ad ran for just one Sunday. And I have received over 100 resumes in response.

I am going to set up interviews with about 15 of these people. As an experienced interviewer, I know that probably 3 or 4 of them will flake, or will have already found other jobs, but I�m still looking at 11 or 12 interviews.

And the really scary thing about our job market here is that NOBODY is not qualified for this job. Every single resume I have received is from somebody either qualified or over-qualified (whatever that is) for the privilege of running the wildly-careening-out-of-control administrative part of this bidness here.

What is over-qualified, anyway? Well, neighbor, I�m glad you asked. To me, over-qualified is a person who has been a paralegal for 20 years applying for a general admin assistant position. Not that I have let that exclude anybody. People need a break. People long for a different, simpler job.

But I�ll tell ya � it gives me paws (I�m kidding � it gives me PAUSE) to think that decent admin jobs are so scarce in this town that over 100 people are vying for a position that they don�t really know anything about yet.

I feel like I have gone on a trip to the pet store. No, the pound. I just want to pack them all up and bring them home with me. If I had been to the pet store, I would want to rescue them and set them all free, like in Peewee�s Big Adventure. I'll give you a few moments to dredge that memory up, and relish it for a minute or two.

(instrumental rendition of "Light My Fire" playing in the background for your reminiscing pleasure)(doo doo doo doo do do doooooo)

Best (yet scary!) spam today: �Drug rehab is just around the corner��

My response: Oh no, not again!

I�m short today because, well, I�m always short, frankly. I�m less than 5�2�. But the reason behind my other shortness is that I have a to-do list as long as my rap sheet (remember, drug rehab is just around the corner) and a day as short as my attention span.

Y�all be safe out there.