No one wants entrepreneurs.
I've been looking for work around town, something to supplement my income and pay the basic bills until I can survive on income from my internet business.
I had an interview with an internet web site development company that was so surreal that I still cannot believe it. The woman interviewing me was less interested in my accomplishments and more interested in talking about hers, which were no different than mine. She was trying to talk over my head using Web 2.0 acronyms and a B.S. sales pitch she had obviously used with some success on people with lesser internet knowledge.
Then she told me that I would have to sign a no-compete contract. Then came a bitter diatribe about hiring employees, teaching them internet stuff (which I can learn on my own--the internet is a great resource for that!), then having them get "hired away" by the competition. That was my first red flag, because if you are a decent boss, why would people get "hired away?" Hey baby, that's just business in the real world.
Then I was told that I would be sued and taken to court if I broke this contract, and it was an air-tight contract and they (the company) would certainly win any litigation. THEN...
She then accused me of being a "mole" for a competing company because internet marketing is "EXTREMELY competitive." Yeah. I get that. Anyone that has built a web site to garner business in the last, oh, ten years gets that. Unbelievable. All this in the first five minutes of meeting this crazed woman. She was starting to sound unhinged, and I was getting more and more uncomfortable with her lack of trust. It was unhealthy.
I asked for flexibility to work from home a few days of the week, since it is an "internet" company. ABSOLUTELY NOT! she said. "We need you in the office. If you work from home you're working EXTRA--and we will text you, call you, email you at anytime because we're PASSIONATE about what we do." Blah blah blah.
Wow. So--I can't be trusted to work from home, but I might be subjected to company intrusion on my off time anytime of the week, day or night? Not equitable, not acceptable. I had heard enough at that point.
I got up and said "thanks, but no thanks" and walked out. In ten minutes, I had just been threatened with a law suit, accused of being a corporate spy, and entreated to become some kind of company shoe scraper, even though I couldn't work from home. As I left the office I was shaking I was so mad...all the shit that is still wrong with corporate America is still wrong, in my opinion.
People also hate that I have unverifiable employment because I owned my own business. I can verify that I had government permits to operate as a guide service/concessionaire; is not that enough? Apparently, if employers can't call and ask somebody about you, they are unwilling to hire you. Pitiful.
Is there any job out there where your boss and co-workers treat you like a human and actually extend some kind of trust to you, and respect your experience as a small business owner and independent internet marketer? Perhaps that company exists out there in the ether, but at this point I don't know.
I had an interview with an internet web site development company that was so surreal that I still cannot believe it. The woman interviewing me was less interested in my accomplishments and more interested in talking about hers, which were no different than mine. She was trying to talk over my head using Web 2.0 acronyms and a B.S. sales pitch she had obviously used with some success on people with lesser internet knowledge.
Then she told me that I would have to sign a no-compete contract. Then came a bitter diatribe about hiring employees, teaching them internet stuff (which I can learn on my own--the internet is a great resource for that!), then having them get "hired away" by the competition. That was my first red flag, because if you are a decent boss, why would people get "hired away?" Hey baby, that's just business in the real world.
Then I was told that I would be sued and taken to court if I broke this contract, and it was an air-tight contract and they (the company) would certainly win any litigation. THEN...
She then accused me of being a "mole" for a competing company because internet marketing is "EXTREMELY competitive." Yeah. I get that. Anyone that has built a web site to garner business in the last, oh, ten years gets that. Unbelievable. All this in the first five minutes of meeting this crazed woman. She was starting to sound unhinged, and I was getting more and more uncomfortable with her lack of trust. It was unhealthy.
I asked for flexibility to work from home a few days of the week, since it is an "internet" company. ABSOLUTELY NOT! she said. "We need you in the office. If you work from home you're working EXTRA--and we will text you, call you, email you at anytime because we're PASSIONATE about what we do." Blah blah blah.
Wow. So--I can't be trusted to work from home, but I might be subjected to company intrusion on my off time anytime of the week, day or night? Not equitable, not acceptable. I had heard enough at that point.
I got up and said "thanks, but no thanks" and walked out. In ten minutes, I had just been threatened with a law suit, accused of being a corporate spy, and entreated to become some kind of company shoe scraper, even though I couldn't work from home. As I left the office I was shaking I was so mad...all the shit that is still wrong with corporate America is still wrong, in my opinion.
People also hate that I have unverifiable employment because I owned my own business. I can verify that I had government permits to operate as a guide service/concessionaire; is not that enough? Apparently, if employers can't call and ask somebody about you, they are unwilling to hire you. Pitiful.
Is there any job out there where your boss and co-workers treat you like a human and actually extend some kind of trust to you, and respect your experience as a small business owner and independent internet marketer? Perhaps that company exists out there in the ether, but at this point I don't know.
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