Kiwi mate Steve and I were having a couple of quiets in Farringdon. He’d just been to an interview.
“They wanted to know if I could act.” Kiwi mate Steve explained.
“And then they started talking about role-playing.”
It all sounded pretty kinky so I wanted to know more. I ordered a few more beers.
Don’t buy the dream of a better life in England. Unless you work with money, computers, or kids, it’s a hard road. Reminds me of a joke that’s done the rounds: what do humanities graduates call commerce grads? Boss.
I’m a humanities grad, and so is Steve so we’re feeling the punch-line. If you have kids who you adore, throw them in a chartered accountants course before they go all teenage on you.
It took me a couple of months of hunting before I got a job. Steve’s been on the prowl for a month now. There’s nibbles, of course, and he’s had interviews too. But no catch. His latest interview was for a job as a recruiter, which is why he was a little surprised about needing to role play. So why the acting?
“From time to time you may need to contact one of our clients and role play as a conference organiser, so you can find out about their staff.”
They head hunt within their own clients, essentially robbing Peter to pay Paul. It’s a cheeky little racket. Of course Steve’s an honest guy and couldn’t take the role, but it makes you wonder how desperate you have to be to take an ethically questionable job in a foreign country. And with the level of immigration into England, there’s bound to be a fair share of entrepreneurs around for some fresh OE meat.
Not all recruiters are bad in the same way that not all sharks eat humans. But you get the feeling that as soon as you land on this little island they begin to circle.
We finished our rounds and headed off to a cheap pub for a feed. Wetherspoon was offering a two for one deal for £5.50. Perfect. And while tucking into our fish cakes and cottage pie, it occurred to me that life could have been worse. I could have been a commerce grad.
No comments:
Post a Comment