Land of the Free, Home of the Dumb!

I am a twenty-five year old African-American male and I am a statistic. Go figure...

I am a twenty-five year old African-American male and I was not raised on tax-payers dollars but I am a statistic.

I am a twenty-five year old African-American male without any kids or criminal record but I am a statistic.

I am a twenty-five year old African-American male with a degree from an institution of higher education but I am a statistic.

What makes me a typical African-American statistic you may ask? I am a twenty-five year old unemployed African-American, a small hundredth of a hundredth of the still rising 9.5% unemployment rate in America. It’s been a few months and I will tell you first hand the industry sucks a whole lot of Bigfoot, Loch nest Monster and Moby Dick. I am not writing to discuss our current economic state you are probably tired of hearing about it just like me but yet I wanted to share an experience from one of my most recent job interviews.

Verizon Wireless subcontracts all its customer service through this company called Flextronics. The employees are usually located in the back of the Verizon Wireless retail stores. So a good friend of mine recently became a manager with Flextronics and said there are some openings I should look into. Applied late night Sunday, early Monday I get a call to interview. So the interview is at the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown, Manhattan. Nice spot just from the ambiance of the lobby alone, the patrons were all clearly tourists. You know when someone’s walking around looking confused and can't speak a blink of English? Perfect depiction of the lobby. Anyway I'm sitting outside the room waiting for the interview the start, more black folk start coming in the waiting area and then a few things pop up which are signs I should have got up and left. One kid walks in with a white collar shirt, un-tucked, with a pair of jeans and a pair of Prada’s. FAIL. Another kid comes in an Express sweater no dress shirt under the sweater, no tie and just sits there on his Iphone the whole time we are waiting. FAIL. The funniest one to me was the kid who comes in khakis with a white button up and tie, UNTUCKED. MAJOR FAIL. So interview starts and they are actually group interviews. Four to five candidates to table, so of course I scope out the competition. Girl #1 worked at a few clothing stores, Girl #2 only experience is Starbucks and Boy #1 worked 6 months at T-Mobile and Victoria Secrets for a month, FYI I was the only one with a college degree at the table. So there are four rounds of questions from four different mid-level executives. During the 1st round, the interviewer asked for resumes. I was the only one with resume paper and 2 out of the four at the table were multiple paged resumes. Don't get it twisted 2 paged resumes are suitable in some cases but as aforementioned all the other candidates had less education, experience, and achievements compared to me so in this scenario FAIL.

During one round of questions they ask Girl #2 about her job at Starbucks. She goes on to explain why she demoted herself from her position which was higher than a regular crew member. "I am planning on going back to school because I never finished" she tells lady interviewer. So the lady interviewer goes on and says, “Education is important but with the constant adjustment of shifts it wouldn't be a good idea to go back to school if you are employed with Flextronics”. Wait did this lady just say you can either settle for this 15 dollar an hour job or choose to finish college? In many cases the way we are slaves to the almighty dollar an individual would put school on the backburner and pursue a job. Many of our peers who need another year or two to finish college usually state “I’ll go back next semester”, by the time they actually register again they are 30 plus with a couple of kids.

“Many of us crucify ourselves between two thieves-regret for the past and fear of the future” – Fulton Oursler

I was asked what attracted me to the company, being I never had experience hands-on with communications but some which correlated with the position. "Well my friend who is currently an employee was recently promoted, and I know with my experience I will be able to advance with your growing company" which translates to “A nigga needs a job so I will settle for your bullshit shifts and pay until Obama "fixes" our economy”. After a few rounds of questions, we filled out some paperwork and waited for the management to make the final decisions in the hallway. So after ten minutes, one manager comes out and calls 3 candidates....only 3 people didn't fit the job. Guess the industry is booming. Another manager follows and calls a large group of about fifteen people including myself and I'm thinking “Yeah we bout to get offered this wack ass job but I will more than likely say no unless we can negotiate my pay because I am clearly OVERqualified”.

"We are sorry ladies and gentlemen we found some better candidates for the position and we are unable to offer you a position"

Re-muthaf*cking-wind. Better candidates? So Girl#1 and Girl#2 are included in this group with me probably because #1 had no electronics experience and #2 because she actually wanted to better herself with a collegiate education. In regards to myself, I have plenty of electronics experience being at Circuit City along with customer service experience from Circuit City and the banks I worked at, in addition I had a college degree, doesn’t it count for something? I probably had more education than some of the management. Now Boy #1 with only 6 months work experience got the job compared to other individuals from my table with work experience and a college education. This is America people where the rich get richer and the dumb keeps them richer being worker ants in their multi-million dollar corporations. How can I tell my kids to go to college with the life I'm currently living? I know more fellow alumni unemployed and looking for work, while those who placed education on the back burner have more access to $12-$15/hour jobs (still ain't shit to survive in NYC) but sh*t what choices we have in this current recession.

Even though I did not get the job I learned a lot about our economy from this interview. As usual, I scoped out the "competition" and I did not see future CEO's, "Big Willie's" or "Don's" from those pursuing the job with Flextronics. It's sad to say though everyone wants to buy a CLS or 745, and some broke folk buys them anyway, but are unable to afford the premium gas required for these types of vehicles. It all boils down to people settling- the manager knew not to hire someone of my caliber even though I was clearly qualified because I know that the pay would not suffice for the job duties and from jump I had "goals" to make management. These corporate companies survive by the blood sweat and tears of worker ants (the interviewees) who are trying to live CEO's lives on minimum pay. But after a few years of "I'll go back to school next semester" you become STUCK and that's exactly the road set up for Boy#1.

One funny observation I have picked up from the slew of interviews over the past few months is how much money America wastes yearly on education. As a public school kid from Kindergarten up until college, there were many pros and cons within my education. One thing which does not make sense is I am taught how to make babies and put on condoms in school but they never teach you how to prepare for a job interview. Why are grown people walking around with an improperly prepared resume or no resume at all?? Does it make sense that I learn how to use my cock prior to getting a job?

God Bless America!