What's Important: Employment

I'm applying to this position and have exchanged two e-mails with Paco Ahlgren.

I had never heard of him before reading his post on craigslist yesterday. He sounds as unique and eclectic as I, but on a whole different plane.

In his e-mail this morning, he said he's been inundated with applications, to which my immediate reaction is, "And what were you thinking when you posted that salary? Of course every Tom, Dick and Jane is going to pop out of the woodwork to apply for the job. You're going to have a very hard time figuring out who's on the up-and-up and who's just BSing you to get to that amount of money. After all, nobody knows you're a dog on the Internet (referring to applicants, not to Paco!)."

Anyway, as I was saying before I got sidetracked with sass, his e-mail this morning said

At this point, we're only considering candidates who can demonstrate an interest in what we're doing, from both a business and literary perspective -- applying innovation, eagerness, preparedness, familiarity, and a desire to go above and beyond in order to prove a good fit. I'm looking for long-term loyalty, and I'm obviously willing to offer a great deal to secure it.

Any ideas you could give me about how you would go about creating a niche for yourself -- no matter how specific -- would really make my job a lot easier. I’ll be looking over your resume in the next few days. In the meantime, if you want to know anything else about the position, please don’t hesitate to ask. And thank you again for the submission!

Ouch! How does one respond to that?!

I've been pondering what one would request applicants to say or show in order to successfully weed out the ringers.

How about: what are the ten most important characteristics an employee in this position should possess?

And my answer would be: honesty, reliability, grace, organizational ability, motivation, creativity, curiosity, selflessness, love of books, desire to learn and grow as a person.
Are reliability and dependability synonymous?
Likewise motivation and drive?
Are curiosity and desire to learn synonymous?

Okay, given that list and this position, what's most important? Is it possible to categorize those traits?

As the person chosen for this position will be working on his or her own a lot of the time, I believe reliability must be number one. But honesty must immediately follow or walk hand-in-hand. Can one be reliable without being honest? Certainly one can be honest without being reliable. Is honesty a moral value and reliability a learned trait?

Enthusiasm. I left out enthusiasm. Maybe that would go in place of "desire to learn and grow as a person."

Okay, here's how I think the list shakes out, from one to ten:
honesty
reliability
enthusiasm
organizational ability
motivation
creativity
curiosity
grace
selflessness
love of books

But how about ability to communicate, both verbally and in writing? Should that replace "love of books?"

Yes, I think it must replace "love of books" and jump up to #3.

So the new list is:
honesty
reliability
communication skills
enthusiasm
organizational ability
motivation
creativity
curiosity
grace
selflessness

Why is each of these characteristics important?

honesty

The employee will be dealing with the employer's greatest commodity - his customers. The employer needs to know that the employee can be trusted to not act in such a way as to destroy these relationships. The employee will also be handling aspects of the employer's finances, and must be trustworthy.

reliability

The employer needs to know that when the employee says he or she will take action, the action will be taken.

communication skills

When employer and employee are transacting business at a distance, the ability to communicate one's requests or desires clearly is tantamount.

enthusiasm

This is a multi-faceted job and will require much hard work. Enthusiasm will feed energy when the job seems too big.

organizational ability

Travel plans, schedules, appointments, contracts — all must be dealt with, arranged and coordinated seamlessly and clearly.

motivation

The employee must be able to anticipate the employer's needs as if they were her own. She must be willing and able to take action to keep the businesses running smoothly.

creativity

This is not a "normal" job, with repetitive tasks. This is the type of job that presents new and interesting challenges with each passing day. The employee who is creative will always devise solutions to challenges.

curiosity

The employee who is curious will always want to know more about each facet of the job, and her performance and ability to deal with these facets will increase with each new bit of knowledge.

grace

The employer's clients are entrusting their wealth to him. In my experience, people who cede some measure of control over their wealth to another tend to be easily alarmed about the treatment of that wealth. The employee must know how to deal gently and non-confrontationally with the clients and be able to diffuse their concerns.

selflessness

For an employee to be successful in a support position such as this, she must understand how to put others' needs and desires in front of her own.

That's my list. But does it match his list? Or does he even have a list?

Further on Admiration and Honor

JW, my dear old friend to the north, suggests I add sports to the music, theatre and dance list of things in which adults nurture and mentor youngsters. And I heartily agree, although sports has had minimal impact in my life.

So, to all the soccer and baseball and football coaches out there, I salute you.

To Be Admired and Honored

As I sat on the piano bench at St. Francis on Saturday morning, playing for girls and boys aged 4 through 18 (and a few adults) who were auditioning for roles in "The Sound of Music," I looked at the eight adults sitting at the table, observing, critiquing, listening.

These friends gave up their December Saturday morning to sit, without compensation, deciding who would be right for the various roles in this play. Then I started thinking about the number of times this scene was replicated across Tucson and the entire country: staging for "Amahl and the Night Visitors," herding tiny mice in the dress rehearsal for "The Nutcracker," helping Tiny Tim find his mark in "The Christmas Carol."

In my view, these adults' interest is twofold. They're pursuing their own interest in and love of theatre and the performing arts. But they're also helping these children follow their passion — or stick a toe in the theatrical water to see if an interest is going to develop into a passion.

I was there because I adore Robert Encila, and because he was paying me to be there. I'm not sure I would have been there without the pay. I missed the Pi Phi holiday brunch to take this gig.

But those adults sitting at this table and tables and stages everywhere, helping and nurturing? I don't see the self-interest in their actions. I see a heart for the children and a desire to give and teach and help little ones grow.

And I salute them.

City Choir of Washington Interview

Kathryn Tidyman, my friend and president of the Board of the new City Choir of Washington, was interviewed on WBJC prior to the November concert. One of the technologically-savvy chorus members converted the audio interview into a posting on YouTube.

Enjoy!

Piercing Questions

Why do smoke detector batteries always run low and start chirping in the middle of the night? Why never during the daytime when one can see what she's doing, find a new battery, and easily swap it out?

And can I successfully ignore this chirping and sleep until morning?

Players

I've been withholding information and now I'm going to come clean.

Remember the last time I spoke about Mr. Match when I said I was going to tell that boy to lose my number? Well, I never got up the courage to do so.

I think I've seen him once since then. He came over around 9:00 one night and we sat and had a drink and talked for 90 minutes or so and then he went home. Evidently his goal was to show me he could just be sociable without trying to get my clothes off.

When I was in Scottsdale several weeks ago for the NATS musical theatre auditions, my phone rang at 2:20 a.m. It was Mr. Match, calling from Australia. I think the time difference is 17 hours, which I think would have made it about 9:00 a.m. there. But maybe it was 9:00 p.m., because the conversation was definitely a post-three-martini conversation.

(While proofreading, I just did the math again. 9:00 p.m. Definitely 9:00 p.m. Definitely post-three-martinis.)

He said when he got back from Australia and I got back from my Thanksgiving trip, he wanted to have me over, cook me dinner, and so on. And he said he would give me a ride to the airport on Friday morning. (He works a mile from the airport, so it's no biggie.) On Tuesday of that week I e-mailed him to ask the name of the pet sitter he uses when he and his ex-fiancée are simultaneously out of town. He replied that he'd ask her and get back to me. That's the last I heard from him.

He was supposed to get back from Australia on Thursday night. No word from him. Friday morning: no call, no car. I drove myself to the airport and left my car in long-term parking, not at all surprised.

I have never heard from him again.

End of story. End of book. Close it.

My courage is up. The next time he calls, I will tell him I want him not to call me any more.

He doesn't deserve anything as good as I am.

Clean as a Whistle

Okay, so I had my first colonoscopy today. It was as dignified as any such procedure can be. Modern anesthesia is a wonderful thing. And the results were "no abnormalities; see you in ten years." Whew!

My anticipation of the event was far worse than the event itself. Actually, my anticipation was of the preparation for the event. I don't like wierd-tasting things, and while I have a sweet tooth for good dark chocolate and sweet breads, I don't like sweet drinks. I drink maybe one soda a month, if that - usually a Coke when a headache has made me sick to my stomach.

The instruction sheet the doctor's office sent said I could only have clear liquids the day before the procedure, so I picked up a bottle of white grape juice, a bottle of apple juice, and a twelve-pack of ginger ale. When I got home from the store, I tasted the apple juice and the white grape juice and made a face after tasting each. Too sweet. I took a couple of cans of ginger ale with me to the office, figuring that would fill me up enough that I'd be okay without solid food and wouldn't get too bad a headache. Then the instructions for the Phospho-Soda said to mix it with eight ounces of ginger ale or water. I chose ginger ale.

Let me tell you that sixteen hours after sipping my last gingerphospho cocktail, I can still taste it. I think I don't want to look another ginger ale in the face until ten years from now, when I have to do this prep again.

If you've never had the procedure and are over 50: Go. Do. No big deal, despite my whining. I'm just a wimp.

You go on a clear liquid diet for 24 hours. You drink a solution that really isn't terrible. You poop a lot. Your ass hurts a little. You sleep through the whole procedure. And you get reassured that you're free of any threat of colorectal cancer.

Frank, who kindly provided me transportation to and from the appointment, said when he had his done several years ago, the doctor found a number of polyps and removed them during the procedure. He has to be retested in five years, rather than ten.

Colorectal cancer is slow-growing, so early detection is key to survival.

And don't smoke. I don't think anybody who reads this blog smokes, but if you do, quit. Don't be stupid.

(I've mentioned that Steve got married ten weeks after I moved out. The woman he had been courting behind my back, who became his wife, had colorectal cancer. She was and still is a chain smoker. Stupid is as stupid does.)