My crazy job search stories: Part I, Goldman Sachs

I’m sure lots of people have had strange experiences while searching for and interviewing for jobs. People who do the recruiting and interviewing of job candidates often have funny stories to tell. Sometimes I wonder though, if other people looking for a job have had anything similar to mine.
Once I went on an interview for a job as a college recruiter, with Goldman Sachs. This particular office was in lower Manhattan. The director of college recruiting was a guy named Mike. At the start of the interview he mused, “There’s mostly women working in college recruiting.” Hmm, maybe this gives me an edge, I thought. He didn’t ask me any questions though. He just rambled on for a couple of minutes about Goldman Sachs. Suddenly, he looked past me (his office was surrounded by windows).  He stood up, grabbed a stack of what look to be like tickets to a game or concert wrapped with elastic bands, and raced out the door. I turned around, but he had already fled down one of the hallways, disappearing from sight.

So I sat there for a few minutes, wondering what I should do. Wait until he comes back? Leave now? It started to dawn on me that I wasn’t going to get this job even if I stayed, so I was about to go when a girl named Kim walked in.

“Mike had to go, but I’ll finish the interview,” she said brightly. Then she proceeded to talk a little about the job. She didn’t ask me any questions, or ask if I had any questions about th position. She did talk at length about the bars in the area and how everyone in the department liked to go out for drinks after work.

After a few minutes she stood up and held out her hand. “It was nice to meet you,” she said.  For some reason I said thank you, nice to meet you too, instead of saying what I really felt, which was, why did you even bother to call me in….

I’ve thought that maybe they didn’t like the way I looked. If that’s the case, and I’m sure some interviewers consider that above all else (although they would never admit it), why not ask for a picture? A photograph with the resume on the back. It would save us all a lot of time and money. By looks, I mean beyond the blue suit/white shirt/red tie/polished shoes/clean shaven appearance.

Who knows. Maybe this isn’t as ridiculous as some others’ experiences. It feels like it was a waste of time and energy. On the other hand it’s given me something to write about, so maybe it wasn’t a total loss. Stay tuned for upcoming stories about job search…

Cris Carter belongs in the NFL Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame voters need to grow up and vote in players based on merit. There have been allegations that some voters' dislike for Cris Carter cost him entry into the Hall of Fame. Voters need to get over it, and the NFL needs to change how players are enshrined.
The NFL Hall of Fame is missing players that deserve to be enshrined. Former wide receiver Cris Carter is certainly one. Recent reports suggested that some members of the media who are also Hall of Fame voters have not been voting for Carter due to their personal dislike for him. What is this, junior high school? These people need to grow up. Vote on a player's hall worthiness based on what he did on the field, not off.

With 1,101 career receptions, Carter is fourth on the all-time list. He ranks eighth in NFL history with 13,899 yards, and fourth with 130 receiving touchdowns, behind only Jerry Rice, Terrell Owens, and Randy Moss. An 8-time Pro Bowler and 2-time First-Team All-Pro, Carter played in 234 games during his 16 year NFL career. Those are easily Hall of Fame credentials.

The number of Hall of Fame voters needs to be expanded, so that the possiblity of one or two members blocking a candidate's enshrinement because of personal bias would be reduced.

Other former players who deserve to be in the Hall of Fame - soon - include WR's Tim Brown and Andre Reed, DE's Jim Marshall and Claude Humphrey, LB Clay Matthews, RB Jerome Bettis, and G Will Shields, among others.

A Super Bowl with the most pressure: Minnesota Vikings vs. Buffalo Bills

The Vikings and the Bills both have 0-4 Super Bowl records. What would happen if they met in the title game?

Losing a championship game - especially your fourth Super Bowl - can be pretty awful, but at least New England Patriots fans can take some solace in the fact their team has also won three Super Bowls. The Denver Broncos have two wins, somewhat making up for their four losses. However, the Bills and the Vikings don't have any victories to go along with their four defeats. Buffalo lost all four of their Super Bowls in consecutive years. Yikes.

So what would be a pressure-packed Super Bowl in 2013? Minnesota versus Buffalo. One would be the first team in NFL history to lose five Super Bowls. What's worse, the loser still would not have any wins in the big game. People would be talking about it for two weeks prior to Super Sunday. Television ratings for the game might go even higher than this past year.

For fans of the Bills and Vikings, the stress of this game would be immense, probably more so than for the players. I would not be surprised if many of the players weren't even aware of their franchise's history, and wouldn't know much about the significance of the game until after it was over.

But fans know. Players and coaches come and go, but fans remain. A fifth Super Bowl loss without a win for the Vikings or Bills might finally send some of us looking for something else to do with our Sundays in the fall.

Here's hoping for a Detroit Lions - Cleveland Browns Super Bowl matchup in 2013

We’re done with football for a while but some some fans will once again go through another very long off season. Parity in the NFL has resulted in most teams reaching the Super Bowl at least one time. The Jacksonville Jaguars, in existence since 1995, have yet to make it. Nor have the Houston Texans, but they’ve been around for only 10 years.

On the other hand, two established franchises still have never been to a Super Bowl. The Detroit Lions formed in 1930 and the Cleveland Browns in 1946. Neither have been to a Super Bowl. The last NFL championship for the Browns was in 1964, just before the first Super Bowl. The Lions? A NFL title in in 1957. Since the Super Bowl began? Merely one appearance in the NFC championship game, in 1991. Whew.

Management of these two clubs need to put some extra effort into making their teams competitive. Manage your salary cap better, sign some quality free agents, don’t get cute in the college draft. Some teams may not have won a Super Bowl yet, but at least they’re contenders during most seasons. It must be tough to be a fan of a non-competitive team, sticking with them year after year. I give you all a lot of credit.

Here’s hoping the Lions and the Browns have successful off-seasons and are able to put a winning team on the field come September. Their fans deserve no less.

Journalist and His Dog Hit the Open Road

Journalist and His Dog Hit the Open Road