I
thought about stepping back even further in time, to discuss how I became a government
contractor...
Well,
it all started in November 1, 2000. I
was working as a Disaster Recovery consultant at Allstate in Illinois, and I
told my company that I needed to be in Michigan, so I could vote in the
presidential election. So, I stayed in
Michigan that week, when I got home from voting. I got a call from a recruiter in DC. “Good Afternoon my sister, I hope that you
are doing well.” Most African Americans know that this was my cue
to hang up, but I didn't. The recruiter went on to
tell me that they were looking for contractors who had worked on commercial
projects to come to DC and work on a large government project. He stated that the government was beginning
to realize that contractors and consultants who worked in commercial projects
had a larger range of skills than those who had always worked in the
government. And they needed people like
me to come to DC and work on this project and share your skills with your
country. Why don’t we fly you out here
and you can interview on this project.
At most, you will get a great job and help your country, if it doesn't
work out, you will at least get to see our nation’s capital. Can you fly out
tomorrow? The recruiter told me that he
would pick me up at the airport and drive me to my hotel. (Yes, I fell for it.) So, I booked my flight and selected a hotel,
with the impression that they would reimburse me, when I got there. Well, he did pick me up, granted I waited at
the airport for 2 hours. When he finally
came, it was getting dark. So, as we
were driving, he told me that he didn't want to be rude, but I had a lot of
skills and experience on my resume, so he and his manager were trying to guess
my age. So, he said, “How old are
you?” My response was “Old enough to
know that you don’t ask a lady her age!”
He drove me to my hotel, but he had a nervous look on his face. So, I asked him, if I had picked a bad place
to stay? After all, I didn't know DC and I could change my reservations. He told me that it was fine for the
night. I asked him if he was sure, he
said yes, and offered to carry my bags.
Well,
I checked in and then we went to my room.
I went to open my door, and he asked me to wait and let him do it. He put the bags down, opened the door really
fast and jumped in the room. Once again,
I asked if I needed to change my reservations, and he told me no, but he said
that I should be careful entering into a hotel room at night, and his goal was
to startle someone if they were in there waiting for me. Well, I know that I was startled. He also told me that before he became a
recruiter that he used to be a New York City policeman. After, all the excitement, he left and told
me that he would pick me up tomorrow at 9:00 am for my interview. I was tired, so I decided get something to
eat, unpack my bags and go to
bed. Well
the hotel had a restaurant, so I ate something and then I went back to my room
to unpack. I opened the dresser drawer
and the biggest roach jumped out. Now I
couldn't sleep, and I decided I had to change hotels. So, I went to the yellow pages, to look for
phone numbers of local hotels in the area.
Well, the hotel and motel section of the yellow pages were torn out of
the book with a razor. I called the
front desk, and I told them about the roach.
The hotel's response was “Really, we just had the exterminator spray that
room. Well, we will be glad to move
you.” So, I moved, but I didn't want to
be there. I felt like I had entered the
beginning of one of those horror stories.
I didn't sleep much, but I managed to go to sleep.
The
next day, I got up and got ready for my interview. My recruiter told me to meet him
outside. So, I stood outside in the
parking lot in my navy blue suit. While
I was standing there, a guy pulled up and asked me if I needed a ride. My response was, “No thank you, I am waiting
for someone.” He asked me if I was
sure, I said yes. I was thinking,
"Why did I ever pick this hotel? Did
he think that I was a prostitute?"
The recruiter showed up and drove me to the interview. The interview seemed to be going well, the
manager was very nice and it seemed like it would be fun to work with him. At the end of the interview, the manager
told me that he liked me and that I had the job. But, he said, "Don’t tell the recruiter, I
like to make to make him sweat. It
brings me joy. So let’s have a serious
look when we leave and when he asks you how it went, tell him, you don’t
know." I said OK. The interviewing manager waited 3 hours to
tell him that they had hired me. LOL.
#federalcontractor
#interview
