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You thought you've had a bad interview...

psteiner

...How about getting a phone call the night before telling you to not bother coming in the next day? Yes, I got a phone call asking (since it wasn't in the job description and it wasn't mentioned when the interview was scheduled 1 1/2 weeks ago) if I had a car. When I said no...I was politely told that I didn't need to bother coming in tomorrow...
I kinda feels like breakup anger. The I didn't get a chance to explain myself, a decision was made without even giving me a chance type of anger...Of course in a couple of days I'll be able to say, "It's for the better" but right now it really stings.

Happy Birthday to me I guess.
grrr....

 
Nov 14, 05 10:54 pm
Ms Beary

oooh, steiner, I'm sorry. You don't want to work for them anyways then. hopefully you have other interviews set up too.

happy birthday, is it really your birthday? who cares. eat some cake, have some shots.

Nov 14, 05 11:12 pm  · 
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psteiner

yesss, tomorrow's my b-day. eat drink and forget bad interviews...or non-interviews.

Nov 14, 05 11:14 pm  · 
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Ms Beary

at least they didn't interview you and THEN decide they didn't want you. it was entirely up to them and there was nothing you could do about it, so you shouldn't feel bad at all.
remember you are looking for a connection, a place to grow and learn, not just a place to work.

Nov 14, 05 11:18 pm  · 
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WonderK

Dude, what jerks. I mean really. You should email them and say you have a jet pack so screw them! What if you had a truck!?! It's transportation discrimination. It's a whole new litigation subgroup!

I'm offended for you. Happy birthday, by the way.

Nov 15, 05 1:31 am  · 
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Carl Douglas (agfa8x)

ow. That's pretty bad manners.

Nov 15, 05 2:07 am  · 
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liberty bell

Aww, steiner, that does suck - like getting all rady for the date and then getting stood up.

But as said before, it's no reflection on you or your skills, just on the bad manners of the office. WonderK hit t - mail them a pic of you soaring above their office in a jet pack holding a banner that says "You had your chance now KMA"

Here's a plea to the architecture gods for only good and successful interviews for the upcoming week....

Nov 15, 05 5:13 am  · 
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garpike

It's not you. It's me.

Nov 15, 05 1:06 pm  · 
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ochona

"we're sure you'll do great in a firm that's
[bigger/smaller]
[more production-oriented/more design-oriented]
[does bigger projects/does smaller projects]
[not this firm/not this firm]"

the reason they want you to have a car is because they want someone to run to the copy shop, the coffee shop, and the coffin-nail shop for them

upraise your middle finger and praise god for the bullet you dodged

Nov 15, 05 1:15 pm  · 
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dia

Its not me, its you.

Nov 15, 05 2:58 pm  · 
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dia

ps. I'm sorry for you.

Nov 15, 05 2:58 pm  · 
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psteiner

thanks guys.
I just got back from a shopping spree (buying more than I can haul home) at whole foods, so now I will eat like a happy crazy person...

Nov 15, 05 3:17 pm  · 
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liberty bell

Boots, psteiner, gorgeous new boots salve all wounds.....

Happy Birthday!!!!

Nov 15, 05 3:24 pm  · 
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brian buchalski

a jet pack? really, does anybody still use those things? did anybody ever use those things? kinda like that robot fad back in the eighties.

at any rate, i can appreciate your dilemma, i also don't have a car and i have wondered if that's really much of an issue

but what baffles me about cars is the perception that they are so liberating. i hated my 15 min commute drive, but i love my 15 min walk home. driving is work. why spend an extra half-hour/day working on something so pointless? it's even worse when you consider most consumer retail in america. why can wal-mart sell so cheap? in part because the customers are subsidizing a significant portion of the transportation costs. that's not a super-walmart, it's a regional distribution center with consumers happily absorbing the last 10-15miles of the supply chain on their own dime. savvy people, those execs.

that architecture firm that dissed the carless psteiner probably wants its employees to subsidize firm expenses by providing their own transportation, but if it was really a busyness savvy firm, it would have the client absorb that cost.

Nov 15, 05 3:35 pm  · 
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strlt_typ

i like how the girls stepped up to this topic...

Nov 15, 05 3:36 pm  · 
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liberty bell

We're just empathetic, dammson.

Nov 15, 05 3:43 pm  · 
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strlt_typ

i know...

Nov 15, 05 4:20 pm  · 
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myriam

puddles... awesome point about subsidized transportation...

psteiner, where do you live? how absurb for an ARCH firm to require a car. I mean, what were they going to have you do?! Bizarre. I have to go to jobsites all the time, that's what company-rented zipcars are for. Or, a cab. Or, you borrow the principal's car or whatever.

On the other hand, I live in Boston, where a car is worse than pointless, and yet I still long for one... and I *will* long for one until rail service in this country steps up to the point where I can go on weekend trips and actually SEE those White Mountains I've been hearing so much about, or Walden Pond, or the Cape, or what have you that requires a car to view... Besides which, there is no place/way in this city to buy decent household goods without a car. It's extremely aggravating not to have one, for freedom's sake.

Nov 15, 05 4:29 pm  · 
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ether
happy b-day!
Nov 15, 05 5:07 pm  · 
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vado retro
http://www.lamborghinichicago.com/home.html

you should go out and by the baddest ride you can and park it in front of their office.

Nov 15, 05 5:38 pm  · 
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eeayeeayo

A car has been a requirement for most of the offices in which I've worked, except for those in large cities in which most people don't have their own cars. Outside of these few major cities only the largest firms have had their own company cars. Some have had policies requiring (or encouraging) renting cars for trips longer than 100 miles but expected that we would use our own cars - or public transportation when available and convenient - for shorter trips.
In my current office most of our projects are local - less than an hour away and usually less than that - but there is no local public transportation that could get us close to most of them. There are no car rental places here that are close enough not to require a car to get to them in the first place. And remember that outside of major cities cabs can't just be hailed in most places - they have to be called (and sometimes even reserved in advance.)
A car is a stated requirement for the job here. Employees are compensated for mileage (at a rate high enough to make it more worth while to take the reimbursement than to itemize work-related car expenses on one's taxes, though that's an option if the employee prefers.) Our insurance doesn't allow us to have employees drive owners' vehicles for work purposes - but employees driving their own vehicles for work-related purposes are covered.

We did have someone working here for awhile who did not have a car but it limited that person's full participation in projects as they could not be sent alone to meetings, site visits, field measuring, etc., which in turn caused some unhappiness in that employee, which caused us to start stating in our ads that a car is a requirement.
I don't understand why this firm didn't make it clear that a car was a necessity earlier. But I guess I'd look at it this way: at least they didn't waste your time having you come in for an interview for a job they knew they couldn't give you.

Nov 15, 05 5:45 pm  · 
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vado retro

either- so good to see that the last release by destinys child merits with shermans burining of atlanta in your wikpedia list

Nov 15, 05 6:15 pm  · 
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sameolddoctor

what i dont understand is that offices like eeayeeayo can afford car insurance etc etc, so can they not just shell out 5-6K and buy a used toyota corolla for office use???
but, as for the main question, psteiner, i think you are better off without a job like this that puts more emphasis on your having a car than your work and the skills that you can bring to the table...

Nov 15, 05 10:37 pm  · 
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psteiner

A car isn't a necessity here in Chicago, especially for someone like myself who is just getting started. A car would be a bitch right now for me, payments, parking (for home), parking (for travel), insurance, gas, maintenance...

...although my dad and I are slowly working on a 1974 karmen ghia. It'll be 4-5 years for that to materialize. Really though, there's no need for a car right now, I'll just keep walking to border's and ride the train to Archeworks.

thanks for the good humor guys.

Nov 16, 05 12:24 am  · 
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psteiner

"karman" ghia that is. too much birthday celebrations i guess

Nov 16, 05 12:27 am  · 
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eeayeeayo

sameolddoctor: maybe I can shed some light on the financial issues:

a small firm's property insurance policy usually covers damage to (and liability for) cars owned and driven by employees on occasional work-related business. Firms are generally going to have this insurance anyway because it's the same policy that covers stolen office equipment, liability for clients falling down the office stairs, etc. Proof of this type of insurance is also usually required to rent commercial office space.
Most employees would also be covered by their own auto insurance for occasional work-related use (the exception is if the employee is telling his insurance company that he NEVER drives for work - which he obviously should not be doing if he is in fact driving for work.)

Purchasing a car for office use does not just involve the 6k for the used Corolla. For a company-owned car there would need to be a separate auto insurance policy (that car would not be covered by the above property insurance policy.) Additionally there would be the cost to garage the car (we cannot park overnight in our office's lot and parking on-street is not a safe option even when spots are available.) Then there is car maintenance (which may be high and unpredictable with a 6k used Corolla!) and other car-related expenses.
By reimbursing employees at a fair rate per mile we're essentially on a "pay as you go" plan as far as maintenance, gas, insurance, and other car expenses go. We're paying our fair share of their expenses, while keeping firm overhead lower.

We could probably swing the expense of a company car - but of course it would come out of the same small profit margin from which we all expect bonuses, continuing education benefits, etc. So should we cut benefits to everyone just in order to accommodate potential future employees without cars?
It's often exasperating to read posts from interns accusing their employers of being cheap for not paying them more, giving higher bonuses, benefits, etc. - but to see just as many posts saying we're cheap for not buying things/spending money on the firm itself. The average profit per project in the average US firm is about 8.5%. All of the extras have to come out of that.

Besides which, in the instance in which we did have an employee without his own vehicle he often used the transportation issue as an excuse for being late, leaving early, and he could never attend after-hours zoning, school board, or other meetings on his projects unless a family member or one of us was available to drive him. It's possible that the firm psteiner was talking with has experienced similar troubles in the past.





Nov 16, 05 12:17 pm  · 
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liberty bell

Interview time! Everyone send good interview energy to my wonderful friend who is starting an interview right....now!

Nov 16, 05 4:00 pm  · 
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luck to your friend liberty bell.

man i sooo love big cities. no car necessary for jobs, take the train or a cab to the jobsite and if its out of the way rent a car on the company's account.

my one small city job we had 2 company cars and they were used for most work-related travel. don't know how the insurance thing was managed but this isn't a litigious country...we were also paid real OT and 2 big-ish bonuses a year, were provided with free meals when working late and otherwise were treated well. in retrospect i think my employer back than was kind of a socialist...

Nov 16, 05 6:02 pm  · 
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macgirl

I wonder if it would be considered "unprofessional" to ride a bicycle to work every day.

Or to rollerblade.

macgirl

Nov 16, 05 6:21 pm  · 
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ochona

retroactively fedexing good energy

here in austin i'd love to ride my bike to work

but nine months of the year i'd be considered unprofessional for showing up to work smelling like a locker room after seven miles of going uphill in 90-degree heat at 8 AM -- unfortunately we don't have a shower

Nov 16, 05 6:28 pm  · 
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i used to bike 10 km everyday to work, rain sun or snow (well, up until it hit the 2 ft deep mark). carried a change of clothes in a bag and also a towel. lack of shower was a definite turnoff but became profficient at spongebathes and washing my hair in the sink ;-).

Nov 16, 05 7:12 pm  · 
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ochona

210 pounds -- and i gotta have at least 20 minutes in order not to offend my coworkers...but we're looking for other space and a shower is request no. 1 from all of us!

Nov 16, 05 7:16 pm  · 
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ether

i interviewed with a firm, was offered a job and took it. druing my first week, one of the principles asked if i could join her for a meeting with a prospective client. when i told her i didn't have any way of getting there (no car), she was shocked. "you mean i didn't ask if you had a car during the interview?" no, i replied. she (and the rest of the firm) didn't seem to pleased and went on to say that in order to get the full experience of working at their firm, i should think about getting a car. i felt awkward, like i had done something wrong.

luckily, i had the opportunity to buy one of my parents old cars for cheap. but had i not been able to get a car, i would have been office-locked, not able to project manage and forced to sit in front of the computer everyday.

this was also in chicago where i had gone almost 2 years without needing a car.

Nov 16, 05 8:25 pm  · 
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liberty bell

macgirl, when I lived in Philly and worked in a very professional firm it was considered totally acceptable to both bike and rollerblade to work, and firm members did both often. And after a really big snow, some would come across town to work via cross country skis.

Nov 16, 05 10:20 pm  · 
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kissy_face

I live in Atlanta and I have a car but I don't drive to work. Whenever we have to go somewhere for work there are more than enough people with cars to get us all where we need to go. As long as you can get to work in the morning and back home it shouldn't be an issue if you have a car or not.

Nov 17, 05 12:00 am  · 
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Ms Beary

More than one person goes to meetings and site visits?

Even if more than one person goes somewhere, the other person (the principals) wanted us to drive separate because they had to: stop at home/go to another meeting or site, run an errand, didn't need you for the whole time, etc.

Nov 17, 05 12:06 am  · 
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macgirl

I want to live in a world where people always bike, blade or take the train to work/school.

I want to live in a world where driving is the exception.

macgirl

P.S. I just realized I sound like a commercial.

Nov 17, 05 1:45 am  · 
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sameolddoctor

it is surprising, it seems as though most people here work in offices with really unhelpful/rude peers...
in my office in totally mass transit - unfriendly Los Angeles, I did not have a car for the first 7 odd months of starting work and would take the bus to and from work (the ride was around 1.5 hours each way). Although I wasted a lot of time this way, the people were always kind enough to drop me home, or to the nearest bus stop when we worked late hours. And whenever i had to go to the site someone would surely take me, or offer their vehicle...
maybe i just bumped into the right people, i wish everyone had peers like that

Nov 17, 05 2:20 am  · 
 · 
.

When I was an intern in Chicago I once had to finish drawings late one night and get them to evanston for a 7:00am meeting. Put on the shirt and tie, made myself proffesional and presentable because this was my first big time meeting. Even took a $20 taxie so I wouldnt risk CTA breakdowns. Got to the meeting where the principle cracked the door, took the prints and said thanks. Closed the door.

Another time I was driven to a major hospital we were building on the westside to do some punch list checking. Around 4:30 in the afternoon while I was on the phone witht he engineer I see the principle shaking hands and leaves. Just left me at the site.

most Architects are people with what I term "personality disorders".

Nov 17, 05 10:02 am  · 
 · 
.

Ok maybe not most, but certainly the most I've come accross. This car things got me mad. I'm living in the Gold Coast, working in DuPage County, driving 3 hours round trip per day. Have a slow flat tire Which I fill up at 1/4 to 7am each day and now that its like 30 degrees outside its that much worse to drive - just wait till the snow starts!

Nov 17, 05 10:28 am  · 
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Ms Beary

. those are horrible stories! I shall tell a few of my own, both are same architect:

One day had to drive him around to job sites, he had an injury, couldn't drive.
I started some friendly conversation, I made it all about him so it would be interesting to him:
"How old is your oldest boy? He is probably already looking at colleges, huh?"
"Yes."
"What schools has he been looking at? Has he thought about what he wants to do?"
"No."
This went on a for a minute or so more.
Maybe it was a sore topic?
But he gave step by step directions to both sites, like I didn't know where we were, I only lived there for 20-some years, and both sites were barely a mile away. The rest of the conversation was:
"You are going to want to get in the left lane here. Stop at this red light..."

My first big meeting: I was hired to work on the project, or so was told during my interview, worked on the material for the powerpoint presentation for the first week, was told I was going to the meeting and to be ready. My name was on the presentation material as part of the design team. I dressed up nice, went to work that day, anticipated being told when to meet up to go to the meeting. At 1:30 or so, I thought I had better ask... turns out he had already left. I felt horrible, I thought I had missed my big meeting, I though omigosh there was a schedule I was supposed to check or there was something in my mailbox - no such thing. A few days later, I asked what was going on. Without looking up, he replied that there has been some switching around and I was no longer on that project, sorry, did we forget to tell you?

Nov 17, 05 11:56 am  · 
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c

I had my first interview at 12 today - and my first rejection by apx. 12:30.
Got a headache from scowling my way home on the subway.
Having chilled out a bit, and 2 beers later, I realize it didn't go so badly, it was neither personal , nor a matter of taste/style- i just didn't have the experience he was looking for.(but christ how'mI supposed to gET qualified!) We actually chatted for a while once it was clearly no longer a question of getting the job- which was nice i guess- or maybe he just felt sorry for me, I know I did.

Nov 18, 05 6:26 pm  · 
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liberty bell

Awww, c, sorry to hear that - I guess the "good interview energy" I requested this week didn't get your way. I'm certain you'll find a good fit somewhere, good luck!!

Hey the fact that he chatted w/you after makes me think he liked you which means other potential employers will find you interesting too. Hang in there.

Nov 18, 05 6:50 pm  · 
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ochona

period -- i think this thread is ample evidence of that

i'm going to start a thread...now!

Nov 18, 05 6:51 pm  · 
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strlt_typ

yeah c, it's like trying to hook up with a girl...as long as you went in there wanting it

Nov 18, 05 7:04 pm  · 
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strlt_typ

..now gain some experience...

Nov 18, 05 7:07 pm  · 
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ochona

sorry bout your interview -- when i said "this thread is ample evidence of that" i was responding to . when he was discussing architects and personality disorders...

...and lb is 100% right

Nov 18, 05 7:11 pm  · 
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c

dammson- never really been into the girl on girl thing, but point taken nonethless.

Nov 19, 05 2:26 am  · 
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Ms Beary

My new office has a scooter to take to job sites that are close!
No company car.
Been riding my bike everyday and it doens't look like it will be a problem that I don't have a car (husband takes car to his job).

Dec 14, 05 10:05 am  · 
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vado retro

ride on miss beary

Dec 14, 05 10:22 am  · 
 · 

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