I got a call yesterday from the publisher of a weekly newspaper the next town over--he of the promising lead turned sour, described here.
I called him back tonight, fancying he might have heard about my blog at The Monitor and would convey his regret for not hiring me as an editor when he had the chance. (Of course, I'm approaching this conversation with the smug knowledge that I'm not going to give up a plum job at the University no matter what he puts on the table. Bring it, suckah!).
Anyway, he's looking for a full time reporter now. Again, he twitted my lack of recent newswriting experience. It's as if he forgot we covered this ground back in January.
When I said I'd been writing an online column and suggested he read it, his response was, "I don't know if that would be terribly helpful to me." It's a different style of writing--he's hired good writers who turn out to be bad reporters and vice versa. I dunno, could that be bad management?
I ask "So, what kind of salary range are you thinking about for this reporter position?" That depends on the individual, he says. I'd want the person to prove themself before getting serious with serious pay. It's hard to plug in a number. I'd probably put them on a couple of assignments and see how they handle them. Sounds like he's looking for the Mormon discount, eh?
I said I was working 8-5 at the university and didn't think there was much room on my plate for more. (Not that he was offering "more"). Hey, buddy, a lot happens in four months--and I'm not desperate enough to be your FREElancer while you decide whether or not I'm worth hiring for reals.
So he made a few polite noises... if my situation changes, call him, blah blah. He exits stage left, thinking he didn't pick me.
In recounting the phone call and the guy's offputting 'tude, Mike said I missed a golden opportunity to tweak him hard. To ask questions that demonstrate that I was interviewing him--and that he wasn't making much of a case for why I should want to work for him.
Eh, so he goes untweaked. Would he have gotten it if I had? He'll go on having staffing problems at his little weekly papers and think it's not his problem.
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3 comments:
Piffle. He's a day late and many dollars short. You've definitely taken the better job.
I am sending a large, spitty ppttthhhh in his direction.
And now that I've gotten that childish impulse out of the way, how cool was it to even be in the position to say "ah, gee, I've already got a really great job, so no."
It was a satisfying turn of events.
Of course, I've been replaying in my head all the things I could have said. But really, they're all just variations on "As if!"
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