Corporate Hired Mercenary, Management Dream Gone Phut!

And there went hopes of working for India’s biggest industrial group in a senior position, actually, Sr. Manager – Content! Ah, such things happen. But guess the jump from humble content writer to Sr. Manager would have been an ego-boost, and the dream of at last wearing a tie and working for India’s largest corporate house. Not to be, Johnny-boy.

The interviews seemed encouraging enough. I was told to give suggestion about this big industrial group’s website, which I did, spending, or rather, wasting a whole day on it. I mailed it to the senior manager who had interviewed me, and waited, and waited. Not even an acknowledgement came. Then I phoned. What happened? He said he will give a call back. And then I waited, and waited, and waited.

Then I understood. I was rejected, and the manager was avoiding telling me this. He was, sort of, um, you know what I mean, you get the point?

Yes, we don’t know how to speak in a professional tone, just a bit impersonal, without any emotion. A management trainer should have been hired to train the staff of the corporation in the basics of business communication. The response in this case would have been, “Mr. Matthew, sorry, our interview panel didn’t select you. Better luck next time,” or something thusly.

But no, they didn’t, and that rankles, and I have started harboring an unwilling grudge against the corporation. And there was this incident that happened in front of me when I had gone for an interview in the sprawling campus of the company (The sort where you would need a vehicle to go from one end to the other, across manicured gardens, fountains and sculptures). Just as I was about to enter the huge glass façade of the company, a company underling was trying to suck up to his boss in a whiny voice thusly:

“Sir, maine aap ko bola tha, sir, sir, maine aap ko usi time bola tha.”

“Kab? Kya bola tha?” This was said with an irritated look at his underling. Apparently something had gone irrevocably wrong. Obviously, the crone’s job was on the line. Such cronyism! God, what have we come to?

And that was all I heard before I went out of earshot. I guess I can’t do that sort of sucking up to people, even bosses. That’s why I have been and will always remain a corporate hired mercenary, and a corporate misfit.