In mood, mostly, though the old goopy eye is giving my foul temper somewhat of a run for its money.
I am annoyed as shit right now.
The mouse touchpad on my laptop has some sort of perpetual bug that, even after supposedly being fixed, insists on messing with the function of the left click button. This is driving me slowly insane, not to mention it has made me lose several comments, blog posts, and even part of a Word document because I forget the stupid button is broken and go clicking away like normal.
Speaking of computer problems, Rico and I are working on a translating job and I managed to lose all of the work I accomplished this afternoon. For some reason, my zipped document failed to save. So I had to start all over, 4 hours of work down the turrrrlet.
There was something else on this list - the big clencher of a thing that was making me feel pissed off just 5 minutes ago - and honestly, my mind has gone blank. I can't remember what on earth I was so worked up about that I felt compelled to blog.
Now my faulty memory has me annoyed, but that wasn't it...
Think, Ali, think.
Ah, just got it back. It has to do with my name.
For the last 3 weeks I've been collecting CVs for the position of Financial Director at the banana empire. I very clearly stated on the announcement that potential candidates should send me a cover letter and CV. I put my name and e-mail on the ad. I even prefaced my name with "Ms." to avoid any confusion.
So why the hell do people feel compelled to switch things around and address their applications to "Alexander"??? Do they do it because they expect a man to hold my position at work? Is it sheer laziness? Are they unfamiliar with one of the more classic, internationally friendly female names out there, opting instead for the masculine version just because it rings a bell with something learned in 9th grade world history?
I'll let you in on a little secret: I rejected every single person that sent me a cover letter calling me Alexander. Perhaps it was a bit harsh, but it made my screening process much easier, and gave me a slight sense of retribution for all these fools messing up my name.
Okay. Time to get back to catch-up translating work.
I wish I had some cheesecake. That would make me feel better.
13 comments:
I had to smile at that one, Ali (the name part).
My name is this incredibly beautiful one. Jo Ann. It's smooth.
Yeah. Tell that to Portuguese-speaking fellows.
"Joana? Joelle?" Even Joelle, they can get. But "Jo Ann"? Ha! Easier to believe in Santa.
I love my name, but my father had to much of an inspiration in that case. He's a writer too, that's why.
~Jo Ann - Oh, I sympathize. Part of the reason why people in my professional life here in Brazil call me by my full name, Alexandra, is because "Ali" is so hard for Portugese speakers to understand. I get "Aline", "Ellen" and even "Alien", but it takes at least 4 times saying my name for it to click.
So I stick with Alexandra, but now I see that even the supposedly easy version of my name can be messed up, too. Sigh!!
I'm surprised you have these problems with Jo Ann, given the proximity to South Africa, at least down here.
I approve.
a) Typos, of any variety, are a surefire rejection trigger
b) People are either incredibly careless or incredibly misogynistic and who wants someone like that heading up the Financial division?
The protocol I've been led to follow do when there's even a shadow of a doubt as to the person's gender ID (when the name could go either way) is to type out the name exactly as stated in the announcement and don't bother adding in the Mr./Ms.
So even if you didn't have a feminised name and made it extra-obvious-there really is no excuse for misspelling and sticking in the Mr.
yours in crotchetiness,
monkey
PS: hope your eye gets better soon
"Think. Ali Think"
An excellent post, especially as it;s the sort of thing I do a lot.
I think your revenge via CV is good recruitment tactics. Atention to detail is a key skill for success, otherwise you would end up constantly having to check their work and not be able to trust them.
P.S Hope your pink eye goes soon.
P.P.S I thought Pria beig naughty in some manner would be mentioned in this post, hope he carries on behaving himself.
~Monkey - When I come across a name that is either unfamiliar to me or is gender neutral, I try to Google the person or call the receptionist at the company to clear up my doubts. This is because in Portuguese, you almost always end up having to indicate gender, even if you leave out Mr./Ms., because every single noun/adjective is either feminine or masculine. Basically, when you say "Dear xxxxx", the word "Dear" must end either in an -a or an -o.
Okay, I'll stop with the language lesson now. It was satisfying to read your comment here.
~Safiya - Yes, they say people show you their true colors most of the time, so ignoring sloppiness and/or laziness from Day 1 would have been *my* problem.
Thankfully Pria has been behaving relatively well. I'm almost afriad to type this for fear of jinxing myself!
i totally understand the name thing. my name is often *corrected* to read jennifer, jessica, monica, jenna, etc. because I obviously can't spell my OWN NAME!
(((bighugs))) for a better weekend!
~Jenica - Lady, you're up late!! Not surprising with the little ones. :) Okay, Monica, have a great day. hehehe
Hi Ali,
My husband and I are moving to Moz in the next month for his work.
IM SCARED! but VERY excited.
Your blog and interview on the expatinterview site is really cool, and has helped me to realize there's people in Moz that I could relate to.
So I know I'll be making some friends.
Thanks
Anel
South Africa
~Anel - I look forward to meeting you when you and your husband arrive. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have - just send me an e-mail (on my profile page you will find the link). Good luck with everything!
excellent revenge. who wants to work with someone who can't even follow the simplest directions??? the real question is, how many applicants referred to you as alexandra??? i hope it was more then three!
with you on the cheesecake thing. key lime cheesecake would be divine right about now...
Yeah, I can sure sympathize with the name thingy. Must be awful to have a name that people stumble over.
Sincerely,
Baldwin Gwynne Burr
~Jenna - Sadly, I didn't get many more than that. The ones that didn't do Alexander got the company name wrong, or addressed their letter to "Dear Sir/Madam". Sigh...
~Anonymous - Dad, you freaking crack me up!!!!
I would do the same thing. They should make it their business to know who they are addressing!
People always forget my name, and call me Amanda. Amanda is nice, but I don't get it...
lol :)
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