Pro-noun-shayshon and its Effects (Part 1)

Walking along the streets of Makati, wearing a business attire, and looking busy with a cellphone at hand and a briefcase on the other looked so posh to me. It’s like the ultimate picture of what a young professional should look like – one who is earning for his own keep and supporting the family in one way or another.

Today, I found myself wearing a semi formal attire walking along Tordesillas and Dela Costa St., equipped with my resume and self-confidence that flickers like a candle as a gust of anxiety passes by.

I was headed to Finman building. The scheduled appointment was at 8am. I was there at around 10. Expecting a tormenting lecture on Punctuality 101 from the interviewer, I reached the company’s office with a heightened level of anxiety. But instead, all I endured was filling up a personal information sheet. We were oriented by an account manager about the interview processes of different call center companies. From this I learned two basic things in an interview:

• You have to gratify the interviewer even if you know for a fact that what you’re saying would give you an A+ in a Dale Carnegie exercise with the theme “The Most Shitty Things I Said”
• You have to abandon all pride and resist the urge to disagree – even if you believe that the pronunciation (pronounced as pro-nun-si-ay-shun, not pro-noun-si-ay-shun or pro-noun-shayshon) of the interviewer, who keeps on telling everyone to be mindful about their pronunciation, is kinda…uhm…not perfect.

I didn’t want that to sound arrogant. And I completely have nothing against mispronunciation but I just find it sad whenever I see applicants who fail after having just said something about themselves. Nakakalungkot lang. It’s even harder when an interviewer already says the names of those who passed while those who did not remain clueless and were told to wait for the call. God knows if there would even be one.

In defense to some interviewers, some of them are fair enough to say directly if you passed or not. Probably that’s how it goes in the BPO industry where the manner of speaking matters more than your educational attainment or previous employments. It’s a call center company they’re applying for, after all.

Btw, I’m going for an online exam on Thursday in one of the companies on which I passed the initial interview. I hope I get my first job soon. Kelangan ko na ng pera, at ng magagawa!  :)

P.S. Ngayon ko lang narealize na ang hirap ng walang ginagawa lalo na kung sanay ka na may ginagawa