Before you pass the judgement, let me introduce my candidature to you. I am MBA (Human Resource Management) from a tier I institute and a commerce graduate from Lady Shri Ram College of Commerce, New Delhi. And I have been a great speaker and comparer at my college level. I can speak English fluently and I have got very good listening skills. My introduction seems to be an impressive one, doesn’t it? BUT this is not what my potential employers seem to be interested in!
They are in search of something special, which I probably am lacking. Just like any other aspirant, I have got my CV made by naukri.com team and have subscribed to their premier service of flashing my CV to potential recruiters. And it has resulted into some interview calls from good companies. Responding to the calls, I have followed all the steps which an obedient and sincere (read desperate!) job seeker would do. I have attended interviews in formal dress which I had to buy just to impress the HR personnel of those so called ‘good’ companies. I practiced my answers for the interviews questions, many a times, in front of the mirror.
But wherever I go for the interviews, the male candidates look at everything except my CV and my credentials. Size of my breasts seems to score more than my distinction in MBA. They are more interested in my hobbies and who I live with rather than my HR skill sets. Once I went to an office, I was asked to goto CEO’s directly. I was bit shocked as HR usually takes the first round of the interview. Anyway, I followed the office boy who escorted me to the CEO room. All I could see there was the back of a big chair and a big computer screen. I hardly had entered the room and I heard ‘sit down’ voice coming out of that big chair. I took the seat hesitantly and placed my credentials on the table. Chair turns towards me and I see a smiling, old and bald boss staring at me. He looked at my face for about a second and then spent rest of the minute by scanning the contours of my timid body. ‘Relax, no need to be nervous’ he says to me, while still staring at my neckline. I was quite uncomfortable but said to myself that it’s natural to be nervous in the interview. I slide my CV towards him and he slides it back to me and says ‘no need of a CV, I have even seen your FB profile’. I was shocked not because he has seen my FB profile but by the way he looked at me while disclosing this piece of info to me.
Without asking any academic or skill related question, he asks, ‘are you comfortable in travelling with the CEO on business meetings?’ I wondered why HR employee needs to travel with the CEO for business meetings. Before I could answer the peculiar question, he adds that ‘it will be FUN’ while giving special emphasise on the word ‘fun’. At that point I could sense that it’s not my HR skill set but something else that he is looking for in return for a salary. But I was not ready at all to be a volunteered corporate slave. I smiled, gathered my credentials and ask, ‘Sir, do you have a daughter?’ He replies, ‘Yes, why?’ I added, ‘does she travel for business meetings?’ He gets visibly upset and before he could say anything, I gather my stuff and leave the chair saying ‘it must be fun’!