Thursday, September 3, 2009

As a Woman...?

I went on a job interview last week. It was important; my employment opportunities are quite challenging being overseas. I was looking forward to the interview. It seemed like it would be a very good job with a lot of growth potential. I've had some bad luck with interviews over the course of my working years...some incredibly unprofessional & one that had to be postponed because my car had been broken into overnight. I was hoping for a much easier time this time around.

Armed only with a building number, I found the location very easily. This made me happy and gave me positive feelings about the interview. I was wearing my gray/black snakeskin print heels, which are "power heels" that provided much of my confidence. I met the first of 3 gentlemen who would be conducting the interview. In the course of casual getting-to-know-you chit chat, this man asked if my husband would be deploying.

When I said yes, he said, "That must be hard for you, as a woman."

At this point, I realized I'd never get the job....because my natural response was, "I'm not sure what my gender has to do with anything..." I couldn't even control myself. I think my eyes crossed when I heard him say that & I knew my gut reaction/response was bad, but I couldn't control myself.

Why? It's the "as a woman" thing. He could have said "as a spouse," or "as a family member." I wouldn't have thought twice about it. It was the statement that being a woman makes the situation difficult.

So does anyone think I'll get the job? ;)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

so, how's the Italian EO complaint process?
That pisses me off and it didnt even happen to me. GRR.

Unknown said...

I'm not even going to bother. There's a bit more to the story... which basically means I'm not really worried about this particular job. :)