I think I am possibly being taken for a ride, and I don't appreciate it.
Basically, my cousin Diggy knows a guy called Bravo who says he works for MTV Base as an Event Manager, and he told her this when she bumped into him at a restaurant a couple of months ago. Being the person she is she started talking me up, telling him that I am looking for work in that field and what I've done in the past, etc, so he told her to tell me to call him. Every time I tried I got no answer - either the phone would ring and go to voicemail, or it would just go straight to voicemail, so I left a couple of messages, but I never heard back from him.
Then two Thursdays ago Diggy called me while I was at work and told me she had just spoken to Bravo, and that I should call him in exactly five minutes time, so I did and he finally answered. He literally gave me a mini phone interview, asking about what experience I have had in event management, what goes into putting on a successful event, and so on. I always remember that in a job interview, it's as much about you wanting them as it is them wanting you, so you must always ask questions He told me that as well as working for MTV, he also organises member events for Fitness First gyms, so as a way for him to test me he wants me to put on a members event at one of the gyms in south London on 17 December, and if it is successful then a job with MTV is mine. Of course the thought of it scared the hell out of me, especially since he said he wants me to organise it alone to see how I do. The thing that scares me is the idea of telling people that I'm good at something, and then not living up to it. I'm not good at bragging about myself, but I'm working on it. Anyway, we arranged to meet that coming Sunday at 4pm to discuss it further, and he asked me to bring my CV and examples of work I have done. Not a problem.
I got to the meeting place (which was a Fitness First near where I live) at exactly 4pm, and when I told the people at the reception who I was there to see, they didn't know who I was talking about, but it was fine because I figured he was still on his way. I'm standing there... waiting... and waiting, and 4.30pm comes, so I decided to call him to find out where he is, and if he even remembers that we're meeting, and he answers and says he's on his way, but there's traffic. Common courtesy should have told him to let me know that sooner.
He got there at about 4.40pm, and I was hoping I my face didn't show how unimpressed I was. We went up to a meeting room that one of the receptionists showed us to, and I was really hoping it wouldn't be long, because I was tired. Wrong attitude to have, I know, but I hadn't yet slept since arriving from Paris that day! Anyway, Bravo had a look at my CV and he seemed pretty impressed with that and my portfolio that contains predominantly journalistic work. He even knew a couple of my previous employers (both charlatans in their own way - that should have been a sign!). He also asked me if I speak any other languages, because it comes in very handy for that role. Apparently he can speak six languages, and is currently learning his 7th. Strangely enough, French and Spanish are not included in his skills. Then he told me about the position on offer; I would be based in Camden, sometimes working at the Oxford St office, the hours would be 8am-6pm, but some times I would finish earlier or later depending on the amount of work to be done. The starting salary was good, and would go up by £2k after a six month probation period. The contract would initially be for two years. I would have to make sure that I'm very flexible time-wise, as very often staff are required to travel abroad at the drop of a hat. His example was that he could call me and tell me to be at the airport within two hours to fly to Japan, where I could be staying for as long as four months. His team recently had to travel to New York to help with an album launch party for Keyshia Cole. They also had to work hard on the MTV Europe Awards in Liverpool last month. You can imagine how I was trying to contain my excitement while sitting there. This was the type of stuff I had written in the ideal job exercise that Muscle told me to do. All I had to do was organise an event for Fitness First, which would be overlooked by Bravo and his Line Manager, and if they were impressed, the job was mine. We agreed that he would call me on Wednesday for us to meet on either Thursday or Friday, so that he could give me all the contacts and details I'd need.
Wednesday came and I sent him a text in the afternoon asking if we could meet on Thursday and not Friday, because I already had plans. Surprise surprise I didn't get a response, but it was cool ,because the day wasn't over yet. By 9pm I still hadn't heard from him, so I called him and he sounded like I'd woken him up or something.
Me: Hi, did you get my text this afternoon?
Him: Er... your text? Yeah, yeah I got it.
Me: So..... is tomorrow ok to meet then?
Him: Tomorrow? Yeah yeah, tomorrow's fine...
Me: Well I finish work at 6pm, so I can meet you at the gym for 7pm?
Him: Yeah that's cool, I should have left the office by then, so 7pm is fine.
Me: Ok, so, I'll see you tomorrow at 7pm at the gym then, yes?
Him: Yep ok, see you then.
That annoyed me a bit, but I let it go.
Thursday comes and I get to the area a little early, so I decide to kill time by window shopping. At 6.30pm my phone rings and it's Bravo.
Him: Hi, yeah, I'm really sorry but I'm not going to be able to make it. I'm still stuck at the office with loads of paperwork to do.
Him: Ok that's fine. Give me a call when you're finished with your appointment, and we'll definitely meet then.
Me: Ok fine, I will. Speak to you then.It was now starting to seem like a joke, and all I was thinking was that the 17th is not that far away.
So Monday comes, and in the morning I had to go to the hospital to have a cyst removed from my eyelid. Longish story, but basically the doctor injected my eyelid, turned it inside out, cut it a little and squeezed/scraped out whatever was inside. So for the rest of the day I had to walk around with one eye bandaged up - even when I went with Roxy to see RG off at the airport (she's gone to work in the U.S again). When I got home I called Bravo as I said I would, and he told me he would meet me at 6pm, because he'd be leaving the office at 5pm, so that was fine with me. I was able to rest for a short while before leaving home. I got to the gym at exactly 7pm, and told the guy at the reception who I had come to see, and this time round he knew who I was talking about, so I sat and waited. And waited. And waited. And I did a little bit of waiting in the meantime. Then waited afterwards. The guys who worked there were making me laugh by poking fun at my patched up eye, so that made it a slightly less boring wait. When 7.10pm came I was pissed off, so I decided to leave, but I sent him a text beforehand:"Bravo I've been waiting an hour and I'm going to have to go now. I really really want this opportunity with MTV and I'm 100% willing to work for it, but the time span until the 17th is short and I wouldn't want to do an event that could turn out crap due to limited time, and spoil my chances. Would it be possible to leave it till the new year?"
Still waiting.........
Have I been had?
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