KenNitro vs THE FACILITY:
The First and Only Qualification
Okay, before I even get into this. I do not hold my BRO(inside title) in any way
accountable for this. I said this before and I am saying this again, we both
applied for a job, and only one of us could get hired for it. Like I said
earlier, nothing that I have to say is posted directly at you. Personally, I think
you are nothing short of amazing, and I hope you can compartmentalize this blog
for what it is, and not for what it ain’t, and that’s you.
Seriously, this is not about you. I mean this in the most
sincere way. I hope you understand this, you are too awesome to not be my
friend, but I have to write this and not apologize for it.
Otherwise, I would not be KenNitro.
Well, lets get to it.
Last time I wrote about work, it was all about just getting
shit off my chest that was keeping me from writing about the normal human
dynamic, misogynistic, it is what it is, adventures that I have, codify and
give back to you. I hate that I am going back to such a boring topic as my job,
but all I have to say is that this shit is…hell I really don’t have a word to
describe how I feel.
So let me start with what this blog is not about.
It is not about the KIDS and the how I affect them on the
daily. See that is not even questionable, the fact that I make Gangsta
Disciples, Piru, and Peoples Nations members all go to bed at 8:30pm without
having to dump them on their heads is a testament to me and the team that I
work with. Talking to me about how regardless about how I feel about how I am
treated as an ASSOCIATE at the FACILITY has NOTHING to do with the KIDS, means
you are missing the bigger picture so what I am talking about right now is not
about the kids or how Mr. Ken deals interacts with the kids but how
ADULTS ACT AT THE FACILITY
And how that affects me.
I just recently applied for a job as a Teacher’s Assistant
at the Facility, a job that I was more than qualified for, more than capable,
and defiantly ready to work for. On paper I defeated all under heaven and above
hell. In theory, I defeated all under heaven and above hell for the job. In
reality, well…that is where shit gets all fucked up.
See, this was easily the best Interview I had at the
FACILITY, The decision maker and I spoke for a hot second about everything
concerning me and the job, what I look for in a supervisor, what makes me happy
and when I think about it, that is about it. She had an informal interview
style, which was fine because I already have a job at the facility. My work
history, ethic, and overall awesomeness should be enough to do the talking for
me. Let’s check the ballistics G, I have almost three years in mental health, a
college degree, and over one thousand hours teaching in an actual classroom
environment. Inside of those three years in mental health at THE FACILITY, I
have been an integral component to two teams that essentially took back units
from clients due to lack of leadership I have a positive rapport with all
clients, a positive rapport with all staff that I work with on a daily basis. I
mean, there are folks out there that don’t care for me, but that has nothing to
do with me.
STOP
Let me speak on this for a second.
It is not that I just get along with the people that I work
with, but there is not a shift at the FACILITY that if my name was on, other
associates don’t get a confidence boost from. They don’t say, “Oh man, I got to
work with him, geez he really sucks”. I make a real effort to build up everyone
around me so that they do not have to rely on me when I am working with them,
and that they have the confidence to run shit when I am not there.
Tell you the truth, I am like the 4th person that
gets put in a leadership position behind the full time people that I work with.
That is not indicative of my ability to lead, just a technicality. Hell, the
asterisk next to your name is really the decision of the Good King Gary
Russell. In reality, all that means is that you are in charge of giving out
medication and group notes…and doing the email. Truth be told, there is no one
that I work with that steps on my toes whenever I jump out there to run ship.
That’s because I know what I am doing and they(meaning the people that I work
with) know that I know that they know that I know what I am doing, and they are
happy for it. Hell even in the collective funk that I have been in over this
recent travesty I am still effective on the unit, and I have not even raised my
voice past a normal tone in two weeks.
But wait Kenneth,
If you are all these things, what is keeping you from moving
around to other departments? Why is it that you can’t seem to break out of
department you are in when it seems as though everyone else can apply,
interview and move with ease?
Good question.
See I have asked myself, others, and to tell you the truth,
I get a lot of speculation. One person has said that Eric Banks(the former
program manager)would ask that other departments look elsewhere besides the
Childcare Worker II’s when it comes to hiring people. That reason was that it
was so difficult to hire, train, and then keep competent people in direct care,
so for the sake of consistency in these kids lives, don’t hire from this group.
I have also heard that the move is to always keep the
stronger staff on the unit and essentially push the weaker staff to other
areas.
All of this is on the macro scale. Let’s talk about me.
Aside from not getting hired for any job at the facility
other than the one I have, I have also never received any FEEDBACK. I think
this is really important part of the interview process. I mean, I understand if
I don’t get hired for a job, but as a potential employer, I think that giving
feedback is not only courteous, but the
right thing to do, If you want to be professional about it. I brought this up
in my interview and the person doing the interview assured me that they have no
problems giving me feedback.
So the day came and I
got the phone call. It basically went like this:
Me: Hey insert name here
Them: How’s it going
Me: Pretty good…
Them: Well, I just wanted to call and tell you that I have
made a decision on the TA position and I have decided to go with another client
Me: Oh. Well Okay
Insert awkward silence
See what was supposed to happen was that I was suppose to
say, “What! Who!!! Who did you hire?” which would have in turn put the other
person on the defensive. Which is probably how they were prepared to deal with
me in the first place, but the silence is one of those make or break things. So
I was asked to find them so we could talk about some of the obstacles that I
had.
Awesome.
The way I looked at it, I would at least know what I needed
to do in the future. So I went into this post job interview debriefing with an
open mind. In the end this is going to help me right?
It essentially boiled down to three things, that kept me
from getting this particular job, that I was and in my opinion still the most
qualified for.
1.
My hair.
Wow, you work a job for almost
three years and my hair is still an issue. If my hair is too much for Scott
Merritt to deal with I don’t know what to tell you, even though he is rarely
seen engaging any employees in any capacity aside from the associates awards ceremony
where he shakes your hand. The only reason that I am even dropping his name is
because folks want to tip toe around his name when they are speaking on my
Afro. I mean, I don’t want to throw the word discrimination around, but it is
what it is.
2.
There is a concern that I may leave for a
bigger, better, deal.
This is dirty pool by anyone’s
standards. How can you not hire me based on the possibility that I might leave
for another job that is better? How can you not hire anyone based on that
period? How can you hold the desire to grow and better yourself financially against
anyone? I bet if I asked anyone, anywhere in the world, if they would leave
there job for a bigger, better, deal, they would. It was mentioned that I have
talked about going back to Korea to teach English in the past, and that is
true. I bet if you asked me when, it was probably after I applied for a job
that I was qualified for and was looked over, I can name about 4 times for sure
I have looked at returning to asia as a real option for me.
3.
You have not gone full time.
This is always a fun one, because
this is always used in conjunction with questioning my commitment to the job.
Now, granted I understand that the perception of part-time associates at the
facility has not always been the most positive, but once again, that has
nothing to do with me. Check the schedules; see how many weeks I have worked
forty hours. Check that against the number of times I have called out or
no-showed a shift. Now how does my current status as a part-time employee affect
my desire to move to a full-time position in another department effect one another?
What has been consistent in my
time at the facility is that there is something about me being flex and not
full time on the unit that seems to bother people. I don’t understand because I
work full time hours anyway. I really do need to ask the person that was hired,
if they ever brought up the fact that she never worked the unit. I mean, it seems
to be so important to some people that I work full time on the unit in order to
move around, I just wonder if this is the general consensus?
There was also this point where the interviewer clearly
misunderstood my desire to improve my environment as, “Ken does what he wants,
when he wants”. I was really taken back by that due to the fact that I go out
of my way to be a team player. I was like, huh? and she was like, “well you
said in your interview that you like to change things”. I said yes, I like to
go into any situation and observe how things are done and when given an
appropriate opportunity, I will raise my
hand and offer a suggestion that may improve the situation for all parties
involved. Her response was, “Well some people don’t deal with changes to things
very well”. I totally understand that, and my response was “ but a good idea is
a good idea and it is not change that is
either good or bad, but how people deal with it” at this point we were in
agreement.
The best part was when I was almost called cocky, but there
was that small break in the sentence before it was replaced with the word
confident, as if I didn't pick up what was being put down.
Stop.
I will be the first person to admit that I not only enjoy
talking shit but I am good at it a good part of my conversation with close
friends is one of mostly shit talking. I mean, if me and my collective crews aren’t
talking shit to each other, we are talking shit about someone loud enough for
them to hear us.
Start.
What happened in this moment was not an issue of me being
cocky. This was in my opinion a person’s issue with my level of confidence as
it directly relates to my ability to do a job. Even then, it is not even about
the job. It really came down to if the person sitting on the other side of the
desk personal ability to supervise me, or at least their perception of their
ability to supervise me.
Fact is, none of the reasons that I was given as to why I
was not hired for this Teachers Aide position had anything to do with anything
tangible, it’s all bullshit.
I do hope that this kind of stuff changes. I have been
mishandled several times at the facility, and I do not think I can work there
any longer than I have too. I am too intelligent to allow myself to be treated
this way. At this point, applying for
any job at the facility is a guarantee that someone else will get hired.
