The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!]

I don’t just mean people who are interested in working for me/us, I mean people who are interested in me working for them.

I am under no illusion that the real reason is because I work at W+K rather than anything specifically to do with me – but it’s nice, because it assures me that when W+K finally come to their senses and I fail my teacher training exams, there might still be some options for me in adland down the line.

Albeit at a very different sort of agency to W+K.

Probably in a very different position.

Answering to a very different kind of boss.

But that aside, it’s nice – especially given the times where I was knocking on headhunters doors left, right and centre and no one wanted to lift a finger to help me.

Except Lesley Cheng in Australia – the single, greatest headhunter on the planet.

Anyway, so there’s been this headhunting company in Japan that has been writing to me for quite a few months.

The approach is always the same.

Some random woman writes to say she is representing Optia Partners and that her colleague, Tyron – who always has a link to his LinkedIn profile attached – would like to talk to me.

She gives me a date for a phone conversation, asks for my CV and number and then disappears.

So let’s get this straight, a guy wants to talk to me and yet he wants my CV.

Why?

Why would that matter if he’s already decided he wants to talk to me.

And why can’t he write to me directly?

And if they’ve managed to get my email, why can’t they just get my number and call?

And what gives them the right to decide when they want to talk to me? I appreciate they’re trying to be efficient by naming a time and date, but surely it would be better to ask the person they want to talk to when it was convenient for them, not the other way round?

But it gets worse.

You see while I am very happy at W+K, I always talk to people who are mental enough to want to talk to me … however as each date demanded by the mysterious woman from Optia Partners never suited my schedule, I would write back suggesting an alternative time and that I’d like to know more about their company before I send anyone my CV.

And what would happen?

Nothing.

Not a bean.

Wouldn’t hear a dickie-bird.

Then a few weeks later, I’d get the exact same ‘introduction’ email with them suggesting another inconvenient time to chat.

Finally this week I snapped and I sent back this …

This is the 3rd time you’ve written to me with exactly the same introduction.

If this is a demonstration of how you value people, I don’t have faith you would appreciate who I am or what I like so with that I wish you all the best and ask you not to contact me again.

Did it cause a response even though I asked them to not give me a response?

Of course not …

So to the people at Optia Partners – get your act together.

I know I’m nothing special, but if this is how you treat people you actually want to talk to, I pity any poor sod who is entrusting you to get them a new job and just to be clear, there is no cat-in-hells-chance I would ever call upon you to try and find me some talent.

One fuck up is bad.

Two fuck ups is ridiculous.

Three fuck ups is just plain stupid.

Maybe it’s me.

Maybe you have a long, long list of happy and satisfied clientele and you just have an issue dealing with people called ‘Rob Campbell’.

Hey, you certainly wouldn’t be the first.

But the thing is I don’t care.

You see even though I am assuming you must do something right because you’ve apparently been in business for quite a while, I can honestly say that if one day in the future I require the help of a professional organisation to find me gainful employment. I assure you, you would literally be the last people I would turn to.