Something like three months ago I sent a cover letter and resume to “Zoo New England” for a position in their education department at the Stone Zoo and the Franlkin Park Zoo. I knew it was a long shot, but at this point in the game it seemed worth a try.
So, this afternoon I received an email from them. The content of the email will be self-evident once you see the subject line. Here goes:
“Subject: Rejection Letter”
Woah! Don’t be afraid to let me know how you really feel! C’est la vie!
This week at ***work|http://www.christianbook.com/*** is considered “peak” week. Generally speaking, the months of November and December are “peak” months, since everyone is gearing up to do their Christmas shopping. But this week, we get the largest spike in sales.
This period of time is affectionately known as “The Season” around here, and lots of seasonal changes take place. We hire lots of extra help for the warehouse and for the customer service call center. Also, employees from other parts of the company are drafted to help out in the warehouse and call center. That includes me and my fellow developers. This season, I am spending about 8 of my 40 hours per week in a “picking” zone. The boxes for customer orders are routed around our warehouse automatically on conveyor belts, and they make stops in “zones” where they are filled with the appropriate products. I’m in what’s called a “fast pick” zone, which contains some of CBD’s most popular items in easy-to-reach shelves. I take the printed invoice out of a box as it rolls off the conveyor belt, look for the items that are in my zone, fetch them, and put them in the box. Repeat as needed. As the name implies, “fast pick” zones are fast-paced – I am constantly moving to grab boxes, products, etc. Here are some of the more popular products located in my zone:
***Veggie Tales Ultimate Silly Song Sing-Along|http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=27895&netp_id=248583***
***2004 Wall Calendar, Painter of Light|http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=418119&netp_id=302217***
***The Littlest Angel, Video|http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=85861&netp_id=162947***
***God’s Promises For Women|http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=5620X&netp_id=196855***
***The Prayer of Jabez For Teens|http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=38159&netp_id=248933***
To get an inside peek at how our warehouse works, check out our ***tour of how an order gets processed|http://www.christianbook.com/html/Offshoot/tourpage1.html***. Some of the photos and screenshots are slightly out of date, but overall it will give you a pretty good idea of how things work!
It would hardly be the holiday shopping season if I did not take a moment to plug my employer, ***Christianbook.com|http://www.christianbook.com/***. So from apostasy to apologetics, from heresy to hermeneutics, you can find it at Christianbook.com. And they’ve got other stuff too – Veggie Tales, Left Behind, RevKids, Bibleman… all the brands you’ve come to know and love. Christianbook.com is not just books – it’s videos, software, games, gifts, clothing, accessories, and even a ***shofar|http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=22940&netp_id=214385***.
Remember, shopping at Christianbook.com indirectly helps support prwdot.org… you pay them, they pay me, I pay Site 5… and the wheel goes round and round.
🙂
B-e-v-e-r-l-y H-i-s-t-o-r-i-c-a-l S-o-c-i-e-t-y!
That’s right folks. Over a month since I interviewed with them I have received a letter that proclaims, “You are not among those selected for further consideration at this time.” Also that they, “received many inquiries from capable individuals such as [me].” Well, that makes it better!
But, incase you were feeling that the esteemed Beverly Historical Society was completely heartless, I leave you with one final quote, “Truely, I wish that this letter were bringing you more favorable news, as I can imagine your disappointment. Please do take comfort in the fact that your application and interview was given long and careful consideration before the selection was made.” Oh good.
to tell when i got word from a prospective employer… The Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Ma wins the award for the first recipient of my resume to officially reject me. Actually, they “considered [my] application very carefully but…decided to offer the position to a candidate whose skills more closely meet the job requirements.”
C’est la vie. There are other jobs out there. Better jobs.
Tomorrow is my very last day at Strawbery Banke. It has been a great summer and I’ve had a really good experience there. Because I’ve really gotten to like my co-workers there I am sad to go. But the future holds exciting things, too. Like Job Hunting!
Speaking of which…I’m on the prowl for a Educational Program development job in a Boston area museum. Any leads for me? Been to any Boston area museums that you’d like to recommend?
Howdy! I have been involved with my internship for one who week now. This blog entry is for those of you who are dying to hear what I’m actually doing. Here’s the scoop. Strawbery Banke has an old house called the Wheelwright House. It was built in the 1780’s. Until very recently it has housed an exhibit of ‘real’ ‘old’ artifacts. My job this summer is to come up with a plan to make the first floor into an ‘interactive, experience based’ exhibit. Basically we want to set up the kitchen, family area and formal living room just the way those rooms would have looked in the late 18th century. The catch? Everything inside can be touched, sat on, tried out, etc. The goal is to have different experiencial activities for the public to try, ie: kneeding bread dough, writing with a quill and ink, churning butter.
The first steps (which I have jumped head first into) are to research other museums that have exhibits that might be similar and to research estate inventories from the Portsmouth region between 1760-1790. These house inventories will give me a look at what the average home had during that time period.
So far I’m having fun. The people have all been quite nice and I’m looking forward to getting some ideas and research down on paper.
Well folks, as of Friday, June 6, 2003 I am no longer an employee at Danvers Savings Bank.. I can’t say that I will miss the job, or many of the people, but I did meet some lovely people there who I will miss working with. All in all I think this is a very positive career move for me.
After a week of rest, relaxation, housekeeping and craftyness I will begin a summer internship at Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. I will be working in the Education department developing a new hands-on history exhibit. I’m excited to get started.
The first day of my little vacation has proved to be productive. I spent the morning sewing up a curtain/shade for the kitchen window. The window has served its term as the cinderella of windows, dressed in rags, but is now decked out to go to the ball.