Employment is a small town is scarce when in high school. So when I landed the coveted position at the local old time pharmacy in the town square, it was to be regarded as esteemed. Not having to sling cheese burgers with a side of fries while still wearing a striped hat and even larger fake smile made the less than four dollar salary still very acceptable.

It was a family run business with a squeaky clean reputation. The father and son pharmacist combo were active in their church and married to the most charming of ladies east of I-75. Although the older grandfather had the appearance of a gentle Santa without the facial hair, behind closed glass doors, he was a certified X-rated freak. And, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree either with sonny boy by his side.

What made matters even more distorted was the fact that middle-aged offspring was banging the other female associate who was not only 15 years his junior, she was underage. But the façade continued as we handed out prescriptions and made chocolate malts at the marble fountain. It was what one did to keep up appearances and not lose mall and gas money to continue to keep up appearances.

My shift had been changed to work exclusively with man-child which was annoying in every aspect because he was an idiot with a PhD degree that loved to brag about his PhD degree. His wife would come by on a regular basis to make sure he was behaving, but to her own self inflicted demise, it was on a scheduled basis which did no good if she truly wanted to catch an eye full of truth. We, well me and the malt maker, knew it was only a matter of minutes left before big Daddy would no longer be able to protect the horny little rabbit. He eventually would be eaten alive by the hungry, prowling lioness - literally and in matters of the court.

The day is burned into memory when wife number one came charging into the store looking for the father of her children who happened to be in the storage closet “assisting” his young and tender associate. Time did not permit a “Let me see if he is available in the back”, or “he is in the rest room”, “he stepped outside for a smoke”, “I’m sure he will be back in a moment” any of the normal one liners used to diffuse the situation. She stormed in looked at me, I looked towards the back of the business and she went charging. There were no more professional excuses to be made for bad behavior.

We can not keep defending for constantly rescheduled, late, missed and canceled interviews - Especially the in person interviews when the Candidate is sitting in the lobby. Excuses can be given verbally only so often, but when caught in the act there are two defenses: defend the behavior or apologize. We want to work together as a team to find you the best talent. We can only defend so much. Be honest with us and allow us to do the same with you. Talent talks and you want to be the business with the squeaky clean reputation.

[tags]employment, job, talent, candidate, professional[/tags]