I had quite the experience yesterday at the hands of one of the largest hospitality companies in the world.
I went for a job interview with Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center, or whatever it's called. From here on, I'll call it Opryland for the shorter typing advantage. Just so you know what I'm talking about.
What I learned is that Gaylord has a lot of money. That's for sure. Apparently, Opryland Hotel is the largest hotel and convention center in the entire world. Found that out too. Usually, if you have the "largest" of something, especially a business, you have a lot of money. Well, I have not seen much of Opryland from the inside before, although I have heard that it is absolutely beautiful. My wife has seen it and took some pictures, and I have seen various pictures here and there from the inside. I only saw a very limited portion of the place, and what I saw was actually kind of boring. I was in the Presidential Ballroom area, and they had a lot of room dividers up for different phases of the interview process. It still looked pretty grand, nonetheless.
So to start the day off, I drank a few cups of coffee, took a shower, and put on my shirt and tie, and put my resume into a folder. I set off, for my interview.
I parked the car at the designated parking area, which was a Baptist church across the street from Opryland, got checked in, and boarded a charter bus. After sitting on the bus for nearly an hour, due to them being backed-up at the next phase of the process, I finally arrived at the Presidential entrance thingy. When the other 50 or so people and I got off the bus, we were greeted by a bunch of guys and gals in suits and stuff giving us a round of applause. That was a pretty neat feeling, getting clapped at for no reason other than us getting job interviews. Well, then it was time to stand in line to get checked in. That took, oh, I'd say about a half hour. Then, it was to a holding area where we sat and watched a hokey video produced by them showing their employees having a good time, playing brooms as fake guitars to various hit songs, and stuff like that. Employees dancing around.
We were then escorted to a room where a trainer lady gave us some info about Gaylord and Opryland in general. That's where I learned about the size of the place I was in, and whatnot. We watched a welcome video, saying how great it is to work at Opryland. This got me thinking, Man, they are spending a lot of time and effort telling us how great a job this is, that were trying to get. Why would they do that? We're already here, it's not like they need to convince us not to leave or whatever. Why are they bothering with all of this? I never got an answer to that. I still don't know why they would do that, except that it gives me reason to believe it's actually a cooler job than I even realized. Or, they're hiding something, but I doubt that. All I ever herd was how great of a place this is to work at.
Well anyway, that part ended and we went into another waiting area, with like, 50 to 75 chairs set up, where we were waiting for the next phase, which was the "screening" process. I waited longer than everyone else in my initial group, which I knew was a bad sign. I had applied for the job of Guest Service Agent. When they finally called my name, I went into a big room with several tables set up and people interviewing people, and sat at a little round table with a nice lady, whom I didn't catch the name of. She asked me basic questions like if I had ever been arrested or if I had any speeding tickets. Then she asked me to tell her about a time where I had to work in a team, and how that worked out. I told her about some bullshit time where as a slot tech, we had to work together to do a machine install, which I think was bullshit. I wasn't a tech when they did the massive install back in 2006. I was a guard, so I lied. I panicked. I totally lost it. How in the hell was I unprepared for the "teamwork" question? Note taken.
Didn't matter much anyway, as she proceeded to tell me the position I applied for had been filled, but they had a seasonal opportunity that would end at the beginning of next year. After carefully weighing my options, I decided not to leave my current full-time job for a temporary one, and she escorted me out to the bus again. THE END.
I didn't get a job at Opryland, and that's okay. I had that feeling of being rejected on the drive home, even though that was not really the case. I absolutely knew going into it that I would not get a job at Opryland. There are a lot of unemployed people out there, and this was a huge hiring event. Thousands upon Thousands of people had come out for the event, and without an outstanding resume, I would most likely not get a job there, so the dejections were minimal. I just wish I hadn't spent four hours of my day off trying. What it did do for me was make me realize that this was a place I would definitely like to work in the future. My eyes are open to that place, and I will be back, trying again next time, for sure. I really liked it there, and I know it would be a huge improvement of employer. The company I currently work for is pretty cheap-o. There's a reason they have such a high turnover rate. Fill spots with warm bodies until they get fed up and quit, then replace them with other warm bodies. This is a job for people to have while they're looking for other jobs.
Overall, it was a good experience, and I didn't blow it. I just had no leverage. I was in no way, a stand-out candidate. Oh well, I'll keep looking for more money in other ways and with other jobs. Until I do, I'll happily show up for this one. It's better that a lot of the other people that were out there looking for a job at Opryland, when they have no other job. In that way, I am truly fortunate.
