Context: A brief encounter with a recruiter who happened to be a millennial, left me annoyed but with a tinge of amusement. It also gave a compulsive over thinker like me plenty of food for thought.
Yes, I am happily retired but I also like to keep in touch with my subject (a language) and my passion (teaching) which I have been doing quite successfully by freelancing and taking online classes privately for the past 4 years.
More context: Thanks to the pandemic, we teachers learned a lot in very less time about conducting classes online. We learned to navigate Zoom calls, Google Meet and Teams. We figured out how to keep pace with tech savvy students and also a step ahead- when it came to conducting tests and exams! We created and shared dozens, nay hundreds of PPTs, PDFs, Docs, Excel sheets and videos. And we familiarized ourselves with several features of these online meetings. I found the Mute and Camera Off most helpful during staff meetings! Most importantly- we understood and accepted that technical glitches happened and that sometimes nothing could be done about them.
Even when the pandemic was over and we went back to classes in person, most of us still used laptops and the smart board for our lessons. It was less chalk and more stylus, less duster, more Clear All, less textbook and more screen-time.
So, when I got a call from a recruiter of a language school asking if I would be available for a ‘screening call’, I agreed without thinking about it too much.
- The link sent to me was for Teams- an app I stopped using once I had retired.
- I opened the link on the browser.
- One important feature decided to glitch- the Mute/Unmute button!
We were barely a few seconds into the call when I entered phase one of my annoyance. It all began when the recruiter probably saw my grey hair, figured I’m some clueless fossil and said “You’re on Mute. Unmute yourself, dear.” (Dear?! Did she just call me Dear? What am I- her tech-illiterate aunt or something?)
Anyway, in the midst of her instructing me on where to find the Mute button, I typed out a message that the Mute button was not working. Then she asked me to share my screen so she could see what the problem was (because I’m so helpless, right?) and gave me further instructions- Go to Settings, Click this, click that etc. I typed out that I had already tried all those options. Then she asked me to give her control so that she could fix the problem. Which I gladly did and then sat back with the blandest expression on my face and watched her cursor move all over my screen, going click-click. Without any success- hee! Finally I suggested that we move this call to Meet, to which she agreed but not without advising me to uninstall and reinstall Teams for future calls. So she had the final say in this round. Damnit.
In the meantime, I had shared my CV with her and of course she noted that all my educational qualifications were acquired in the 20th century. She proceeded to ask me if I had any recent qualifications after having done my Masters. To which I replied that a Masters degree was the highest qualification needed for teaching in a school. And that I had been teaching at various levels; almost without a break, on acquiring the degree. She explained very kindly and condescendingly that there would have been so many advances and innovations since then and it was important to keep up with them.
At that point my annoyance which had subsided; shot up by several notches. Did she really not know that teachers these days are damn well expected to keep pace with the latest trends in teaching methodology, technology, and resources?! And that teaching school children does not mean that our knowledge gets limited to the chapters of their text books? While I was wondering how to select a polite but strongly -worded rebuttal from the 6 or 7 that were on the tip of my tongue, she had (unfortunately for me); moved on to the next topic.
One of my pet peeves or triggers is corporate jargon. More so when used in the context of teaching. The slightest whiff of it sends red flags springing up all across my mind space. When this millennial launched into her well-rehearsed spiel about their institute and what they did, my annoyance which had reduced to a simmer continued to bubble slightly at the edges, but this time it was seasoned with a pinch of amusement. I listened to words like ‘on boarding’ and ‘pipeline’; phrases like ‘pan-India’ and ‘team-leader’ passed me by while I kept nodding at intervals, getting more and more convinced that this is so NOT the place for me.
When the spiel ended, I informed her that I was not looking for full-time or even part-time work. I was interested in hourly classes at my convenience. And only online classes at that. To which she assured me that all their classes were only online (Beep! Beep! went my radar. A language school without a classroom!) and that they would definitely consider me if/when the need arose. But I would have to give a ‘demo’ class which would be recorded and then shown to their CEO for approval. Then another interview by one of their subject specialists (fair enough). Following which I would be further interviewed by their HR to discuss terms and conditions. By now, I was having a hard time keeping my eyes from rolling back into my head. My annoyance had completely dissipated and their was only mild amusement left.
Before winding up, she asked me to say something about myself in the language that was my subject. Finally it was my turn to speak! I let loose a well-practiced monologue about my qualifications, experience, preferences, the usual stuff. And since by then I was fairly sure that she did not know much; if anything, about the language I was using, I threw in a whole lot of high-sounding phrases and numbers for good measure. Then I sat back and waited for her to speak. “Oh, you’re very fluent in the language,” she said. “You spoke without a pause,” she added. Clearly, she hadn’t understood a word and listening for pauses was her only parameter! She told me that she would schedule a demo lesson for me and let me know when.
By now I had had enough of the ‘screening call’ so I informed her that as I would be traveling for the next 10 days (false!), I would get back to her about when to schedule the demo. And the interview was concluded.
Being the over thinker that I am, I played and replayed the interview several times in my mind. The millennial was just doing her job so why was I taking her condescension and remarks about my (lack of) qualifications so personally? Especially since I had decided that I didn’t want to follow up with them anyway. After much reflecting and mulling, these are my conclusions:
- The millennial was justified in assuming that I’m probably not very tech-savvy because we boomers had to make the transition to the digital age when we were mostly past our prime and it was too much, too soon. We had to figure things out as we went along and although we are managing to swim with the tide, we do struggle at times to keep up. But that should not be treated as a handicap.
- The millennial was not justified in doubting my qualifications and assuming that because my degree is 20th century, so too must be the case with my knowledge of my subject. More so because I had spent decades using that knowledge in my job as a teacher. Teaching school children did not require me to use what I had studied during my Masters, but whatever I had studied was the rock solid foundation on which I had built my years of experience. It was my anchor, my safety net and my bulwark. It gave me the confidence to explore and innovate, to aim higher but also to delve deeper.
- I will concede a point to the millennial because not all of us boomers are fortunate enough to use the learning we have done and a lot of it does lie unused or forgotten. Mainly because we were so caught up in the trials and tribulations of just living life, bringing up children, managing households, extended families and so on. But then again, she was talking to a working (albeit now retired) professional, not a fresher. So she should not have blithely disregarded my years of experience just because my qualifications were -in her opinion- outdated.
- I wonder why her instructing me on how to unmute myself etc irked me the way it did. Because when the pandemic and online classes hit us like a tidal wave, I gladly took instructions from my know-it-all teenage students whenever there was a problem. Their calls of “Ma’am do this…!” and “Ma’am, try that…!” were like my support system. Even when classes resumed in person, I would gladly hand over the stylus to a volunteer whenever there was a glitch I couldn’t resolve. And their look of pleasure if they succeeded in resolving the issue would make me smile. Am I just anti-millennial? No, that’s not possible. I’m a parent to two of them!
- I have no problem with being interviewed or giving demo lessons. After all, any employer must know whether I am qualified and capable enough to do the work expected of me. Even if it’s a parent who wants me to take classes for their child. Then why did this particular interview raise my hackles the way it did? Am I just becoming crabby and impatient with age? Quite likely! Or was it because I feel that someone half my age shouldn’t be questioning me about my credentials? Hmm… Honestly, I’m at the age where most working people in mid-level positions will be half my age! This is something I will just have to accept and make my peace with.
Lesson learnt: “If you don’t like the heat, get out of the kitchen!” Right, maybe I should just chuck it all, sit back; enjoy my retirement while looking for other ways and means to stay busy and keep my monkey mind occupied.
More food for thought!
PS: The poor picture quality is an intentional choice- I don’t want the faces of the students to be clearly visible. Thanks for understanding!
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