The Rat Race

Source: Wikimedia

I remember watching this film many years ago and it was the first time I heard the phrase.  In this 1960’s film, two characters – Tony Curtis playing a saxophonist and Debbie Reynolds, a dancer – were faced with the problem of unemployment and the many unscrupulous persons who take advantage of young inexperienced professionals trying to make it big in New York City.  Thinking about it, the year could be 2012 and the place, the Philippines.

I may not have the dashing looks of Tony Curtis nor his talents but I will have to admit the same inexperience and naiveté in landing my first job many years ago.  I had just earned my engineering license after passing the board exam and was expecting companies to scramble over this new graduate (the foolish pride and optimism of youth).  Well, I thought I had a right to be proud.  The university I graduated from was well-admired in the country and my board exam rating was not bad at all.  I was overjoyed when I received the first call for an interview and exam.  It was from a manufacturing company located in a province a few hours from Manila.

I was given a battery test and it was not termed as such for nothing.  Even up to now, I don’t think I’ve had a more grueling pre-employment exam.  There were tests for language ability, numerical ability and abstract reasoning, all taken under time pressure.  I was given pictures to arrange according to what I believe to be the right sequence of events.  I was interviewed to assess my personality, asked to interpret pictures, and even made to draw pictures of certain themes which I guess would give them a psychological portrait.  There were even two-dimensional puzzles as well as a memory test wherein I had to repeat numbers given to me, first in the correct order and then in reverse.  Finally, just when I thought it was all over, I was made to write an essay on any topic that I want to write about.  I simply wrote about the novels that I have read.  Quite a flimsy topic, in retrospect, but I was tired and bored and most of all, inexperienced.  The whole process of exams and interviews started at 8 AM and ended close to 6 PM.  At the end, my head felt heavy and the fingers of my right hand numb from writing, but I was happy to have survived such mental battery.

After the grueling exam day, I was interviewed by one of the managers.  After that was a panel interview, which to me was like a mock trial as the managers were throwing questions one-after-the-other in quick succession - more in an attempt to rattle me than to extract information.  Still, I thought I was prepared and handed it well.  In a few days, I received a call offering me the job.

During the whole application process, I believe I had asked the recruitment staff about the salary and I was always told that we were going to talk about it in time.  The day that I found out was on my first day at work.  They had dormitories within the company premises just a stone’s throw from the plant and I already had my bags, prepared to settle in.  When I entered the HR Office I was shown the employment contract.  The salary was lower than what I expected (but I know now that it was still competitive).  There was no overtime pay as I was to hold a supervisory position. Benefits were non-existent except for those mandated by law.  In addition, they were requiring me to sign a two-year bond wherein I had to stay with the company or return 50% of all salary received (or to that effect).  When I asked the HR Officer the reason behind the bond, she smilingly replied that the company shall be training me anyway.  Well, they did give a lot of trainings and seminars in the first six months but they were all internal – the kind that any company should give their employees in the first place.  I found out later that the position I occupied was one with the highest turnover, thus the real reason for the bond.

Last week I appeared in another interview.  There were no battery tests, just the HR staff eyeing me and asking me questions about my job experience.  I have no idea about the salary range as I don't have any experience working in their industry and the job title and description was vague to the effect that it didn't appear in any of the salary survey websites I visited.  The interviewer did not give a salary range either.  Again, there were no benefits other than those required by law and work hours exceed the normal 40 hours per week.  I don’t think I’ll get any offer from them any time soon as my credentials are really too far from the job but maybe it's for the best if I don't get to proceed to the next step of their recruitment process.

“The Rat Race” ended positively with Tony Curtis and Debbie Reynolds falling in love and deciding to go on with life as best as they could.  I could use a happy ending right now, if not with a lady as pretty as Debbie Reynolds, at least a well-compensated job where I can use my talents and be happy with until retirement.