Me and my big mouth
I guess there’s something with the way I speak or way I type stuff that makes people to get so snotty at me or get mad. I already know that I am tactless, so I’m trying to improve, you know, if I can’t say anything good, don’t say anything at all? I really don’t like conflicts and I don’t want anyone getting mad at me so I’d rather shut up. But just recently, I noticed that I am not improving at all, I’ll give you one example.
We’re looking for designers to work full-time from home who knows web standards, accessibility and usability *hint, hint*, my boss posted an ad at jobstreet for just that. Sometime last week, someone actually applied for the position who said he did these sites XHTML strict and semantic, I thought, “Finally! Someone who knows standards!
” Imagine my surprise though, when I viewed the sites and those sites have frames, and don’t remind me about the semantic stuff! I validated it and true enough, the sites contain a lot of errors, so I said to myself “I thought he said it is XHTML Strict and it’s semantic?
”
You see, I was expecting something from this person… I wanted to know why he put in his resume that these sites are XHTML Strict but are not valid and have frames and that they are semantic? I emailed him about it:
Hi [insert designer's name here],
I have seen your sites, you stated there that you made those sites XHTML Strict but when I validated it, the sites contain several errors. Also, you mentioned that you made it semantically correct, I checked the code and you were using frames. How much do you know about XHTML and CSS and also in semantic coding? Explain briefly what XHTML and CSS is for. What is semantic coding? Thanks
Maybe I should have added a smiley there somewhere so he’d know that I’m being friendly. Is it really offensive? Maybe I shouldn’t have said how much do you know… What?
Anyway, I actually hoped that when he answered I can show his answers (and links to those that are actually valid and semantic) to my boss and say, “here’s our guy
” Aproudly. Lo and behold, his reply:
I should have googled for your name first… anyways, just to clear things out.
To give you a little background, I’m just one of the many corporate slaves out there. I wish I could really implement and decide all the things I want to do in all my web works. In the real world, it’s not likely the case. To make things even worse, there are so many cooks in our department. As for the frames thing… I’ve done all the convincing to remove it, but like what you saw… It’s still there. Just a tip, there are lots of great web standard browser out there with nice features too aside from “view source”. So, there you go. To all your XHTML CSS questions… I can give you the grandest answer to all of it… Google is your friend. Thanks
How cocky can anyone get, huh? Or is it just me? And yes, I blamed myself for why he answered the way he did, it must be the way I phrased my question(s)… hmmm… I don’t know why he said “I should have googled for your name first
” whether that’s a cool thing or not and I dare not ask him.
I am not answering his email here, mind you, I just want to let everyone know how you can piss me off - answer me, the one who will recommend you to someone who will actually hire you, like that.
I do know how the real world works people, I do not live in some kinda wonderland where I could do everything I want in any project that I get hold of. But why, in the name of all design gurus out there, would you say that a certain site is XHTML Strict and semantic when you full well know that it isn’t?! Isn’t it better to tell people the truth? That it isn’t strict and not semantic but you did tried, and then perhaps provide a link to one that is actually strict and semantic? Too much work? Well, you did try to make it semantic and strict, right? You only had to take your original code and host it somewhere else then provide the link to HR, still too much work?
Amidst all these confusions, the ”did I offend him or not and if so, how come question
” I do know one thing, I would never want someone like that to work with my boss, or with me for that matter. And I get the feeling he would never want to work with me either. *sigh*
puso mo mae.
LOl, andito pa :)
Hehe. It sounded a bit confrontational but that should jar him into reconsidering his claims.
Then again, he evaded answering the question and put the blame on his company/client. Oh well.
Google isn’t the only answer. May StumbleUpon din daw. hehehe. :D
Aargh. Yesterday, someone also answered me that way “Try to search in Google” when I asked him a simple question that doesn’t involve the darn search engines!! So annoying! Sinagot ko lang, “Oh.” LOL. Tamad kse siguro sya na sagutin ung tanong ko. Hahaha
Relak lang, Mae. It means di sya ung guy for your boss’s company. And frames?! That is so 8 years ago. LOL
Alex: natawa ako dun sa stumbleupon mo ha! haha oo nga eh, I wouldn’t mind if he said that he can’t do anything about it because that’s what the company does things as long as he said that “here’s some of the sites I personally made blah, blah, blah” hay..
Joni: Sabi ko nga sa kanya thanks for being so polite eh, kabadtrip, ang saya saya ko pa naman kahapon, nung nakita ko email niya *poof* gone na ang happy thoughts.. LOL re: frames — di raw siya may pakana niyan, company nila
haha, laugh trip yung reply. relax.nahigh blood din ako habang binabasa ko yung entry mo eh. ahaha, parang feel na feel ko yung pissness mo..ok lang yan :)some people are “just” like that.
haha nakakahawa ba? :P oo nga eh… nainis lang ako sobra kasi I wasn’t expecting that :(
[...] Mae’s post made me want to share my recent experience in looking for people to hire too. But this is just [...]
Hah! Did he actually know you work for the company he applied to? I mean if he didn’t then he’s a jackass, but if he did, well then he’s that and a fool too.
Aww, and don’t blame yourself. *hugs* Sure you could’ve filled your e-mail with smiles and flowers, but it’s work related. So if he can’t handle that then it does seem that someone here is a bit out of touch with the real world - and I definitely don’t mean you.
Becca: Thanks :) I know that he does because I was the one who replied to his application eh… That’s what’s puzzling me as well, he was the one who’s applying for a position but he was the one who mocked me (for the lack of better term that I could think of). I’m thinking it’s because I’m younger(??) but that’s not reason enough, is it?
Remember Mae, just look for it in Google. LOL.
oo I’ll do that while drinking a cup of hot chocolate on a straw :P LOL what do I get myself into these days hehe
You’re scary. You actually even check those. *shrugs*
Bwahahahah! He’s hilarious! Send me the URL. I’d like to see for myself :D
Anyways, if you get those kinds of emails next time, it’s best not to reply. If someone is obviously misrepresenting him/herself, most probably, they’re not the type of people you’d want to work with anyways. If I got that application, I wouldn’t even waste my time replying to it.
Wow. I can relate where you’re coming from. And actually, you were every professional in your email to him.
His reply however, was not. It was really rude, so I don’t think it’s really your fault for his reply.
(And um… hi! ^^; - lurker. This post made me unlurk.)
i guess he’s right when he said “I should have googled for your name first”. i wouldn’t like to work with a person like you anyway =P
I must say that is an interesting post. I do agree that the applicant was cocky and probably did not have integrity (since he lied about his sites). And just for lacking integrity, that’s enough reason for not hiring him.
Anyway, regarding your email to him, overall it was ok but you could be a little friendlier and remove these questions:
Being friendly, I mean, tell him that you are delighted to know that you both share the same sentiments regarding standards, etc, and you are looking forward to working with someone like him. However, when you checked his sites, it wasn’t really what you expected. Then you could at least ask him, “Did something happen that we need to know?” In that case, you wouldn’t sound as if you are attacking the person (like you’re questions on your email).
But that’s just me.
Neo: Thank you :)
Euri: Hmm… we’re looking for HTML coders so… it’s really important :)
Miko: Seeing your reaction when you just read the post, I think I do not want you to see the sites :D
Kyameel: Hey, I think I know you! :) Thanks for unlurking ^_^
Geo: Yeah, I think I should really check my temper, I guess that’s what happened when I’m slightly disappointed :( Anyway, I promise that I will be REALLY friendly next time. Thanks so much for your comment :) I will keep them all in mind.
You’re scary. You actually even check those. *shrugs*
[...] extremely shy but I took Mass Communication anyway. I’m not good with dealing with people, as you may have noticed by now. I can’t stand being in the center of attention OR having to talk in front of a lot of [...]