Jean-François sent me this e-mail:
Notice into which category this ad was listed.
It looks like a serious ad.
Sad. Whether this is a specialised escort agency or an actual deluded young woman, sad that we think it could very well be the latter.
Young women often have no clear idea of what they can offer or what they could. If she’s truly “very ambitious” then she should be specifying that she’s interested in finance, or law, or retail, or hospital administration, or whatever field she wants to make a mark in.
Advertising for a CEO isn’t smart either. They need an admin who is on the ball and understands business priorities. She either lacks so much self-confidence that she’s bribing people to hire her because she doesn’t think she’ll be hired otherwise – in which case she would totally suck as an admin to a CEO. Or she wants money but doesn’t want to actually invest time in learning the business or even looking for work – in which case she would totally suck as an admin to a CEO. (If it’s just the money, the woman who replaced me in my old job was a 22-year old single mother with four years of work experience, a course in secretarial technology and an excellent reputation from her previous position. She started at $42k and did her job.)
In the business I’m in, she might have success being hired by a Director or VP. (Reporting goes Tech > Manager > Senior Manager [or Specialist / Professional > Senior Manager] > Director > VP > Executive VP > CEO.) An Executive VP or CEO can’t afford to take a risk with someone like her. Even then, she’d have to learn to construct and punctuate a sentence first.
Reminds me of those girls in high school you hear about who want to be neurosurgeons when they grow up but who don’t want to waste time in med school learning the ordinary doctor stuff. They just want someone to show them the neurosurgery bit so they can do that.
But the ad also reminds me of a young woman I knew in university, in a fourth-year cell biology class. She was smart in a lot of ways and a good student, but couldn’t envision a future for herself that involved self-reliance. She was inventing elaborate fantasies of advertising for a sugar daddy but hiring an escort for the actual face-to-face interaction with the daddy. I didn’t keep in touch with her so I don’t know whether she gave up on her knowledge and skills before ever putting them to commercial use, or whether she worked through it and developed a career in, say, pharmaceutical sales. Or something.
What other things do young people do who can’t envision adulthood? Drugs? Post-graduate studies?
(And do you think this is an actual young woman or an escort agency?)
*** *** ***
In case the link stops working, it’s an ad in “Casual Encounters,” and the text is as follows.
Discreet Sexy executive assistant
I’m a BAdmin Graduate. I’m looking for a job as a executive assistant for a business owner or executive, I have experience in the field, in Montreal, Florida, and New York when I studied at NYC. with 3 years of office experience.
I’m a print model, but would like to focus on the business world.
I have a very good computer skills, and extensive knowledge of most Microsoft office software in addition to photo shop, ….
I’m looking for, 37.5h week on 4 or 5 days
I have great people skills, very presentable and professional. drivers license, can run errands as well
I want to make clear that I’m not looking for a out of office relationship what so ever. but I know that it is easier to work when released from stressed. ;o)
I’m able to make presentations, make travel arrangement, prepare document and of course taking care of your needs… I also need a mentor as I’m very ambitious.
first interview will have to be done in your office as I won’t waste my time with fake offers.
salary 40k+,
the picture is just a idea
[photo lifted from a porn site of a woman in serious glasses and a pony tail sucking her fingers]
Baby, she’s not sucking her fingers. She’s on her knees, giving a blow job to a guy with a light green shirt, and the camera is about where his eyes would be.
Comment by Sophie — Wednesday, November 21st, 2007 @ 16:37
Ina: You should have said NSFW!
Deirdre: I don’t think she’s sucking her fingers.
Mark: She’s not sucking her fingers!
Sigh. I knew there was a reason I wasn’t wearing my glasses.
Ok, so add “lacks subtlety” to the list of reasons she’s unsuitable as an admin to a CEO. And add “lacks perceptiveness” to the list of reasons I am unsuitable as… um, just about anything.
Comment by alison — Wednesday, November 21st, 2007 @ 17:58
LOL! Boy, that poor girl only has one very thick finger! With veins and no joints! Yes, NSFW sheesh! I don’t think it is an escort agency or a serious but stupid young woman, I think it is a joke put up by some joker. I mean really… like you’d put a picture of someone sucking dick in a serious job offer of any sort (ok, maybe for a job as a porn actress), or a serious job offer in the “casual encounters” section of craigslist. I have yet to see a CEO looking for a serious assistant in “casual encounters”. I mean 40K is hardly “casual”. If so, I’d love to see the pay for “serious and committed encounters” !! ;D Anyways, your (probably erroneous) analysis of it was interesting to read. ;D And weirdly enough Barry Manilow is singing on the radio at this time… secretaries sucking dick to Barry. hmmm…. “Come Come, Come into my arms… let me know the wonder of all of you… Baby I want you Now…”…. LOL!
Comment by Leanne — Saturday, November 24th, 2007 @ 00:41
Yeah, the idea of a joke did enter my mind but I didn’t bother including it in my post because I don’t get jokes. I’m far too literal-minded.
Oh, I cackle madly in real life* and I get about half the editorial cartoons I read… but jokes that involve inventing a stupid or weak person so that you can point fingers and laugh at them for no reason? Nope, don’t get them. Practical jokes? Why not do something practical and useful instead? Don’t get them.
I watched Borat – went with much trepidation, thinking that it was a cultural phenomenon that I should educate myself about but knowing that people like me were unlikely to actually enjoy it. I was hugely relieved to discover that I thought it was very funny, precisely because he did have a reason. His skits had two parts: one where he said or did something vile and the other where people reacted to what he said. The reactions were the funny part. A lot of humour these days seems to involve saying or doing something vile, and stopping there.
So sure, the craigslist posting could be a joke. For most people the joke is probably Really Obvious. I just don’t get it. (Something else I have in common with Aspies.) So I wrote my post about thinking it might not be a joke, and how sad that was.
* Whoever’s with me will get what I’m cackling about maybe half the time. Not more.
Comment by alison — Saturday, November 24th, 2007 @ 12:46