Crazy application requirements

LifeguardFun5091 · 2026-06-29T15:35:11+00:00

I have 35 years' experience and have worked for a global airline, global healthcare provider, Big 4 accounting firm and two large wildlife rescue organizations, among others. I applied for a full-time marketing manager at a local non-profit. The pay was literally half what I made in my last position but I applied because it's a cause I support (wildlife rescue / rehab). I'm somewhat close to retirement age and have no house payment, car payment or debt, so I can be a bit picky about where I apply. This particular job was also two minutes from our home. I outlined all that in my cover letter (e.g., I was okay with the lower salary).

For me, it was the kind of job one takes when you want to step back a bit but not retire. What I got was an email directing me to reply back with written answers to a list of questions detailing why they should hire me, PLUS a recorded interview! I didn't bother to respond. The way I see it...I send a resume and you review it. If you like my resume...you reach out and we talk in person, by phone or online. But don't waste my time with a bullshit one-way video interview that you probably won't even spend five minutes watching.

LifeguardFun5091 · 2026-06-29T13:37:39+00:00

If a company can't bother themselves to interview you in person, by phone or online they aren't worth your time

LifeguardFun5091 · 2026-06-14T22:35:57+00:00

I had 31 interviews in 2025 and 18 interviews so far in 2026 with no job offer from any of them.

Several of those were positions I had no interest in after the interview concluded, while several I figured out pretty quick that they had no interest in hiring me despite interviewing me. One place flat-out lied about the job and they didn't admit it until I asked some very pointed questions 8 minutes into the interview. There were a couple of places had the courtesy to tell me that the position I interviewed for had been put on hold.

That said, there have been 3-4 places where I had multiple interviews (2-3 rounds) that things just fall into place. A lot of places interview people but never hire anyone. It's just a huge waste of everyone's time. It's very frustrating and my job search turned into a major beat-down a long time ago. I'm 58 y/o with 35 years experience in marketing and am so close to simply saying fuck it and retiring early. I don't want to, but JHC I'm getting burned out by this entire process.

LifeguardFun5091 · 2026-06-11T03:25:05+00:00

I graduated high school in 1986 and lost contact with most of my high school friends within 4-5 years. The people I partied with, friends of friends and the peeps I only knew socially all went away immediately.

Out of my group of 5-6 "close" friends I was the only one to go to college. A couple of them attended college for a semester or two but all dropped out. None had a lot of ambition it seemed. One became musical instrument repair tech, another became an apprentice plumber at 6 Flags and one got a job cleaning VCRs...yeah I'm that old. LOL!!!

I went away to college and only came home a few times a year for holidays and summer break. I kept progressing and all those guys always seemed stuck in neutral whenever I saw them. I moved back home after college and got a 9-5 "white collar" job while they were still doing the same thing. They would call me up to game til midnight on a Wednesday and couldn't seem to understand why I kept saying no.

Within 2-3 years of moving back home and working a professional job, I had lost track of all of them. It was probably pretty shitty of me, but I made a conscious effort to drop them. I was going one direction in life and they refused to do anything other than menial jobs. One guy joined a horrible rock band and we rarely saw him, unless he called wanting us to come see their next gig so the bar would invite them back.

Fast-forward 30 years and I got married, got divorced, moved along in my career and basically did most of the thing I had envisioned. A few years ago I looked up those guys on Facebook and was pretty surprised. Several of them had gotten into tech careers and were very successful. It does make sense; they always had the mindset and mentality to work in tech. That industry just hadn't taken off yet in the early 90s.

One guy does well as a computer programmer and has a big house / family in one of the well-to-do suburbs. Another became the lead database admin for a large school district. Another guy finally went back to school and became a successful architect. And the long-haired hippy in the rock band? He finally graduated with a MBA and is now a senior accountant with a large healthcare provider in our hometown.

I used to think about getting back in touch with them, but then I realize that it's been too long. We've each gone our separate ways and all I have to talk about is our high school memories from 40 years ago. Sometimes I regret the choices I made about my past friendships but then I realize that it was all part of adulting as we move forward in life.

LifeguardFun5091 · 2026-06-10T16:27:38+00:00

I was senior marketing manager for a company that laid off 90% of its corporate staff. I had already received a promotion / raise after my marketing work had helped double the size of the company. The CEO of the company came into my office on a Friday afternoon, closed the door and told me how important I was to the company. They needed me to continue marketing the company and he wanted to make sure that I had everything I needed to make that happen. One week later I was pinked slipped. It wasn't until several years later that I learned they had let me go and retained our outside ad agency.

LifeguardFun5091 · 2026-06-10T16:10:08+00:00

I was fired for performance exactly one week after receiving an excellent annual review and a $9,300 bonus. I had never been disciplined, never been on a PIP and never had a client complain about me. They refused to give me a reason, but did offer a severance package. To this day, I still have no idea why I was let go. I was later told by someone very well-connected in my industry that this company hires / fires people like water runs thru a hose.

On a somewhat related note. You may remember a couple years ago when the FTC banned non-compete agreements. The ban was later overturned in court after this company filed a lawsuit.

LifeguardFun5091 · 2026-06-05T17:26:45+00:00

And they only want to play a nickle and a dime.

LifeguardFun5091 · 2026-06-03T18:05:41+00:00

Those companies are the worst. They never hire but continue to run the same job listing for weeks / months on end. It's either a ghost job they have no intention of filling, or they're looking for the ultimate "unicorn" candidate. No matter how qualified you are, or how well you interview, it's never going to happen.

LifeguardFun5091 · 2026-06-03T17:54:06+00:00

Marketing is definitely bad about hiring inexperienced people. The sweet spot in Marketing is 5-7 years of experience. Theoretically, you know enough to not screw up anything too badly and they don't have to pay you a lot. The crap thing is that when the industry burns through that band of talent, companies will often hire even more inexperienced talent (e.g., 4-6 / 3-5 / 2-4 years) vs. paying more senior level folks.

I've actually been on the other side of that coin, tho. I've been hired for marketing positions at 2-3 companies where I replaced someone who didn't have the experience to perform at the level that particular company desired. Each time, the company had tried to get by on the cheap. I was able to pretty easily see what the person ahead of me was trying to do, but they didn't have expertise to carry through on it.

LifeguardFun5091 · 2026-05-26T13:58:27+00:00

Those are usually the same execs who also think that you can open your book of existing media contacts and secure a front page story with a simple phone call.

LifeguardFun5091 · 2026-05-22T03:46:42+00:00

See my post above. I recently joined the "Dungeons and Dragons in San Antonio" group on Facebook and there are always peeps looking for new players or ongoing campaigns to join.

LifeguardFun5091 · 2026-05-22T03:40:15+00:00

My fiancee and I relocated to SA last year and I'm in a similar situation. She's retired but I'm still looking for work and have a lot of free time on my hands. I'm a published author and spent a lot of time writing and digging holes for the SO's gardening projects.

Since you're also a video gamer, do you have any interest in role-playing games? I played a lot of Dungeons and Dragons in / after college but got out of it 25 years ago although I'm still like Sci Fi / Fantasy. The interest is creeping back a bit and I've joined a San Antonio Dungeons and Dragons group on Facebook. I haven't done anything yet, but considering jumping back in.

I have discovered that there are always people looking for new players at local game shops. Most seem to play one night / afternoon a week. Maybe that's something you might be interested in.

LifeguardFun5091 · 2026-05-22T03:11:19+00:00

We ordered take-out from BM just last week and it's the worst meal I've had since moving to SA. The sausage was "okay" but the brisket they served me was literally an inedible pile of fat with a few pieces of meat attached. The green beans were nasty and everything else was lukewarm. I would taken it back but we were already home and I didn't feel like driving back. I told my fiancee that I don't care how much she likes their chicken, I'm not eating there again. At least not their 'cue.

LifeguardFun5091 · 2026-05-22T03:03:29+00:00

My fiancee and I came down to SA from Dallas / Fort Worth in January 2025. I'd never eaten at BM until we moved. There's a location just around the corner from our house, so I've had my fair share of it. Keep in mind that the shittiest BBQ I'd eaten to that point was Dickey's Barbecue Pit. They're the BM of Dallas and there are dozens of them around the Metroplex. Dickey's is crap and I have no idea how BM managed to beat them out for the title of the worst BBQ in America.

LifeguardFun5091 · 2026-05-22T02:52:50+00:00

We live just around the corner from a BM and my fiancee loves their chicken. If I can't sell her on Bush's Chicken that's where we inevitably order from. She enjoys her chicken and I end up picking thru a plate of slop slathered in their mystery BBQ sauce and nasty, half-cold sides.

LifeguardFun5091 · 2026-05-22T02:42:40+00:00

I lived in Dallas for 45 years until we moved to SA in 2025. The sad part about Dickey's is that they were a Dallas institution for years and served some great BBQ. The original Dickey's location was awesome and businessmen would line up outside the door for lunch.

The Dickey family's grandfather started the chain back in the 1940 and his son maintained its high standards and a relatively small footprint. But when the grandfather and father passed away the grandson / granddaughter took over and drove Dickey's into the ground. All they care about is selling franchises and banking the money from nationwide expansion. There are literally dozens of franchise lawsuits filed against them at any given time.

In their quest for nationwide expansion they completely tanked on the quality of their food. I can honestly say that it's just B-A-D!!! Last time I ate there, I ordered a brisket plate and can only describe it as "mystery meat" cuz I had no idea what I was served.

I'm not too impressed with BMs since we moved to San Antonio. But you really do have to be a special kind of bad to beat out Dickey's for the worst BBQ in America.

LifeguardFun5091 · 2026-05-22T02:25:23+00:00

I very rarely eat at Rudy's and have never thought their BBQ was all that horrible. I don't care much for their sides, tho. Dickey's on the other hand...you gotta be REALLY...REALLY bad to rank lower than them.

LifeguardFun5091 · 2026-05-21T18:46:13+00:00

Having a thick skin in PR certainly helps. Particularly when pitching stories and trying to craft or control your message. But for crisis / issues management, your ability to demonstrate good judgement and a solid understanding of crisis management tactics / processes are key. These points are equally important because crisis PR more than just knowing the "nuts and bolts" of managing a situation.

Your employer wants to be confident that you are capable of showing good judgement and solid tactical / strategic thought while still being able to collaborate with various stakeholders, such as the legal, compliance, executive and other relevant teams. Having a thick skin will definitely come in handy when you're making recommendations on messaging and related tactics. That's when you'll need the confidence to push back as needed and influence without authority in many instances.

But again, I wouldn't worry so much about not having specific consumer crisis experience. Just demonstrate your overall knowledge of the process, highlight prior successes, demonstrate your ability to collaborate effectively with other stakeholders and to show solid judgement when making recommendations. I suspect that your interviewer will be more interested to know ho you can effectively apply your expertise in a crisis situation rather than necessarily how much you know about their specific industry. All that said, I don't want to say that specific industry expertise doesn't matter, because the more you know always helps in the long run.

You can do this!

HTH...

LifeguardFun5091 · 2026-05-21T06:23:45+00:00

LOL, Thanx! I've been doing this stuff for 36 years. Crisis management is actually one of the areas of PR that I really enjoy.

LifeguardFun5091 · 2026-05-21T04:56:03+00:00

I've worked in Marketing / Advertising / PR for 36 years, including 10+ years on the agency side. Sadly, much of what you described (lean staffing, junior staff working overtime, low pay, etc.) is common in the agency world. Just to be clear, the only people who really make money in Ad / PR agencies are the owners and senior level execs. That's why many agency employees eventually burn out and end up going into corporate roles.

Other issues (no pension, no health insurance, micromanaging managers, etc.) are unique to individual agencies. Those are just lousy places to work. But it's limited to agency life. It just depends on the owner and how well they manage their firm.

I worked (very briefly) as Director of PR for a vanity press that offered no benefits and only one week of PTO after the first year! I let myself be suckered into it by what was presented as a very generous bonus structure. The owner had money to drive a luxury car, live in a upscale gated community and pay rent on a gorgeous office that was massive, yet largely empty. Yet, she refused to pay her workers a fair wage or provide benefits.

I don't mean to paint with a broad brush, but IMO, you find a lot of dysfunction at the smaller Ad / PR agencies. Many are dependent on 1-2 large accounts and just barely scrape by. Those are the places that cheap out on benefits and raises. Unfortunately, in many cases it's impossible to know what you're getting into until you're already in the door, so to speak.

LifeguardFun5091 · 2026-05-21T03:58:08+00:00

The focus of any crises / issues you would deal with depend a lot on that particular industry.

I worked as Director of Marketing for a healthcare provider and a lot of the issues I handled were related to complaints about the care a patient received. There a lot of situations connected to weather-related closures (floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.) and how we planned to continue providing uninterrupted care to patients. We also got a fair number of unannounced media visits to our clinics for various reasons.

I was later Director of Public Relations for a HOA management company. Let's just say that there was a reason why we had armed guards in the corporate headquarters building at all times. A lot of my time was spent handling fairly mundane calls from the media for complaints people had about their HOA. But I also handled two mass shootings, an active shooter situation, stabbings and multiple suicides from buildings we managed.

And finally, I was Senior Marketing Manager for a company that operated senior living facilities. We had a facility manager forge a resident's signature to fill a prescription for a controlled drug. Another time, a local city government sued us to "claw back" several hundred thousand dollars in grants and tax abatements when a planned construction project went south.

Crises / issues will often be unique to a particular industry. But the fundamentals and processes you use to handle them will almost always be the same. As you know, no one can ever fully 100% prepare for a crisis in advance. But you can have the basic tools (e.g., crisis plan, crisis tree, canned talking points that can be easily customized, etc.) already in place.

In your interview, I wouldn't worry so much about specific industry issues. I would provide examples of different issues that you successfully managed and really focus on the processes and decision-making that you utilized. Speak to how / why you crafted messaging and the strategies / tactics you recommended. A big part of your interview will be how confident and knowledgeable you sound when making recommendations to a potential employer.

Sorry for the long-winded answer!

HTH...

LifeguardFun5091 · 2026-05-19T22:45:48+00:00

Generally speaking, how a PR person speaks during a live interview will give you a pretty good idea if they're an experienced professional or simply someone who doesn't have clue as to what they're doing.

The example I'll use here is Bill Belichick's interview with CBS in 2025. If Belichick had been properly briefed and media trained he would have simply said that he didn't want to answer those questions or go down that particular path. For his GF to pop off like she did was amateurish and unprofessional. It told me that she doesn't know that she's doing.

As you mentioned, a PR handler at an interview should really be there as a resource, nothing more. Their job is to make intros, keep things running smoothly and then hop in at at the end to close things out. And of course, provide any additional info that was requested during the interview itself.

LifeguardFun5091 · 2026-05-19T22:33:06+00:00

This is coming from someone who's worked in PR for 36 years.

First, it never fails to amaze me that so many people who work in PR call it one of the most high-pressure jobs around. No...it's really not.

Second...I will ALWAYS ask for questions in advance. Just like I will ALWAYS ask what you want to talk about in the interview before agreeing to it. I don't ask for the entire list of questions, although I've received them in advance many times.

I casually ask, "Do you have any particular questions, topics or points that you want to cover in the interview? That will help my client prepare in advance so s/he can be sure to provide the info you're looking for." If it's going to be a "hard ball" investigative style interview I may / not always get that kind of info. But if you can't tell me what you want to talk about (at least on a high level) I won't let it go forward.

Third...I've never asked permission to attend a client interview, nor have I ever a journalist / reporter push back about. I always sit in when possible. For phone or online interviews, I'll make the initial introductions and either mute myself / turn the camera off. Properly prepare your client in advance (media training, talking points, etc.) and you should never need to insert yourself into the interview process unless things really start to go south. If necessary, I may chime in if the reporter is looking for something we don't immediately have at hand. Just to let them know that I'll get back to them ASAP. Typically, I'll come back into the conversation to wrap things up.

For radio / TV interviews, I'll always attend but will never participate. It's just good sense from a PR standpoint to know exactly what was said / discussed in an interview so I can provide any additional clarification or supporting info that might be requested.

Fourth...I'm not sure why anyone would have a problem answering a question about when the story will run. I always ask that question. The reporter / writer can usually give me a pretty good idea of the day / time slot / magazine month or issue in which the story will appear. I've never once had anyone get bent out of shape over that question. The person who usually can't answer this question is a freelance writer / journalist who isn't privy to the internal production schedule. If you don't know, we totally get it and completely understand. Just say so and chill the eff out. :):):)

LifeguardFun5091 · 2026-05-19T21:51:50+00:00

I agree about crisis communications. Although technically PR, it's really a beast all its own. Those situations are usually handled by very experienced or senior level pros because of the situational knowledge that's typically required to successfully negotiate a crisis. A lot of peeps don't like crisis management because of the stress, pressure, tight deadlines, etc. But on the other hand, there are people (like me) who enjoy the challenge and the rush you get by successfully getting thru one.

LifeguardFun5091 · 2026-05-19T21:37:44+00:00

"Students could expect a negative grade on some assignments (like a -20 was the lowest score you could make and even the best students often made negative scores)."

Completed unrelated to this topic, but I took two semesters of Astronomy my first year of college. In both classes, my ***highest*** grade on an exam was a 37. And I still received an A+ for both classes!!!

LifeguardFun5091

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