Kenya the Sequel

So it's been 4 months since I've returned from my adventures in Europe, and things haven't changed much from month to month. Still unemployed, still at home, growing ever lazier and more listless. Friends ask what I've been doing, and I have literally nothing to say.

But in one month, I'll finally have something awesome to tell people again. I'm going back to Kenya! I'm extremely excited about this trip. I'll be going to a town called Kijabe to help with some hospital design and master planning with Engineering Ministries International (EMI). I'll leave on May 27th and be returning on or around June 10th.

There are several reasons I'm going on this trip. One is for the architecture work. I can't find any work in the field here, but on this trip I'll be able to get some valuable practice in. Secondly, it's an exciting opportunity to travel and experience new cultures again. Thirdly, going back to Kenya to deepen my African experience is something I've wanted to do since I returned in early 2008.

Fourth reason, this mission is along the lines of what I'd like to do with my career. I want to use my architectural talents in the developing world. I've been given a lot of good things in my life, and from those who have much, much will be required. Whether it's in designing hospitals or communities, helping with disaster recovery efforts or just helping find volunteers, a large part of my heart is definitely drawn and inspired to working with developing nations, cities, cultures, families and individuals.

And one of the biggest and most challenging reasons for making this trip is to push myself in my faith. EMI is a christian organization, and I'll be surrounded on this trip with brothers and sisters in Christ. I've never been the best at being open about my own faith, I'm usually overly careful about sharing my views with others, especially when I know they don't believe as I do. But this mission is unabashedly open about being missional as well as serving. It's a chance for me to let my Jesus flag fly and rest in firmness of my convictions that God is, and that my faith is nothing to hide.

On the logistics side I'm sure many of you had the thought: Patrick is unemployed, is EMI then paying for him to go? The answer is no, I'm paying my own way. This will cost around $3,000 with the majority of that being air fare to Nairobi and back. Fortunately I have a little $$$ saved up, so I can afford to drop that, and living at my parents house for the last for months has allowed me to save a lot up as well. But if you think you would like to help me pay my way, feel free to call me or e-mail me and we'll talk about it.

Regardless, I'd appreciate your prayers for group cohesion, journey mercies, a successful design, an understanding client, and above all, for Christ to work in us and through us all.

For more information on the project specifically, click here.

But most of Craigslist is really good!

Normally Craigslist is a great place to find just about anything. I've bought bikes, furniture, movies and other things from people, and sold many other items through the site with fantastic ease. However, during my job searches recently I came across an advert that shows the downside of circumventing traditional pavement-pounding job hunting.

It was an ad for a position as a,"Concierge opening for a high end condominiums in Portland." It gave basic information about the job, and expressed a very strong desire for someone who could be very professional. Figuring I was qualified for this full-time position I sent in my resume. I got a reply within a couple hours saying I had forgotten to attach a photo, as requested, of myself looking as professional as possible. This response took me by complete surprise. I check the ad and sure enough I had completely skipped the sentence that asked for a picture.

But there just wasn't any way I was sending my picture out there to a random craigslist person. (I know that in the age of Facebook this seems a bit silly, especially since I'd sent him/her my resume with no hesitation; but you gotta draw the line somewhere.) I politely replied saying,

"No offense Manny, but I'd rather not be giving out my photograph via craigslist. If my resume merits an interview then I meeting me in person should suffice. Thank you for following up quickly."

Polite enough I figured, especially considering how odd it was to ask for a photo with a resume for a non-acting job. But the response really hit a nerve with me:

"I understand, but we have had over 20 aplicants apply in a day and they all qualify so we are just tryin to narrow it down so we dont have to meet everyone, good luck though.."

I couldn't believe this person was narrowing down "aplicants" purely by who had the best head-shot!  I couldn't believe someone who had a serious job looking for a professionalism would stoop to this. After mulling over whether or not to respond, and not even sure whether I was still a candidate or not, I decided to send this reply:

Well I sympathize with having difficult narrowing down numerous options and candidates, however it is at least unprofessional if not out-right wrong to be using photographs to narrow down candidates for this type of position. This isn't an acting job, it's a concierge job. Looking professional is part of the gig admittedly, but judging candidates purely on their looks like it's a beauty contest is borderline illegal. I'm sure this isn't the case, but hypothetically you could be using these photographs to reject every Hispanic applicant, or every male applicant, or all the entries with red hair.

I suggest in the future you not take advantage of people in tough circumstances by profiling candidates based on their looks instead of their skills and interview strength. If you haven't already, please remove my resume from your consideration.

I hope you find the right person for the job.
-Patrick Sullivan

So who knows if I would have landed that job or not. I don't think I want to work for someone who has these sort of hiring practices. Hiring is the first experience most new employees have with their employers, and this is certainly not the way anyone who cares a damn about their reputation and practice conducts themselves. I'm sure this was probably just someone trying to take a short-cut to find a new hire more quickly, not being racist or sexist any other "ist," but still the principle of the thing is still deplorable. 

Maybe I'm over-reacting, I dunno.Venting is part of why I have a blog :)