I thought I had landed my dream job at a local safari-themed zoo. It was a novel concept where visitors could drive through the zoo as they would in a game park in Africa. Or, visitors could board a bus (because no vehicle came out of that park with windshield wipers intact thanks to the baboons). The chirpy interviewer asked, "would you be comfortable driving a 52-passenger bus while conducting a narrative about the animals?" I don't even like driving a car, let alone a 52-passenger bus with free range zebras and giraffes. So, that was a bust.
I have shied away from dream jobs with video entries and votes---but that doesn't mean I don't entertain them! In 2009, pre video and voting hoop-jumping I was shortlisted for a BIG adventure company's Coolest Travel Intern position. The list shortened further to three and the winner (not me) was a former Starbucks marketing manager so, I felt like she had just the latte foam and chops they were seeking. I had yet to learn about hashtags and SEOs.
Thanks for sharing the heartache and disenchantment of it all, Kristi. Did you ever get to Trinidad? My brother tried a local Trini pepper sauce that was so magma-hot he instantly threw up. Those are my tasting notes! Thanks for your follow.
Wow I just checked out that Penguin post office. Aside from the freezer cold and no flushing toilet, that sounds like a remote opportunity of a lifetime...for someone else 😂 There are some pretty cool and unique jobs out there!
I did not go to Trinidad or Tobago. I continued representing Jamaica for another five years after that contest, retiring that gig in 2019. I'm all too familiar with Caribbean hot sauces though! Scotch Bonnett peppers are some of the hottest on earth and I think many Caribbean islands use them. Your brother was probably a victim of those peppers LOL.
I'd definitely prefer a penguin post office outpost in Tasmania or anywhere as hot as hot sauce, Kristi. I have a lifelong reminder of a ghost pepper chili oil in Samana---I merely dipped my fork tines in for a taste and sizzled my lower lip. Now, if I try anything that treads near the Scoville scale I have an instant blister. Segue---I have to ask. When you have a Jamaican patty, do you have it on a coco bun? I thought the combo would be something greater than it was--awesome carb load but I think I'm a patty only gal. As a kid, the Jamaican Old Tyme Ginger Beer was my first taste of exotica from the country market up the road from us. Oddly, they sold ginger beer and bags of sponge toffee. Sugar avalanche!
I never understood the hype of a patty inside coco bread. That seemed WAY too bulky for my liking. But there was one patty called the Full House patty that was pretty awesome. It was beef and cheese and they'd cut it open and put lettuce and tomato inside too lol. I overdosed on those until I stopped eating meat altogether.
Now you're speaking my love language! However, speaking of no-meat transitions, I just read about how Daryl Hannah stopped eating meat abruptly at age seven after making friends with a cow on a truck destined for you know where. She asked the driver what the cow's name was and he said, "Tomorrow? Veal." And, that was it.
But you came in fourth! I know I know. It's not first. I'll bet there was one judge who knew his shit and was pulling for you. Even tho as you say it was a popularity contest.
Here's my story... I auditioned years ago for 1 line in a big movie. I made it to the 4th callback. They wanted a tough girl. I wore no make up, jeans, hiking boots and my dad's old army jacket. At the call back the other girls wore red lipstick, tight jeans and stilettos. They were sexy not tough! I was pissed. I didn't get the part. The line was cut from the movie anyway.
Bridget Fonda! Now there's a blast from the past. Single White Female! I laughed to read your tough girl attire. That was my high school uniform. And still, really.
💯 no, this post does not come off like you are complaining. It was so enjoyable to read, despite it being a shitty thing to go thru. I love your stories!
I don't think you sound like a poor loser, rather a rational person with a brain. I completely agree that voting contest are a biased waste and this one was especially difficult given it was a dream job. I would feel the way you did - the acute frustration that the business world operates this way.
Great essay by the way, you painted an amazing picture with your words. I felt like I was you while I was reading it!
Firstly I am sorry to inform you that not all surgeons are the best for the job. 😁 Some are just very charismatic. When I was a nurse I changed jobs about every two years looking for 'my thing.' The job that would be just right for me. I remember squirming in an interview for a job on the community because I couldn't answer the doctor's question and I told him so repeatedly. But it turned out the nurse manager was very impressed that I didn't allow the doctor to bully me. 👏😏 Go me! When I did get a job on the community I hated it. All that driving! Pah! After ten years I realised I was never going to find my dream job in the so called health service and left the profession. Have never regretted it. 😊 My dream job would be totally flexible and where I could wake up and do what I felt like each day. 😎
This vaguely reminds me of this last decades new AMAZING film festival opportunities one can send their film to (against 50 quid) and who then invites participant to vote for the winner on social media!!
Of course the cynicism of this is amazing, since the sole purpose of it is to get a bunch of filmmakers to harass all their social media contacts and spread the name of the festival as wide as possible--which will bring more participant next time!
My stomach kind of hurts reading this. No, you're not a sore loser: just someone who has been slapped upside the head by one of the more distasteful aspects of our current reality. Currently there is a writer pleading for votes for her book cover (which, honestly, I don't much like) and I feel humiliated for her. And I can't tell you how many times we've been recruited to vote for our grandnieces and grandnephews as Player of the Week for whatever sport they're doing -- a ploy for clicks by the local newspaper. It's meaningless and a time suck and, again, humiliating. I'm sorry you had to endure this.
Ouch. That takes it to a whole different level of despicable when they're asking kids to gather votes for playing a game. That doesn't teach them anything except what society is already teaching them...that popularity is important. Now THAT makes me sick.
Garnering votes for anything is a lazy substitute for fairly acknowledging people based on merit. The people who conduct these surveys either did not have the skill to objectively assess the candidates or were too apathetic about that idea to do it.
I agree David. And as I mentioned in another comment, this type of contest alone drummed up so much media attention for the island. By having 10 well-known Canadians duking it out in public all over the internet for weeks, they got more bang for their buck.
What a frustrating experience. I can definitely understand why the contest was run this way from the perspective of Tobago. But from the contestants’ perspective, I can see how frustrating and unfair it was.
For what it’s worth, I don’t look good in a bikini, so I will definitely take your advice and continue brushing up on my writing skills.
Yes, Social media is just a public pissing contest. I try not to judge anymore. I read stuff that I truly consider inferior to what I do, but hey, what I write is not what people want to read. So be it. But I think you nailed why the other contestant won - the tourist board looked at her following and thought, "Potential visitors!" And, of course, not true.
Exactly. What I thought was a little weird is that she wasn't their general demographic either. Tobago is sort of a quiet, upscale tourism experience, not a spring break atmosphere. I think it appeals to an older demographic.
I don’t think you’re a sore loser, I just think you wish you lived in a world that was based on quality and not on counting the number of page views! Me too.
“I think I cried the day the winner was announced. It was humiliating having put so much pressure on my circle of voters, only to have it all be for nothing.”
That would be the worst, with everybody pulling for you like that.
It sounds like they got what they wanted (promotion). I don’t like it but 30K for them is cheaper than hiring a full time marketing person for one year and probably had a bigger impact.
The expense was you invested a lot of time
And money into this competition and it sucks you didn’t get chosen. I might have reached out to them and asked them for a freebie.
Brenna, speaking of impact, I think the contest alone had a huge impact on their tourist board. If you think about it Tobago had 10 well-known travel bloggers promoting the island trying to get votes and attention! Through the contest alone, that's a lot of free publicity.
That sucks! I think you have a legitimate reason to be upset with how that played out. All we ask is to compete on a level playing field, our best work vs the other guy's (or gal's). I once sent it a very solid resume for a high speed job, only to be told that it wasn't even looked at because I'm not a military vet.
The social media experience is a whole different shit storm of inconsistency. I follow some photographers who post jaw dropping images and, deservedly have huge followings. Then there are others who post cringe worthy work, but also have thousands of followers. I've poured heart and soul into my images and posted consistently for years, but only manage to get a few hundred? Maybe I need to post some bikini selfies! 🤷♂️
Erik, I know it sucks all the way around. I will never understand the social media circus and I don't really care to. Especially after experiencing this competition. I don't think jobs and crafts should be a "contest."
I thought I had landed my dream job at a local safari-themed zoo. It was a novel concept where visitors could drive through the zoo as they would in a game park in Africa. Or, visitors could board a bus (because no vehicle came out of that park with windshield wipers intact thanks to the baboons). The chirpy interviewer asked, "would you be comfortable driving a 52-passenger bus while conducting a narrative about the animals?" I don't even like driving a car, let alone a 52-passenger bus with free range zebras and giraffes. So, that was a bust.
I have shied away from dream jobs with video entries and votes---but that doesn't mean I don't entertain them! In 2009, pre video and voting hoop-jumping I was shortlisted for a BIG adventure company's Coolest Travel Intern position. The list shortened further to three and the winner (not me) was a former Starbucks marketing manager so, I felt like she had just the latte foam and chops they were seeking. I had yet to learn about hashtags and SEOs.
These days I think my dream job might be that Penguin Post Office in Port Lockroy, Antarctica. There's no flushing toilet, no internet and it's freezer-cold. You have to lick stamps and avoid licking metal poles. https://www.npr.org/2022/04/24/1094550020/antarcticas-penguin-post-office-is-hiring
Thanks for sharing the heartache and disenchantment of it all, Kristi. Did you ever get to Trinidad? My brother tried a local Trini pepper sauce that was so magma-hot he instantly threw up. Those are my tasting notes! Thanks for your follow.
Wow I just checked out that Penguin post office. Aside from the freezer cold and no flushing toilet, that sounds like a remote opportunity of a lifetime...for someone else 😂 There are some pretty cool and unique jobs out there!
I did not go to Trinidad or Tobago. I continued representing Jamaica for another five years after that contest, retiring that gig in 2019. I'm all too familiar with Caribbean hot sauces though! Scotch Bonnett peppers are some of the hottest on earth and I think many Caribbean islands use them. Your brother was probably a victim of those peppers LOL.
I'd definitely prefer a penguin post office outpost in Tasmania or anywhere as hot as hot sauce, Kristi. I have a lifelong reminder of a ghost pepper chili oil in Samana---I merely dipped my fork tines in for a taste and sizzled my lower lip. Now, if I try anything that treads near the Scoville scale I have an instant blister. Segue---I have to ask. When you have a Jamaican patty, do you have it on a coco bun? I thought the combo would be something greater than it was--awesome carb load but I think I'm a patty only gal. As a kid, the Jamaican Old Tyme Ginger Beer was my first taste of exotica from the country market up the road from us. Oddly, they sold ginger beer and bags of sponge toffee. Sugar avalanche!
I never understood the hype of a patty inside coco bread. That seemed WAY too bulky for my liking. But there was one patty called the Full House patty that was pretty awesome. It was beef and cheese and they'd cut it open and put lettuce and tomato inside too lol. I overdosed on those until I stopped eating meat altogether.
Now you're speaking my love language! However, speaking of no-meat transitions, I just read about how Daryl Hannah stopped eating meat abruptly at age seven after making friends with a cow on a truck destined for you know where. She asked the driver what the cow's name was and he said, "Tomorrow? Veal." And, that was it.
I don't think you're a 'sore loser' at all. I'd be pretty pissed too, after seeing the persons writing 'material". Augh!
But you came in fourth! I know I know. It's not first. I'll bet there was one judge who knew his shit and was pulling for you. Even tho as you say it was a popularity contest.
Here's my story... I auditioned years ago for 1 line in a big movie. I made it to the 4th callback. They wanted a tough girl. I wore no make up, jeans, hiking boots and my dad's old army jacket. At the call back the other girls wore red lipstick, tight jeans and stilettos. They were sexy not tough! I was pissed. I didn't get the part. The line was cut from the movie anyway.
Awwww man!! I'm dying to know what the movie was. Is it something mainstream we'd all recognize?
And yeah, I was pretty proud I could place 4th in the whole country!!
La Femme Nakita was the really great French movie that Hollywood had to ruin and remake their own version. Point of No Return with Bridget Fonda.
Hmm wondering if I ever watched it. Anyway, if you got cut I don't want to watch it 😂😂
Haha. I wasn’t even in it. Haha. But thanks for your not-watching support.
Bridget Fonda! Now there's a blast from the past. Single White Female! I laughed to read your tough girl attire. That was my high school uniform. And still, really.
HS uniform. Hehe. It's my current go-to outfit. I wore my good sweatpants to the doctor yesterday.
💯 no, this post does not come off like you are complaining. It was so enjoyable to read, despite it being a shitty thing to go thru. I love your stories!
Aww thank you so much Kristen. I was hoping I didn't come across like a whiner nearly 10 years after the fact. Like, let it go already 😂
I think your writing conveys that you’ve let it go. BUT you know it’s a good story to tell!
I don't think you sound like a poor loser, rather a rational person with a brain. I completely agree that voting contest are a biased waste and this one was especially difficult given it was a dream job. I would feel the way you did - the acute frustration that the business world operates this way.
Great essay by the way, you painted an amazing picture with your words. I felt like I was you while I was reading it!
Firstly I am sorry to inform you that not all surgeons are the best for the job. 😁 Some are just very charismatic. When I was a nurse I changed jobs about every two years looking for 'my thing.' The job that would be just right for me. I remember squirming in an interview for a job on the community because I couldn't answer the doctor's question and I told him so repeatedly. But it turned out the nurse manager was very impressed that I didn't allow the doctor to bully me. 👏😏 Go me! When I did get a job on the community I hated it. All that driving! Pah! After ten years I realised I was never going to find my dream job in the so called health service and left the profession. Have never regretted it. 😊 My dream job would be totally flexible and where I could wake up and do what I felt like each day. 😎
" where I could wake up and do what I felt like each day. 😎" << I believe that job is called unemployment 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Good for you for standing up to yourself though! Nobody needs to work for a bully!
😂 😂
This vaguely reminds me of this last decades new AMAZING film festival opportunities one can send their film to (against 50 quid) and who then invites participant to vote for the winner on social media!!
Of course the cynicism of this is amazing, since the sole purpose of it is to get a bunch of filmmakers to harass all their social media contacts and spread the name of the festival as wide as possible--which will bring more participant next time!
Yup, sounds like a similar vibe. The hype of the contest is free press for them!
My stomach kind of hurts reading this. No, you're not a sore loser: just someone who has been slapped upside the head by one of the more distasteful aspects of our current reality. Currently there is a writer pleading for votes for her book cover (which, honestly, I don't much like) and I feel humiliated for her. And I can't tell you how many times we've been recruited to vote for our grandnieces and grandnephews as Player of the Week for whatever sport they're doing -- a ploy for clicks by the local newspaper. It's meaningless and a time suck and, again, humiliating. I'm sorry you had to endure this.
Ouch. That takes it to a whole different level of despicable when they're asking kids to gather votes for playing a game. That doesn't teach them anything except what society is already teaching them...that popularity is important. Now THAT makes me sick.
I know, right? Luckily they're very resilient kids with sane parents and intact egos.
Garnering votes for anything is a lazy substitute for fairly acknowledging people based on merit. The people who conduct these surveys either did not have the skill to objectively assess the candidates or were too apathetic about that idea to do it.
I agree David. And as I mentioned in another comment, this type of contest alone drummed up so much media attention for the island. By having 10 well-known Canadians duking it out in public all over the internet for weeks, they got more bang for their buck.
What a frustrating experience. I can definitely understand why the contest was run this way from the perspective of Tobago. But from the contestants’ perspective, I can see how frustrating and unfair it was.
For what it’s worth, I don’t look good in a bikini, so I will definitely take your advice and continue brushing up on my writing skills.
😁😁😁 Hahaha thank you for the comic relief. See you in Tobago 🇹🇹 NOT in bikinis 😁
Yes, Social media is just a public pissing contest. I try not to judge anymore. I read stuff that I truly consider inferior to what I do, but hey, what I write is not what people want to read. So be it. But I think you nailed why the other contestant won - the tourist board looked at her following and thought, "Potential visitors!" And, of course, not true.
Exactly. What I thought was a little weird is that she wasn't their general demographic either. Tobago is sort of a quiet, upscale tourism experience, not a spring break atmosphere. I think it appeals to an older demographic.
But what do I know, right? 😂
Flawed processes lead to poor outcomes. Popularity is no way to choose a candidate for a job.
The board could have as well sought two people, a travel writer and an influencer. They could get reach without compromising the quality of writing.
Now that would have been a worthwhile way to do it! That would have captured two completely separate audiences and been well worth their money!
I don’t think you’re a sore loser, I just think you wish you lived in a world that was based on quality and not on counting the number of page views! Me too.
Amen to that Tom.
“I think I cried the day the winner was announced. It was humiliating having put so much pressure on my circle of voters, only to have it all be for nothing.”
That would be the worst, with everybody pulling for you like that.
It really was lol. I felt terrible knowing how much effort my people put in for nothing.
Voting contests suck!
It sounds like they got what they wanted (promotion). I don’t like it but 30K for them is cheaper than hiring a full time marketing person for one year and probably had a bigger impact.
The expense was you invested a lot of time
And money into this competition and it sucks you didn’t get chosen. I might have reached out to them and asked them for a freebie.
Brenna, speaking of impact, I think the contest alone had a huge impact on their tourist board. If you think about it Tobago had 10 well-known travel bloggers promoting the island trying to get votes and attention! Through the contest alone, that's a lot of free publicity.
Yup. I never really thought of it from this angle until the contest was over. But it was smart on their part. Who cares who the winner was!
That sucks! I think you have a legitimate reason to be upset with how that played out. All we ask is to compete on a level playing field, our best work vs the other guy's (or gal's). I once sent it a very solid resume for a high speed job, only to be told that it wasn't even looked at because I'm not a military vet.
The social media experience is a whole different shit storm of inconsistency. I follow some photographers who post jaw dropping images and, deservedly have huge followings. Then there are others who post cringe worthy work, but also have thousands of followers. I've poured heart and soul into my images and posted consistently for years, but only manage to get a few hundred? Maybe I need to post some bikini selfies! 🤷♂️
Field notes with bikini selfies would go viral. I think you should seriously consider at least one “special” edition. I would
😂😂😂 Tim...you're on to something!
Erik, I know it sucks all the way around. I will never understand the social media circus and I don't really care to. Especially after experiencing this competition. I don't think jobs and crafts should be a "contest."
🤣😂