Member-only story
My Failed Attempt at Meritocracy
Choosing people based on merit seemed like a good idea
I have never had much luck with job interviews. The only jobs I ever got because of job interviews were jobs where they were hiring anyone with a pulse.
Most of my jobs, I got through connections. I knew someone who knew someone who was hiring. That someone would put in a good word for me and next thing you know, I’d be employed. Or someone who was hiring would hear I was looking for work and give me a call.
When unemployed, I went to college. Each additional college degree gave me something new to put on my resume, and with my new resume in hand, I would fail at the interview game again. I would then put out the word that I was out of work and wait for the guy who knows a guy to do his magic.
During one of my breaks in employment, I went to law school. After graduating from law school, I worked lawyer jobs, all of which I got because I knew a guy.
Then one time when I was out of work, nothing happened. The guy who knows a guy was out of ideas, and although the word was out that I was out of work, nobody called. In desperation, I hung out my shingle and started a law practice. For a while, I was one man with a desk, a phone, and a shelf full of law books (yes, I’m so old I remember law books)…
