I did a brief Google search and found it! Here is the NASTY BOSS ad. You will need
to have a Los Angeles Times subscription to view it.
The text of this ad, which ran on February 22, 1994, is as follows:
MANAGEMENT MARKETING
NASTY BOSS
I’m looking for 6 people that I can work half
to death for better than average salary in the
entertainment industry. If you like to be kicked
around, call me now for personal interview.
[phone number omitted]
(Hope this does not violate board rules about quoting published materials.)
My employer is currently having a very difficult time finding and retaining new employees. As a result, those of us who are already vested are overworked to the point that at any time a number of us are out on short term disability. There is nobody TPTB can send in their places because other locations are in the same boat. Makes you think what’ll happen within the industry down the line.
One of my faves: must work well with rapidly changing priorities - not blow your stack because you’re never allowed to finish anything because management is so busy chasing shiny objects.
One that I’ve never really figured out is when a job ad for a business analyst includes “executive presence” in the job description. I think it means that you’ll have to talk directly with the C-suite so need to handle yourself with some grace and maturity. But I think executive presence is something else so they’re mis-using it there. Unless they want to hire the likes of Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg as business analysts?
I went for an interview at the beginning of my career. I thought it was selling perfume to businesses, you know, a manufacturer’s rep. No, it was selling perfume at businesses. As in, walk in with your box, try to sweet talk the receptionist to letting you walk around to everyone’s desk to see if they wanted to buy Drakkar & whatever other scents were popular back then.
Once I realized what it was, my only question was do I be polite & wait for the break or do I just get up & walk out of the seminar-type presentation right then?
Yeah, I wanted to be a door-to-door salesman of knockoff, imitation, (probably) butane-based perfumes & colognes. :rolleyes:
I once was contacted by a headhunter who was pitching a job that sounded right up my alley. I was very interested. Then I asked where the job was located.
“Do you know where Shadyside is?” Well, I sure did. It’s actually a decent, upscale area where I’d love to work.
“Sure, I know where Shadyside is!”
“Well, it’s very close by.”
Yep, unfortunately Shadyside borders some very bad areas where nobody would ever want to work.
I took a job like that once.
I knew what I was getting into and I don’t regret taking it.
The job had crazy hours, the workplace was full of “strong personalities”. And the owner could be brutal*
This was back in the early 1980’s
I had a job offer for $325 a week on the table
“Nasty boss” offered $600 a week.
Now, I wouldn’t have lasted a week if I’d started as a lower level hourly employee. They got the brunt of the nastiness. But I started in a higher level position and they really wanted me to work there -so I dodged the worst of the nastiness.
The worst part was probably telling people where I worked, the place had a horrible reputation.
I recently -over 30 years later- ran into nasty boss. He’s now deeply into all sorts of high level yoga and meditation practices, he wears turbans and robes and travels to India to study with gurus and stuff. And he’s really nice now.
Me, too, back in my younger days. Something about the initial phone contact felt “off” and I specifically asked if it was going to be a group interview for a sales job. “Oh, no!” they replied, “Definitely one-on-one and no sales!” I got there and found it to be a door-to-door knife salesman and a group interview. I stood, crumpled the paperwork and tossed it aside, said “This is not what I was told it would be, and if you’ll lie to me now you will lie to me later” and then walked out. I hope I poisoned that interview for all 30 suckers - um, recruits.
My favourite job was in a smaller town. But if they advertise “Get from work to relaxation in four minutes”, show a picture of a mega-congested highway, or advertise the local Broccoli Festival, it’s probably hard to get food delivered after 7pm. Small places lie shamelessly about how close they are to bigger cities.
I’ve seen “Voted best place to live” (by biggest mega corporation near town). “Ample free parking”, “Multi level direct marketing opportunity”… I didn’t take a job with Slashco or selling socks door to door, though.
At least “hey we’re in a small town” has the advantage that some people would prefer it. Everything is cheaper, you’re not spending hours of your life in traffic, and so on.
The “Hey, we’re just an 3 hour drive from a mid-range city where the shops close at 9:00 instead of 6:00” thing is kind of silly.
