I'm self-employed because I hate working for other people. So is my Dad, my brother and my wife — who can't even listen to me.

More than two weeks ago I had a five-plus hour job interview for a reporting job. I crushed the writing test, but I know one of the editors didn't like me. I've got more to say about editorial hiring at my blog.

I nailed down the HR manager as to when they would be making a decision — and whether he would call me if I didn't make the cut. So often, they don't have the guts to tell someone, 'no.'

My reasoning is that if I give away five hours of my time, I deserve an answer, not just a void of silence. The guy said one to two weeks at the outside. Still no word. Punk.

Here's an article from Wired News that talks about putting anxious, sometimes desperate applicants through a grinding mill of pointless puzzles. The article also points out that the exercises most likely have no impact on either the hiring process, or the ability to glean meaningful information from the candidate.

What I really love are those Skinnerian multiple choice question tests that ask you if, "you're a team player," or, "do you consider yourself to be a hard worker." The manager then faxes your answers off to a database company to see if you miss the minimum standards of psychological readiness to do such mission critical jobs as waiting tables, or selling lattes.

HR people would give Orwell the shakes. They are soulless automatons who fill out paperwork and keep files that contain vital info like whether or not you were chronically remiss in putting your five dollars in the monthly coffee club jar. They're the kids who colored between the lines and became hall monitors. And if you think I despise them, you should hear my brother.

I can't wait until someone sues these bastards for mental duress.

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I've made a simple "metronome" soundtrack available for download at my site for any artists — writers, designers, graphic artists, painters, etc., who can listen with headphones while they are doing their work. Check out the related post.

And while you're there, you can purchase my book, The Stoic Artist — a field manual for creating the productive artistic life.

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