User-agent: * Disallow: / Hurricane I: Supreme Orientation

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Supreme Orientation

The following is a job blurb I wrote a cover letter for this afternoon (idenfiying information has been left off for obvious reasons):
Staff Assistant needed for Democratic office to manage front desk, greet constituents, answer telephones, arrange Capitol and White House tours and assist in handling Member's schedule.  Qualified applicants should have a very positive attitude, strong organizational skills, orientation to detail, and should possess strong verbal and written communication skills and the ability to multi-task.   Responsibilities will also include opening and sorting mail and faxes, assisting in data entry and management of the constituent mail system, drafting constituent correspondence and assisting the Member and Chief of Staff with various projects. The Staff Assistant is also responsible for some office administration, including maintaining office supplies and supervising office interns.
Now, I'd be a kick-ass Staff Assistant, so I usually don't have to think too much when I come across these. I just write them a letter and send it off. But what the hell does it mean to have "orientation to detail?" "Attention to detail" I understand. But "Orientation" confuses me.

Maybe it's because I'm used to seeing the word "orientation" preceeded by "sexual" that I'm confused. Maybe it's like when I see the word "Supreme" not immediately followed by "Court" I think of tacos.

Am I crazy?


Comments:
I think they tried to convert "detail-oriented" from adjective mode to noun mode, with questionable success. I've stopped and puzzled over that phrase, too. It's what we in the land of unemployment do with our time.
 
Since I did not intend to put much effort into circumventing the blog sign-on system, this is anonymously Traci. Perhaps they were trying to test your ATTENTION to detail. This was possibly a test of your skills. Had you called them out on it, you might have automatically made it past the first round. The trade-off here is of course that if it is not a test and someone made a careless oversight, you run the risk of seeming overly critical with too much attention to detail. It seems to me to be like asking a fat woman when the baby is due. You stand the chance that she actually is pregnant (which as we all know, either you're pregnant or you're not [sidebar: unless you ask whatever pregnancy test advertises itself to tell you when you are a little bit pregnant... but I digress]) and you are the hero or she is not in fact pregnant and you have just made a complete ass of yourself. In the end, it may be best to err on the side of caution. Unless you are supremely disoriented.
 
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