I visited the Boston Museum of Science yesterday, and was reminded of the time that I was fired from a volunteer job there when I was 13. Not that I’m bitter. This always raises the question, “How do you get fired from a volunteer job?” The answer: bad hiring.
When I applied for the volunteer job, I had visions of doing the live animal presentations. I imagined that I would stand in front of an audience of school kids and tell them how Spooky the Owl had soft feathers that allowed him to fly silently, and big forward-facing ears that made him a great night hunter.
Instead, I cleaned cages.
Never, during the dance that lead up to me being hired, did anyone check whether I was good at cleaning cages or had the talent to clean cages. The answer was “No” on both fronts. Though I made the best effort that I could, I’m really not the person you want in a cage cleaning role. I’m just not detail oriented enough.
In fact, the simple reference check of asking my parents, “We want him to clean things. Would he be good at that?” would have led to so much hysterical laughter and knee-slapping that the deal would never have been done.
In the end, I was terrible at cleaning cages and was fired from a volunteer job. This was the same day that my dog died. I felt like the little matchstick girl. Which leads to the last learning of this sad affair.
Hiring the wrong person is a lose-lose. You lose time, the job is badly done, and then you both have a bad day when you have to fire the person. Be sure that you hire people with the talent to do the job, or, once you have people, try to find a job that matches their talents. Heck, if I had been allowed to do the live animal presentations, I’d probably still be volunteering.
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