Post by Roberta Storey

I was at my favorite Italian place on Friday night, waiting to pick up a pizza. There were about 10 people waiting for their orders. While I was standing there, a mom and dad behind me were talking, and I overheard her say, “I’m just so disappointed for him.” I turned around and said, “I’m sorry, I wasn’t eavesdropping… but I absolutely was 😂. What happened?” She told me that their son graduated in December. 3.8 GPA. Mechanical engineer. Four months into the job search. He finally landed an interview with a large engineering firm here in Pittsburgh. He prepared. Put on a suit. Drove 45 minutes. He walked in… …and there were 17 other candidates sitting there. The company’s system was supposed to only invite four. Instead, it emailed twenty. Seventeen showed up. They let them all sit there and wait… Than then told most of them it was a mistake. No real apology. Just, “you weren’t supposed to be scheduled.” Can you imagine? Me neither, but here we are. Anyway, I said “I’m so sorry that happened to him and I said “I’d like to give you my number so he can call me.” She looked at me a little funny. Which, honestly, was fair. Total stranger telling you to have your kid call her. So I explained who I was. I gave her my name and told her to follow me on LinkedIn. This morning, I woke up to a message from her. She said she couldn’t believe it was actually me, and that her son would absolutely be reaching out. Life is weird. Sometimes you’re just waiting on a pizza… …and you end up meeting someone who might help your kid get a job. #AccidentialNetworking #LifeIsFunny #IKnowAGuy