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Tag: Recruitment Agencies -

Responding to rejection – my email to a recruitment agency after being told I was unsuitable

Like many of you who are reading this article, I’ve just had one of those ‘thanks but no thanks’ incidents following an interview arranged by a recruitment agency. I’ve had these types of responses before and felt upset, angry and deflated but this time, rather than just accept the contents, I thought it was important to respond.

So, here’s my email

Hi Emily,

I just wanted to thank you for considering me suitable and capable for the role of XXXX for all the right reasons. I hope you will agree that I was precisely the kind of candidate that was ideal based on the tests carried out, my enthusiasm and my experience. It is just unfortunate that, whether it is [Recruitment agency] or [Employer] who makes these decisions, I was considered unsuitable for the wrong reasons.

Of course, your comment to me regarding why my application was rejected was incorrect. You, no doubt, were simply relaying the information that your manager gave you. In fact, what may quite possibly be true is that you do not employ anyone with criminal convictions – knowingly!

I think it is very possible that you do employ people with unspent criminal convictions, but unlike myself and a minority of people like me who find it virtually impossible to be dishonest (which apart from anything else, I feel is treating the person you are lying to disrespectfully) what you actually have is people who have not ticked the box that requests this information, a very small number of whom may be genuinely mistaken that their conviction is spent. I don’t blame people for lying, they are probably quite rightly aware that their conviction has absolutely no bearing on their ability to do the job, and for [Recruitment agency] or [Employer] to pry further into their history (apart from being quite possibly illegal) would be totally detrimental to themselves as well as the contractor/employee. They would be firing a productive member of their staff for, as I have already said, no good reason.

I cannot recall precisely whether you said, specifically, that only people with “unspent” criminal convictions were refused employment. Even if not, I’m sure that was the inference, as denying people with spent convictions employment without good reason is an offence in itself to my understanding. However, the actual difference between a “spent” and an “unspent” conviction is purely arbitrary as far as any employer is concerned. There is a good argument that someone who’s conviction has been “spent” is actually going to be a greater risk to the employer than one who’s isn’t. A person who still has restrictions and requirements for their action and behaviours has a lot more to lose by upsetting their employer, and there is no reason why an ex-offender will do anything detrimental towards the employer, any more than someone who has never had any involvement in the criminal justice system at all – they have solid experience of the possible repercussions of their actions.

In the jobs I have been able to get since leaving prison, I have been credited and commended by all my managers and supervisors, as long as they were unaware of my conviction (only the recruiting agency being aware). In one case my manager (highly uncharacteristic for him apparently) requested that I not only stayed with him when I moved to his next job location, but wanted me taken on full time by his company. For unrelated reasons I was unable to join him at that site (qualifications) but my concern was also that if I were to join his company I would have to cross a line of dishonesty. Being that he was clearly a bigot (something I disliked, but was willing to accept as being a largely generational thing) I am certain his attitude toward me would have changed should he have known about my conviction.

I just wanted to make these points to you, and for the sake of hopefully encouraging someone to consider these points should you ever be in a position to affect company policy decisions in future, or know of someone who is. It is just unfortunate that the law itself does not reflect on these rather obvious incongruities.

In closing, perhaps I can ask one question. If [Recruitment agency] do not employ anyone with [Employer] who have unspent convictions; is there any chance you know, or can enquire about, which clients of [Recruitment agency] do – and perhaps forward me your relevant recruitment specialists contact details? I would be most grateful.

Thank you

 

So, it seems that being upfront and honest isn’t necessarily going to land me a job. The advice I received from staff on the work programme was not to disclose anything to a recruitment agency, but to bring it up at the interview with the employer. This approach has definitely resulted in me being put forward by a couple of agencies for interviews although the companies involved then went back to the agency asking why my conviction hadn’t been disclosed previously. I now get the feeling that I’m not trusted by these agencies as they feel that I’ve been dishonest with them.

By George (name changed to protect identity)

 

A comment from Unlock

Our helpline is often contacted by people who’ve had very similar experiences to George. Sadly it’s all too easy for recruitment agencies to hide behind employers blaming their company policies for rejecting anybody with a criminal record. Although there are no doubt instances where this is the case, we’re fairly sure that some recruitment agencies just don’t recommend individuals with a criminal record. As George says, this will often lead to people not disclosing their conviction to an agency.

Useful links

  1. Comment – Let us know your thoughts on this post by commenting below
  2. Information – We have practical self-help information on disclosing criminal records to an employer
  3. Discuss this issue – There are some interesting discussions on disclosing criminal records to an employer on our online forum.

Recruitment agencies expecting ‘clear’ disclosures

When it comes to jobs that are exempt from the Rehabilitation of offenders Act, the law says you still need to disclose on an application form when asked about spent cautions or convictions regardless to however minor. In my case I will discuss about a caution from this point.

My caution was in 2012. It is minor and does not have any relevance to working with vulnerable people.

I applied for jobs to 4 different agencies on line and sent my CV with covering letters for Care Assistant roles with elderly people. I have lots of skills/experience and recruiters would always invite me down for the actual interviews. At all those interviews I had to fill out an application form and as they state they will apply for a DBS, I was aware I had to disclose the caution. Once this was put to paper on application, I was advised I would be contacted for a follow up interview and to apply for DBS and if successful will be put forward for training. I found I never heard from any of those agencies again.

I did not want to give up and saw an agency advertising for work. I sent them my CV and a covering letter. The same sequence happened, I received an email arranging an interview etc and asking me to bring proof of my identity.

However this time round, I decided to email the person back from HR as I noted that the email stated that they would need to apply for DBS if I am successful at interview and I did not want to go through the same time wasting exercise again, to not hear from them again after interview. So I decided to email the lady from HR, advising that I am currently waiting on DBS which my local authority had applied and paid for due to some work I was currently doing as a ‘Personal Assistant’.

I received a phone call from this lady from HR. She basically advised I should bring my DBS to the interview if it comes through. She told me she did not feel it had any relevance to the job I was applying for but said I can still go to the interview as it should not be a problem. She said it would basically all depend on whether I was successful or not and then taken from there.

I attended the interview a week later and I was successful at interview. I was told by the interviewer they would need to apply for a fresh DBS. She gave me a letter signed by her manager stating I was successful and a date to start the training for the following week, and pending my references and DBS check to be completed. I had also disclosed to her at the interview about my caution and she told me she did not feel it had relevance to the post but ultimately was down to the Director to make any decision, depending what comes up on DBS. She also appeared to already know about it when I told her as she said it ‘rang a bell’. I assumed the HR lady who I spoke to initially had already spoken to them about it in advance, prior to my interview I left there happy and looking forward to start the training.

Come Monday morning. I checked my emails and there was an email from the woman who interviewed me. She wished me good luck in her email for the future and referred me to ‘see letter attached’. I opened the attachment and there was a rejection letter. The rejection letter stated about them having many candidates that applied for the role who had more experience than me and they were sorry that I was ‘unsuccessful’ for the position.

I telephoned her and asked whether the email was sent in error and she said it was not. She said that a contract had ended and they didn’t have enough work coming in and that any work they did have had to go to the employees that were already on their books. She said she didn’t know there was not enough work until her manager raised it. She was quick to say she would shred all my paperwork. I knew she was lying as the information she was giving me on the phone contradicted the information she sent me in an email At the end of that week, I was job searching on line and came across a large advertisement from this same company on line, in many areas surrounding my borough. It was obvious to me that they had not lost any contracts and there was lots of work available.

It appeared their reluctance & change of mind was related to the minor caution that had no relation to this job or any impact to working with vulnerable elderly people, except of course if I applied to work in a prison. I decided to telephone the woman I had spoken to at the very beginning before my interview, where I had initially disclosed the caution to. I told this lady from HR about the confusion I had, in being told different theories to why they changed their mind. I also added the fact they gave me a firm offer in writing stating I was successful with a training date. I pointed out that it was obvious to me there was no issues with losing contracts as there was a big advertisement on line and plenty of work! The lady I spoke to from HR remembered me because she remembered advising me to bring my DBS that was pending with the LA and the disclosure I made in an email. She asked me some questions relating to my caution and I spent some time talking to her for about 15 minutes. She suggested she would speak with her manager and then get back to me. She also asked me to forward to her the email and rejection letter I received.

The following week I received a phone call from the above persons’ Manager as promised. I was told the offer still stood and I can do the training. From what I understood I was advised the position would merely be dependent on what was on my DBS. I replied I had already informed them in advance what may well be on there.

She said the person who interviewed me and sent me the rejection letter after offering me the position was new and because I had made a disclosure she thought they were unable to take me on because their policy is that a DBS ‘should be clear’. She said in my case it all is dependent on what is on there.

I then went on to say that I had been up front about what may show up when a DBS comes in before the interview and at the interview and I have already explained what the caution is for.
I explained again it is not a conviction. I agreed to do the training and take it from there. She emailed me offering me the opportunity to do the training and I responded as she asked to confirm I will do the training but I did get the impression that they were covering up for each other as I did not feel it was right to automatically prejudice someone because of a caution.
I also am concerned that it was said a ‘DBS should be clear’. Obviously in my case it is not going to be clear because a caution is likely to show up, I am still left feeling uneasy for when the time comes when the DBS is processed and concluded.

In the meantime I have carried out some training with another organisation for work relating to vulnerable people and do not finish this training until next week. This is not care work like the other organisation but still is working with vulnerable people. I will have to also get a DBS carried out with this firm after the training but my concerns are that their policy is: ‘DBS will be carried out and must be clear’.

So my real concern is that a lot of these organisations expect that it must come back clear. There is nothing on the policy saying ‘we will not discriminate or necessarily bar you if you have something that shows up and does not impact on the role you are doing’. It appears these organisations are discriminating against ex-offenders

I also experienced discrimination with 2 well known recruitment agencies. About 6 weeks ago I had them hounding me to register with them due to my skills etc and seeing my CV on line, knowing I was looking for work. I ended up making efforts to see them in person to register and I had to fill out an application form at their offices. Their form asked whether you have any spent or unspent convictions and including cautions or any pending prosecutions. I was honest with them and filled out the form. I have to this day never heard from them again!

I contacted them recently to ask them to remove my details. They totally ignored me and I chased it up and got one minimal response written in an unprofessional way. I now have to take time out to complain to their managers, as I need clarification they have indeed removed my details and the sensitive information I disclosed.

Finally, in relation to a role that I have been successful in, I have not yet been told when I can start as they are currently obtaining references and I am sure they will also do a DBS due to the role of working with young people.

For this role, I was never questioned on application as to whether I have any spent or unspent convictions or cautions and at interview I was not questioned. I do have a concern when they get to know about my caution they may change their mind about allowing me to have the job. As explained previously, it has no direct relevance to deter me from working with vulnerable people or young people.

So I am left with a very sour view of all these hurdles I have had to face due to the prejudice in some cases and cases where ex-offenders are discouraged from taking up employment.

As you can clearly see, more work needs to be done to ensure all organisations, including care work, and working to assist vulnerable people will not necessarily bar people from working on account of their enhanced DBS not being clean.

It is as if I have been sentenced to life as it is constant and never ending. It was spent in 2012 and is a caution that is constantly hanging over me.

By Sam (name changed to protect identity)

From Temp to Permanent – Learning the hard way, but still persevering

I had my disciplinary meeting the day before yesterday. At the end of the meeting I was offered the chance to resign rather than face dismissal and for the good of my “Permanent Record”, I took it. All I had to do was write out; “I (my name) hereby resign with immediate effect (date)”.

It was a simple call centre job-inbound- that involved taking calls from policy holders with the company, whose business is to supply warranties for white and brown goods. Following the 3 week training period, I would be taking calls and providing the customers with the details they needed to activate their warranties, which would include providing them with the pertinent repair firm details and reassuring them that a replacement would be provided if worst came to worst. There was also an element of upselling. The upsell was more warranties, the theory being that as the consumer was seeing their warranty in action, it would be the optimum time to offer them further cover for their treasured household appliances. Strike while the iron is hot, if you’ll excuse the appliance-related pun.

The job only paid around 14k per annum basic wage (20-25 ote) , and I had once upon a time vowed never to work in any vaguely sales-oriented job again, but the fact that I had been offered a permanent role at a large reputable firm really made me feel that I could maybe start living a normal life. Perhaps I really could firmly put my past in its place.

I have served three prison sentences.  The first one was for 8 months (served 4) when I was 19. The fact that I had not been able to join the army for 7 years, and was prevented from many other forms of employment – after that ridiculous blip had been the source of endless frustration and despondency  on my part.  I had again and again found dead ends when seeking to further my career and my personal development and eventually, being a callow youth, had given up and resigned myself to a life on benefits. The hopelessness of this predicament had eventually led to me once again serving another sentence, seven years later, of 9 months (served 4.5) at the age of 26.  Neither of these offences involved violence, and both were the direct result of imbibing too much alcohol and various other substances, and the wanton behaviour that resulted.

Upon release in the summer of 2009, I tried my upmost to get a basic minimum wage job in a kitchen porter type role in my small town, but my reputation preceded me and after applying for all of the jobs I could, I eventually ended up marooned on benefits and descending once again into drink and drug problems. And this time opiates were starting to make an appearance in the mix, making me feel more creative and less depressed despite the worsening situation. Of course that is testament to the delusory ability opiates have, making it possible to sleepwalk into a life of living death.

Eventually I got the big sentence. 5 Years. However this time things did change. I had been hoping for a bit of a stretch in which to truly get myself sorted out; get the degree; get fit, get off the fags, the booze and the drugs. However I hadn’t anticipated it to coming about in the messy way it did, falling out with friends, one of whom picking up some nasty injuries thanks to me. Once again the whole situation had run away from me, seemingly snowballing and acquiring a terrible momentum of its own. I felt terrible. But after a period of lying in my cell in a blue funk of lament and melancholy for a few weeks, it began to dawn on me that this was the chance I had to really change things.

During the sentence I did the education bit acquiring nearly 120 credits toward a degree with the open university  on a part time course, gained various NVQ’s at level 2 and 3, wrote a lot, gave up smoking, got fit and started meditating. I avoided drugs and even got my own prison radio show! It seemed like I had finally grown up.

I got out and worked numerous menial and temp jobs. My sentence plan and probation all went well and I found a modest house share in which to live. After a year of being out the chance of a permanent role came up and I jumped at it. I even turned down another job for it, temp, but with a good chance of becoming permanent and at a company I had enjoyed working at before , in order to take up the offer.

My heart hit the floor when I opened the email which required me to submit 6 years of address history, 3 years of work history etc. I was being comprehensively vetted for a simple call centre role and had absolutely not anticipated such a thing happening. This was a big faux pas on my part. Naturally I had omitted to mention my prison sentence on my CV, but crucially I had also skipped over the criminal record information bit on the application form. This was of course my fault for lying, but what could I do? They wouldn’t have given me a second chance if they would have seen the details of my offence, and I didn’t expect the Spanish Inquisition for such a mundane position, a position for which they wouldn’t have taken  a first glance at my history if I was temping.

The obvious course of action seemed to be just not showing up to the permanent role and see if I could somehow salvage the temp one that I had turned down. However my friends, family and girlfriend made a good case for coming clean. This seemed like a noble idea, and I did really like the idea of working at the place. ‘ So’ I thought, ‘when I go in on Monday, perhaps if I just let the HR lady know there is a bit of a blemish on my record, then they will just appreciate my candidness and let it slide’.

I’m not sure where this blinding flash of wishful thinking came from, as I am normally quite cynical.  But clearly I should have just gone with my original ‘cut and run’ plan.

Following the disciplinary meeting, in which the HR people were ever so nice and supportive, providing encouragement and best wishes for the future after accepting my resignation, I got back in touch with the agency. The chap I worked with at the agency (who had now also found out about my past) had promised me that in this eventuality, he would help me find more temp work. However I now haven’t heard from him in days. The same goes for the other agency who I clearly alienated by taking the permanent job over their temp one. Safe to say next time I will most likely put something in the criminal record declaration part of the application form.

I am tired and frustrated and back to square one. Luckily I still have some menial shifts at a restaurant. It’s back to hard work, anti-social hours, little pay, peeling hands and greasy skin. However this set back is not driving me back to wanton oblivion and abandonment of hope, such as set me back all the other times in my life. I have a nice girl who seems to like me for who I am, and a job at least, regardless of its mind-numbing dead-endedness. All I can do is persevere. Persevere and hope that it pays off.

By Valerie (name changed to protect identity)

Rehabilitation, Rejection and Resilience

by Simon

 

I was very pleased to find out that the reforms to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1974) will apply from 10th March. I was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment in March 2004, and thought that I would have to declare my criminal conviction for life but, given the changes, my conviction will now become ‘spent’ – 7 years after my Sentence Expiry Date.

I’ll outline some of the mixed experiences I’ve had, and reactions I’ve faced, when declaring my conviction. Some will resonate with you and some might help prepare others for the challenges ahead.

Initially, I was lucky and did not encounter many barriers to resettlement. A friend offered me labouring work during the day and my old school, who were aware of my imprisonment, gave me cleaning work in the evenings. Seen together, these opportunities – and that’s how they had to be viewed – helped both financially and by providing a routine that kept me busy. Crucially, though, this meant that I didn’t have to run the gauntlet of potential rejection from employers. I wondered how, with such a fragile self-esteem, and having just left prison, I would have coped with further alienation.

After about 18 months my friend could no longer provide any work and the evening job became too much, so I found myself seeking other employment. I went for a ‘front of house’ position in a local café. As I filled the application form out with the manager sat opposite, I saw the dreaded ‘Do you have a criminal record?’ question. I lied and put ‘no.’ I reasoned that it was just a cafe job, and ‘they wouldn’t even begin to understand, if I told them.’ I needed that job.

This lie did not come back and bite me, but that is not the point. My family brought me up to be open and honest – and those are values that I hold dear in principle – but, in practice, and in the heat of the moment, I couldn’t face what I assumed would be a rejection, so I did not tell the truth.

Whilst I would always advocate honesty about a criminal past, I now have an insight and an understanding into why some people decide not to declare. Is it a dishonest nature, an assumption of a bad outcome or a fear of the hurt caused by yet another rejection that can drive certain behaviours?

I left the cafe with my dark secret undiscovered and, luckily, another friend then provided work in a warehouse in Northamptonshire. As with the previous building and cleaning roles, this bypassed the need for a criminal record check and so, by the time I had finished at the warehouse in August 2008, I had held four jobs since prison and had only faced one criminal record check. I wonder whether most people are as fortunate as this?

The ideal exchange between potential employer and employee did occur, however, when I decided to return to University and I would advocate this approach, rather than the method that I adopted with the cafe. I wrote a personal statement outlining my past, in support of my application. I outlined mitigating factors to the offence, but also emphasised the positives prior to and after my imprisonment. Emphasising the good and making the bad appear smaller worked because every University that I applied to offered a place. It was re-assuring to think that people were prepared to give an ex-prisoner a second chance and that an open, upfront letter had won plaudits. It confirmed my suspicions that many people respond to a positive approach in kind.

Life has run reasonably smoothly over the last few years, but I’ve twice needed to ring UNLOCK for advice over two other CRB related incidents. In the first example, I declared my conviction on an application form for a criminology research role in the East of England. I was offered the job, despite my conviction but, later, the human resources people wanted to know more about the offence. So, I attended a second interview, which was incredibly stressful. Thankfully, the charity continued with their offer of employment but, because of the sensitive location and nature of the project, they attached certain conditions: I must not tell my colleague about my past and, for the first month, I had to sit in a separate part of the building, away from the rest of the team.

My line manager and the senior managers were, on balance, very supportive throughout and even they were not sure whether what they were doing was appropriate. I was treated differently because of my conviction and that not only hurt, it re-enforced the sense of ‘difference’ that many people with convictions feel.

In my mind, I had to take a mature approach: ‘play the game;’ be ‘squeaky clean;’ do a good job and learn from my experience.

Things worked out, but only because I communicated how I was feeling and staff kept supporting me. Not every employer and employee dynamic works like this. I feel for those who are not great communicators, feel unsupported or have poor employers. I wonder what the costs are, in psychological terms, of feeling under scrutiny because of your past, and why some people with convictions still have to go the ‘extra mile’?

The second incident is perhaps more commonplace. I signed up at a local recruitment agency, declared my conviction on the application form and was taken onto the books. However, later that day I received a phone call from the recruitment consultant who apologised stating that, at first glance, she had not noticed the tick in the convictions box. She had phoned head office and was sorry to say that I could not be employed. Company policy would not register anyone with convictions regardless of their offence. The consultant, who admittedly was toeing the party line, even said that ‘it doesn’t matter whether you are a murderer or have stolen a pack of sweets, we treat everyone the same.’ UNLOCK said that they had not broken the law but this misguided attempt at equal opportunity, or lack of it, by ‘treating everyone equally’ is not common sense or logical and is obviously an example of the attitudes that some employers hold.

Now that the reforms to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act are a reality, it feels like all the heartache was worth it. I believe if you do the right things, eventually society will do right by you – even if it hasn’t in the past. It’s important to be upfront and honest – at least you maintain your integrity, even if you don’t get that particular job.

I understand taking the moral high ground is little comfort if you’re unemployed, but definitely focus on the positives and try to make the bad stuff appear smaller and less important. Keep going and believe that someone will give you a break somewhere. Research, seek out and network with user-friendly organisations that support people with convictions and always emphasise that you are far more than an offence on a piece of paper.

Strange City, Fresh Start, New Life

G Leighphone

In 2006, after serving two years of a four year sentence for manslaughter, I found myself in a government hostel in a strange city. Within a week I registered with the local Job Centre, but every time I had to fill in the disclosure part of an application form, it was like I was writing “put me in the bin” in bright neon letters. I went to employment agencies and they couldn’t wait to get me out door.  One told me that I should come back in ten years, and then they might consider putting me on their books. Then they rapidly even escorted me out of the building; which was completely unnecessary – but more about them later.

After three months of this, I was climbing the walls. So I started working with a Job Centre worker who regularly came to the hostel. I continued to apply for jobs, but I still wasn’t even getting to the interview stage. Then I was asked if I would be interested in going on a work experience scheme run by an organisation called Business in the Community.  This is a group started, funded and run by local businesses in the city aiming to give something back to the community by helping homeless people get a step into employment by giving them work experience and so help them get that first all-important reference. I jumped at the chance. If nothing else, it would at least lift the boredom of unemployment. And, for once, my conviction was not a barrier because their focus was on the homelessness aspect. However, I was made aware that any business which gave me work experience would need to be told about my conviction, but I would have the opportunity to tell them first myself.

To begin with, we had a group meeting every week and we would work with mentors. The mentor was someone from one of the businesses who would help us to write our CV and practice interviews. My mentor was a trainee solicitor from a large law firm.

Soon we were all offered interviews with a local business. The interview was very informal, and that helped me with my nerves. It was at this interview that I told the interviewer about my conviction. She didn’t even bat an eyelid!

The interview was a success and I started I was working in the Human Resources Department. It was the first time since my conviction that I felt people saw me as a person with skills and a personality, not just a conviction. I started off doing the smaller admin jobs, but soon I was accompanying them on job interviews and typing them up. It was a huge step forward.

I ended up being on placement with them for about two months, and I had impressed them – I think mainly because I was just so enthusiastic to have something productive to do. Plus, it turned out that the agency which had told me to come back in ten years was the main agency this law firm used, and Human Resources were not happy about the way I had been treated. They phoned the agency and gave them a very posh bollocking, and said that they were going to have to look into it further as the way the agency has acted conflicted with the law firm’s diversity policies. As a result, the agency promptly put me on their books.

I went on to work in two other departments within the law firm, and I was given more and more responsibility. When my placement came to an end I didn’t want to go but, luckily, the people I had been working with didn’t want me to go either, so the management put a business plan together to produce a position for me.  I had an interview for the role, and I was hired!

Within twelve months I was awarded Newcomer of Year, plus I got promoted from Admin Clerk to Junior Legal Secretary. Three years later I was a senior secretary, and seven years later I am still at the same law firm.

The firm still employs people from the Business in the Community scheme on a regular basis, and I got to know three of them. One had an alcohol addiction, one had got involved in dealing drugs and another had lost his previous job because he had been done for assault – which led to being fired automatically. As far as I know, two of the three are still working there.

So, for anyone leaving prison, I would recommend that you find out if there is a Business in the Community programme in your area or anything similar (your local Job Centre should know), plus do consider working for nothing as you will reap the rewards later. Also, willingly accept all the help and information you can get. I would also recommend that anyone leaving prison should apply for jobs in corporate, or at least large, companies because they have employment targets for things such as diversity. And they will have a Human Resources Department which is separate from the rest of the company, so they have a more objective view; and they are more educated on the implications of discrimination etc. when it comes to job applicants.

Finally, remember that nothing pays off better than showing your enthusiasm to work!

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