My Very Own 'Wanna Get Away' Moment

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My Very Own 'Wanna Get Away' Moment

Fri, 03/09/2007 - 10:36 — Shelley Logan

As a blonde, I have had my share of embarrassing moments. One of my "favorites" happened while I was working as the Finance Recruiter for Southwest Airlines. On this particular day, I was interviewing candidates for the Supervisor of Corporate Accounting position, along with two of our Finance Managers, Vicki Evertson and Rani Bhandari. I stepped out into the lobby to greet my next interviewee, and there was one person sitting there waiting for an interview. "Brian?" I asked. He said "Yes." Little did I know it was the wrong Brian.

I continued upstairs, where Vicki and Rani were waiting for us in a Finance conference room. The entire time, I chatted with Brian about Southwest, the weather, and other idle chit-chat. We walked into the conference room, and I introduced Brian to Vicki and Rani. Unfortunately for me, I was still on a first-name-only basis with Brian. We then began the interview. The first questions were general ones, like: "Why are you interested in working for Southwest?"

It wasn't until I got to a specific question about Brian's resume that I felt something wasn't quite right. "Tell me about your experience at Company X." A puzzled look came across Brian's face, and I could feel the heat rising on mine.

Rani (catching on much more quickly than I did) then asked, "Are you Brian Carroll?" No, Brian said, his last name was not Carroll. And he was here to interview for a completely different job...not the Supervisor of Revenue Accounting. Oops!

After walking this Brian back to the People Department lobby, I found Brian Carroll patiently waiting for me (he had run to the restroom when I came to pick him up the first time). I apologized profusely to both Brians; introduced Brian #1 to the other Recruiter who was waiting to interview him; explained where he had been--and why--for the past 15 minutes; and hastily brought the "right" Brian up to the Finance conference room where Vicki and Rani were still laughing at my mistake.

When I called Brian Carroll back for a second interview, he said, "Are you sure you have the right guy?" I knew immediately that he would be a great addition to the Southwest Family. Brian will celebrate his fifth anniversary with Southwest in April, and we absolutely love having him (and his Fun-LUVing attitude!) on the Southwest Team...and I am no longer in Recruiting!

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As a point of clarification, Blog Boy was neither of the Brians mentioned above. Shelley should also point out that no Brians were injured in the writing of this post.
Blog Boy

Brian Lusk — Fri, 03/09/2007 - 15:38

How about the first interviewed Brian? Did he get hired as well?

Marcus H. — Fri, 03/09/2007 - 17:19

Shelly, Why didn't you tell them about the Co-Heart meeting we had at Celebrations with Vincent, and Julia? That was a good one...then again maybe you shouldn't. hehehe.
I think I have "wanna get away" moments daily. hmmm... if not more.

Eric H — Fri, 03/09/2007 - 18:55

Oops sorry about the Name Mispelling "Shelley" would that count as a minor Wanna get away moment considering your name is spelled out on the top.

Eric H — Fri, 03/09/2007 - 20:09

This post doesn't involve "Wanna Get Away" moments--cuz, ya know, I haven't EVER had one of those--but if any bloggers have been wondering about our friend Kim Seale, the External Blog Boy, click on over to the "Hugs" thread for an update.

Phil Willman — Fri, 03/09/2007 - 20:52

I had a feeling I might regret writing this post...thanks for reminding me of yet another 'Wanna Get Away' moment of mine, Hoovers! =)

Marcus, to be perfectly honest, I was so flustered the day of this interview that I forgot to followup on the "other" Brian. It's been over five years now, so I'm hoping he, too, is part of our SWA family!

Shelley Logan — Fri, 03/09/2007 - 21:06

Wow, after reading my oops post, I realized I misspelled misspelled. Now that's embarrasing.
Don't worry Logan, consdering we are the only ones still working at SWA from that meeting, your secret blooper is safe with me. Although... Blog Boy will soon be located in the same department as me and I may be bribed with some home brewed Candy Corn Brews.

Eric H — Fri, 03/09/2007 - 22:04

Ummmm, Eric
you also got embarrassing wrong
Blog Boy

Brian Lusk — Fri, 03/09/2007 - 23:01

Ha, ha! That's too funny; it cracks me up. :)

Leah — Fri, 03/09/2007 - 23:26

This was very interesting to read..

I wonder if the first Brian will ever see this. :D

Ingmar — Sat, 03/10/2007 - 12:58

Brian Lusk...........the online dictionary ................................. in his defense i would say that when you are typing in a blog it is quite common to have some misspelled words.. i forgive you!!!!!! A few weeks ago someone handed me a package on our ship, i signed for it. I realized that the package did not belong to me so i took it back to our main office on the ship. That part ended up getting lost and the last person to sign for it was me. even though i gave it back to the main office my name was written all over it. it turns out that this package contained an airplane part and was worth well lets just say a lot of money.. Everyone is still looking for this part... WANNA GET AWAY?? TO BE CONTINUED..

USS BLOG BOY

francisco.delgado — Sat, 03/10/2007 - 22:57

I have to say that I am sorely disappointed in SWA. I have been a member of their Rapid Rewards program for years. Now, I find I can't make Rapid Rewards reservations because there are not Rapid Rewards seats available. Sounds like Continental and American to me! What a shame. I've got two Rapid Rewards Credit Cards. Well, now that I can't get a reservation there's no sense of me using them any more. I've always been a big fan of their program. No longer!!!!!

Rose — Sun, 03/11/2007 - 03:24

I want to get away from Phoenix when it's 90 degrees in March! This Summer is going to be very hot. Maybe we will get up to 125 this year... 8)

Jeramy Brian — Sun, 03/11/2007 - 14:38

Rose,

What a shame.. I notice that everytime you blog it is something negative about Southwest Airlines. DID YOU KNOW THAT SOUTHWEST AIRLINES RAPID REWARD PROGRAM IS RANKED NUMBER ONE???? YOU GET CREDIT FOR TRIPS FLOWN NOT MILES.. NOW IF YOU ARE TRYING TO USE YOUR FREE AWARDS TO GO TO HAWAII IN JULY, WELL IT IS ALL ABOUT SUPPLY AND DEMAND. IT IS NOT SOUTHWEST FAULT THAT EVERYONE WANTS TO FLY THEM... WELL ACTUALLY IT IS. They make it affordable!!!! GOOD LUCK WITH AA AND CONTINENTAL. THEY ONLY GIVE YOU 18 MONTHS OR LESS TO USE YOUR FREE TICKET. MY LOYALTY WILL REMAIN WITH SOUTHWEST AND ITS RAPID REWARD PROGRAM..

USS BLOG BOY

francisco.delgado — Sun, 03/11/2007 - 15:24

Rose, Do you want to get away? Obviously not because you are going to try and use AA and Continental's frequent flier programs. Not only do they have black out dates but it's also harder to find frequent flier seats available on their flights than it is with Southwest's. Also, you have to fly more to earn a free ticket and you have a shorter time to use it. Southwest is the clear cut #1 when it comes to frequent flier programs. It doesen't take a genius to figure that out. 8)

Jeramy Brian — Sun, 03/11/2007 - 22:14

Jeramy Brian — Mon, 03/12/2007 - 01:33

I have heard a smiliar complaint recently by another one of our passengers on a flight. Why not allow RR members to use their RR tickets on a flight that may not go out full? Let them sit standby!!! :-)

Matt

BWI F/A

Matt D — Mon, 03/12/2007 - 03:28

Hey Rose,
I'll take those RR reward tickets off your hands!!!
I fly to Florida alot and I haven't had too many probs using them because I am flexible with my dates...
I preferred the old way too but I am not willing to give up all that SWA has to offer because they changed a policy on the RR program..
They offer the best service of any airline I have flown!! You can't find a better group of people..
I am kidding about taking your RR tickets but my point is that you won't find a better program , better service, nicer people, more flexibility or more fun on any of the other AAirlines!!
So what if you couldn't use them on that particular flight, you have them to use on a future flight and it won't cost you to use them either..
You should consider looking at that cup half full, rather than half empty...

Cindy — Mon, 03/12/2007 - 15:10

hmmm, back to our get away moments.....and job interviews!!

I'll tell you what happened to me. i was interviewing for a position (internal) and i really needed this position. not just want, but NEEDED this position. the morning of my interview, everything was running smoothly. baby fed, dressed, diaper bag packed etc. and right out the door...early! so far everything good. i was currently working a night position, and usually slept during the daytime. this day, my mom, who lived about 10 minutes from HDQ was going to watch the baby for me, and i was going to interview, and then work my shift out during they daytime so i would not have to make the drive back in. well, we get to my mom's, and i locked my car, with the keys in it. AND THE BABY IN IT!!! talk about freaking out!!! thankfully it was early in the morning and not hot. thankfully i was early arriving at mom's. thankfully the dallas fire department responded quickly with sirens and lights! thankfully my baby was just fine!!! i was a nervous wreck. i was crying and so upset for doing something so stupid. and how embarrassing (did i spell it correctly?)
I got to my interview on time, and yes, THANKFULLY, I GOT THE JOB!
What kind of a parent locks their baby in a car? Thanks again to DFD! GREAT JOB!
p.s.
thanks to all of ya'll who had great things to say about our wonderful company. and to those that don't, well, you are entitled to your opinion.
sorry you feel the way you do, and just maybe you really are in the need of a little "getaway" .

Tamra DAL MX — Wed, 03/14/2007 - 06:21

After signing the long call book......

Console - "Paco, do you know your employee number?"
Paco - "yes....it's 82500 (I'm THAT low on the totem pole)"
Console - "You put in 85254!!!!"
Paco - "Uhhhh....that's my zip code!"

DOH!

Paco Cerda — Fri, 03/16/2007 - 06:44

5 years later and I am still grateful that Shelley came back down to get me. I'm lucky that "Brian #1" didn't have any accounting experience or I'd probably still be going to work everyday dreading my job. Luckily that is not the case and I work in the best environment you can ask for. I owe it to Shelley for helping break the tension of the interview process.

Brian Carroll — Fri, 03/16/2007 - 14:19

Shelley,
As another one of your "Brian" friends, I thought I would tell my "Wanna get away" story. While working in Southwest's Retirement Benefits Dept. I spent days composing a communication piece regarding a change in our 401(k) Plan. After getting it proofed and approved, it went out to about 5,000 Employees with the wrong 800 phone number in it! Of course, the incorrect number turned out to be another business and they weren't very happy about receiving hundreds of 401(k) calls from SWA Employees tying up their phone lines!

I feel fortunate to still have my job here at SWA!

Brian Arnold — Fri, 03/16/2007 - 15:27

Brian,

It could have been worse. I remember working at a long distance company in their Loyalty department when they sent a mailer to, oh, a few THOUSAND customers with an incorrect 800 number on it. Turned out to be an "adult entertainment" number. I got an 83 year old lady on the phone who said "wow, I got this letter in the mail and called it it. What a REWARD!" I about fell out of my chair laughing.

Or the worse for me is (and this happened last night) when you get a difficult person on the phone and you want to reach out and grab them through the phone lines, then at the end of the call they ask for your name again and tell you how nice you were. ARGH!

OR (in the same call...)
Customer - "What was your name?"
Me - "Paco. P A C O."
Customer - "Oh, with a name like that, you must be VERY handsome!"
Me - "My wife would say so."
Customer - "Oh, you're married???? That's too bad."
Me - "...."

Wanna get away? I sure did!

No candy corn was harmed in this blogging.

Paco Cerda — Sat, 03/17/2007 - 06:23

My very first flight after being hired was my wanna get away moment. I was taking my four kids to the back of the plane. My son saw the seats facing each other and wanted to sit in them. I explained we were going to the back so he sees them again over the wing. As I tell him no we can't sit here he turns and see the word PULL and he does opening the emergency exit. The flight took a delay and as I was sitting in my seats trying to be invisible I got an invitation to speak with the pilot.

Mary J — Sun, 03/18/2007 - 21:53

Why is it that you can't book for a date past Aug. 24, 2007. It seems first that date has been showing for the last few weeks. Other airlines allow you to book over the 5 months that your airline olny allows. I find this aggravating and I'm about to go with Air tran since i can book my flight with them for the dates i want now. (Which is Oct 13-Oct 20. Why???

Sean Lutek — Wed, 03/21/2007 - 18:24

Hi Sean,
You must be new to the blog and welcome! Our own Bill Owen addressed your concern in two kind of recent blogs. The first http://www.blogsouthwest.com/2007/01/24/why-cant-i-make-reservations-fur... generated quite a bit of discussion, and he followed it up with http://www.blogsouthwest.com/2007/02/08/ready-set-book/. I hope they answer your questions.
Brian

Brian Lusk — Wed, 03/21/2007 - 20:57

Sorry for doing this here, but . . .

I'd love to post something on the new "More 'Wanna Get Away' Moments",
http://www.blogsouthwest.com/2007/04/05//
but I can't because the form to do so isn't there. :-(

Paul — Sun, 04/08/2007 - 03:37

GOOD FOR YOU,

Judy A. Kizziar — Mon, 09/10/2007 - 21:32

Good for you,

I am so glad you took a stand on that women with the short skirt. I am so tired of seeing these women with hardley any clothes on, looking like sluts. I am so glad you took a stand. The next time I fly I am taking your airline because of this stand.

Judy A. Kizziar — Mon, 09/10/2007 - 21:55

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