The Test

It was a weird week... full of whispered conversations and just general weirdness. I think that they don't believe I am doing any work. I say this partly because bossman has now decided that he needs me to pull a rabbit out of my ass and be able to collect many thousands of dollars owed by month end, I am to report to him about 40 accounts on Monday afternoon.

Interestingly, I am fairly unconcerned about this. If I pass the "test", I pass. Yay. If I don't... then they let me go? I've been waiting for that to happen since my first week on the job so every time one of the bosses wants to talk to me, I am prepared for them to be telling me it's my last day, clean out your desk, etc. When that isn't what they say, I am a little amazed and end up pretty nonplussed by whatever it was that they wanted to talk to me about.

The thing is, if I don't collect the money, it's not a failing on my part. Many of the accounts are 200-300+ days past due. There are issues well beyond the scope of what it is possible for me to fix. I haven't the authority to address 97% of the issues at hand. (Customer unsatisfied with work done, customer doesn't have purchase order, customer believes the service was a warranty covered item...) There have been some accounts where the person I get in touch with has simply never seen a copy of an invoice (whether this is true, I have no idea... the fact that when I send them invoices, they pay them is a pretty good indication to me that they really hadn't ever received it) or maybe there is a new person in the position. I send what they request, they cut a check. But... when you need to collect a quarter million dollars and all I am able to collect is $500-2000 because the really big outstanding amounts belong to another department and I have been told in no uncertain terms that I am NOT to call those customers, what I do tends to look a little inadequate.

I've heard no more about the opportunity that was on the table earlier in the week so I will assume that they have decided to go another direction with it.

But I should probably be proactive and start looking again. Just in case I fail the 'test'.