I'd like for Rob Neyer and Keither Hernandez to weigh on on this.

This warms my heart.

Nice marketing move. I've only worked on the fringes of the sports world, but I've seen enough to know that teams and organizations are pretty ruthless about exploiting people's willingness to work for them and the middle-aged middle managers who studied history who act as if having an MBA today isn't good enough for that 30K a year job are infuriating.

I think the baseball people in an organization would love this, but it's so insulated from the marketing side now that they probably can't do much for her.

I don't know how this whole thing goes, but I've known a couple of young guys who were agents to barely-prospect athletes trying to hang on in low-level competition. They tended to piggyback their efforts on some other job, but they were working in sports and who knows what happens on your 100th call of the week?

It was pretty lame for the Padres to use their rejection list as a marketing list for some event. I probably wouldn't have responded this way but I don't blame this lady for being really irritated at them. She looks immature, but the Padres look worse IMO.

Those "work in sports" job fairs and seminars are shameless ripoffs. There's nothing anyone can learn in one of these $500 seminars that they couldn't learn from a couple free articles online, or maybe a $3 e-book.

The "suck my dick" portion of the letter is fine. Immature, bridge burning, etc., but basically justified by the context. The Padres hitting her up for a $500 job fair is pretty low rent, and considering all the frustration involved in the job search these days, I understand ripping off an angry email telling the Padres just exactly how crummy their behavior was.

The final paragraph is really whiny, however. It takes the email from "I'm pissed at you for asking for money I don't have" to "I'm pissed at you for not hiring me." I understand the frustration, believe me, but there are #### tons of qualified, educated people out there who can't get anything more than anonymous rejection letters. That entire spiel lessens the effectiveness of the first couple paragraphs.

That entire spiel lessens the effectiveness of the first couple paragraphs.

Agreed, especially because the recitation of her resume is in classic cover letter puffery style.

That's not fair. I'm sure she oversaw the execution of MANY international events.

I dunno. After I applied to a spot 28 times and didn't get a job, I dunno if I'd try a 29th or 30th time.

I think the baseball people in an organization would love this, but it's so insulated from the marketing side now that they probably can't do much for her.

Of course they would. Baseball ops seems to be more meritocratic, or at least an industry where paying your dues should eventually lead to something. The corporate side of sports is basically who is the bestest friend of somebody else who will work the cheapest.

Disagree with CFBF and PF. If you're going to not just burn your bridge but blow it to smithereens, may as well make it a litany of why you feel they screwed up on every level. Just because it sounds like whining doesn't necessarily make it any less the truth.


The corporate side of sports is basically who is the bestest friend of somebody else who will work the cheapest.

Not just sports.

Sign me up with #7. The Padres really didn't cover themselves with glory here, but whining about not getting a MLB job despite having interned at MLS AND volunteered to pick up trash at your local minor league park as a kid is pretty pathetic.

I agree with #7.

Was it my extensive education that made me less of a fit, that now paying $500 will allow me to overcome? My graduate work in sports commerce? Being a law student, working toward becoming an agent?

She's apparently a college graduate who is "working on a graduate degree in sports management from the University of Memphis"* and dropped out of law school at California Western School of Law. Yes, it must have been the extensive education that overqualified her. I mean, she was almost an agent!

* but seemingly not working too hard on it, since she moved to San Diego and tried out law school.

But does she have big tits?

Disagree with CFBF and PF. If you're going to not just burn your bridge but blow it to smithereens, may as well make it a litany of why you feel they screwed up on every level. Just because it sounds like whining doesn't necessarily make it any less the truth.

What's the "truth" here? Maybe the Padres always had better candidates and lots of them. Maybe her experience (which was, again, couched in vague and ugly resume terms like "experience overseeing the execution of") wasn't good enough.

(Now I'm actually reading the article, which has a lot of extra detail.)

I think they probably did have better candidates for the good jobs she was applying to at first. She didn't go to a good school (despite "extensive education"), and her major wasn't applicable. The girl "volunteered" at a minor league team fifteen years before applying to this job ... that is a cute detail but not qualification for anything.

And then she started applying to crappy jobs, taking tickets and such, and she probably was overqualified. I had the post-college experience of being rejected from working at places like Ikea and Borders, and those places were right not to hire me, because even though I'm smart and wouldn't need much training I would've putting in my notice as soon as I was able.

But with all that said, I am nitpicking, just agreeing that the resume-recounting portion of the letter made it a little bit weaker. I still think that the big FU was awesome, and I wouldn't be surprised if someone offers her a job just because they like her moxie.

But does she have big tits?

I will not comment on Ms. Meyer's physique, but anybody hoping to dismiss this with "She's probably fat and ugly anyway" is in for some disappointment.

To the naysayers: c'mon, this letter is awesome. Who cares if she quickly ran through the reasons she felt like she had a decent resume? Their offer to her ("pay us $500 for the opportunity to not get a job!") was an insulting swindle, and her response was golden.

Actually, this is over a week old -- I'm surprised it took this long to get posted here on Primer.

She was presented an opportunity to network with potential employers, at a price she couldn't afford or that she thought was too high, for the value; a simple no thanks, or no response, would have sufficed.

Do we know how her response became public? Did she publish it? If she did, I suspect an effort to get notariety by her clever retort, which I do not find clever at all.

Do we know how her response became public? Did she publish it? If she did, I suspect an effort to get notariety by her clever retort, which I do not find clever at all.

According to Deadspin someone in the Padres' front office forwarded it to a friend with another team and it quickly spread throughout the various leagues. I assume a member of one of those front offices leaked it to DS.

Do we know how her response became public? Did she publish it? If she did, I suspect an effort to get notariety by her clever retort, which I do not find clever at all.

Yes, we know how it became public -- it's in the linked Deadspin article. Someone in the Padres sales office thought it was amazing in its own way and forwarded it to a friend in another FO; from there it's made its way to inboxes at the FOs of various U.S. professional sports franchises around the country. Deadspin points out that, according to the copy they received, by August 9th it had already been sent to people in the Nationals, Orioles, Yankees, Diamondbacks, Astros, Red Sox, Cubs, and Mets...and that's just the MLB teams (it also went out to several NFL and minor league baseball teams, among others).

She had nothing to do with it going viral, though as she says in the article linked in #16, she thanks the Padres for forwarding it around, as it's led to a bunch of new leads. Which is pretty cool.

Well, christ--she completely buried and underemphasized her main qualification for working with the Pads: her work with minor league baseball teams since age 15. No wonder she didn't get hired.

She was presented an opportunity to network with potential employers, at a price she couldn't afford or that she thought was too high, for the value; a simple no thanks, or no response, would have sufficed.

Oh, come on. A job fair is not "an opportunity to network". And $495 is quite simply a shameless example of money-grubbing at the expense of the desperate.

That being said, this email is annoying. She didn't need to complain that she was overqualified for the job, she just needed to complain about the money-grubbing job fair thing. But a lot of people seem to be impressed by it, so who cares about my nitpickng.

The girl "volunteered" at a minor league team fifteen years before applying to this job ... that is a cute detail but not qualification for anything.

And then she started applying to crappy jobs, taking tickets and such, and she probably was overqualified.

So, she's either under- or over-qualified for any job they offer?

So, she's either under- or over-qualified for any job they offer?

Maybe she just got unlucky when she was applying to the sweet spot jobs.

I will not comment on Ms. Meyer's physique, but anybody hoping to dismiss this with "She's probably fat and ugly anyway" is in for some disappointment.

From the article you linked:

she’s been offered a slew of job opportunities and even a few marriage proposals.

I'm sure both are equally worthless.

i can sympathize with her frustration, and after considering her qualifications, i can see how writing something as crazy as this is a way to get her name out there ...

i've been on both sides of this equation.

i've experienced a lot of frustration over the years trying to get my artwork noticed. i suppose if i worked at marketing myself harder, i'd see some results. but there's only so much time for that after working a full time job, and the constant rejection wears on you.

meanwhile, i'm in the process of hiring a subordinate at my fulltime job and i have to say based on that letter, i don't think i'd hire her. but it has a lot to do with how she comes off in the letter. maybe in person she might seem more like a decent colleague.

i dunno. the job market is tough. i advertised for this position early last week and got about 60 applications by the end of the day, and have gotten about 25 more without refreshing it on craigslist. folks are desperate.

I hope the Padres don't screen the fan signs too carefully.

Does anyone know if she's tried forwarding a photo to Steve Phillips?

Does anyone know if she's tried forwarding a photo to Steve Phillips?

No, if you look at the picture, she's not fat and ugly.

Does anyone know if she's tried forwarding a photo to Steve Phillips?

Is Coco Crisp still looking for a personal assistant? Maybe Harold Reynolds can help her out.

...but seriously, did the Pods forward this to get her blackballed?

No, if you look at the picture, she's not fat and ugly.

I sincerely do not understand you human beings.

She was presented an opportunity to network with potential employers, at a price she couldn't afford or that she thought was too high, for the value; a simple no thanks, or no response, would have sufficed.

They attempted to scam her out of $500, what an "opportunity". You sound like someone who spends their days on the phone selling multi-level marketing "opportunities".

Do we know how her response became public? Did she publish it? If she did, I suspect an effort to get notariety by her clever retort, which I do not find clever at all.

Who cares what you think, Captain StuffeyShirt? Her letter is likely to get her a slew of interviews, and is likely her best route to an MLB job. Even if most employers are turned off by her response or language, there will be more than a few intrigued by her willingness to speak honestly and openly to a potential employer. Maybe where you work you think getting ahead means telling your boss they are always right, but th best organizations prosper because employees are rewarded, not punished, for speaking their minds.

As a CEO and a division head, I despised anyone who wouldn't speak honestly to me or who would intimidate any employee from giving their honest opinion.

The real question is why the Padres organization would risk sullying their reputation for a a few shekels. Hopefully this leads to firing of the manager who approved this event.

Padres dodged a bullet here. Not sure why she didn't get a look see with all the qualifications on here resume. But not knowing the quality of the competing resumes, it's tough to say. But if I were the person responsible to make the hire, after seeing that letter, and reading more about her, no way I would take the risk. There just seems to be "issues" there.

But if I were the person responsible to make the hire, after seeing that letter, and reading more about her, no way I would take the risk. There just seems to be "issues" there.

I liked her a lot more before I read that she "recently finished [her] memoir" and is pitching it to agents.

I missed the part about her memoir, but this struck me as weird too:

"A few years ago I wrote a children's book to raise money for pediatric cancer," Meyer says. (That book is available at her website.) "I partnered with the American Cancer Society for a fundraiser and no one gave me the time of day. It took me one year to finish and about $1000 out-of-pocket in addition to all the time.

if this is true FTFA, it beats all the other issues being discussed here:

"The viral letter has already opened doors for future job opportunities — she is still going through emails and contacting those who reached out to her. But perhaps the best thing that has come out of this experience, Meyer says, is that the children’s book she wrote two years ago for a pediatric cancer patient is finally getting attention.

“People are ordering it through Amazon.com and donating it to hospitals, churches and schools,” Meyer said. “It’s kind of sad that a snarky email that took me 15 minutes to write gained international attention in a week, while a book I wrote to empower children got no attention — even after partnering with the American Cancer Society for a signing and fundraiser.” "

“People are ordering it through Amazon.com and donating it to hospitals, churches and schools,” Meyer said. “It’s kind of sad that a snarky email that took me 15 minutes to write gained international attention in a week, while a book I wrote to empower children got no attention — even after partnering with the American Cancer Society for a signing and fundraiser.” "

So either
1. People who read the Padres article then looked up "Taylor Grey Mayer," and then followed a link to "Taylor Grey" on Amazon, and then read about this book, and then bought it, and then donated it, and this has happened a lot in the short time since this story came out;
or 2. Taylor Grey Mayer knows something about how search engines work.

The book itself is a real thing, I'm pleased to say.

What a weird story. Actual Major League Baseball organizations take the time to bilk people at $500 a pop for a fake job fair? I mean I understand exploiting a community's fandom to get a free stadium but even at this micro level they are still trying to get over. I wouldn't have guessed it, but I guess I'm not surprised.

Who cares what you think, Captain StuffeyShirt? Her letter is likely to get her a slew of interviews, and is likely her best route to an MLB job. Even if most employers are turned off by her response or language, there will be more than a few intrigued by her willingness to speak honestly and openly to a potential employer. Maybe where you work you think getting ahead means telling your boss they are always right, but th best organizations prosper because employees are rewarded, not punished, for speaking their minds.

As a CEO and a division head, I despised anyone who wouldn't speak honestly to me or who would intimidate any employee from giving their honest opinion.

I wish there were more like you --

Unfortunately, this sort of thinking is very rare. Sure, there's a line between being a pain in the ass and constructive disagreement and/or criticism - but in my experience, most executives blur it far too far towards 'comity'.

Especially in large organizations, critical thinking takes a back seat to happy talk.

Padres dodged a bullet here. Not sure why she didn't get a look see with all the qualifications on here resume. But not knowing the quality of the competing resumes, it's tough to say. But if I were the person responsible to make the hire, after seeing that letter, and reading more about her, no way I would take the risk. There just seems to be "issues" there.

I suppose there's an element of unprofessionalism in the response - but then, I think using pro forma applicant rejections to sell a $500 scam is at least as unprofessional... and the Padres fired the first shot here. I suppose "suck my dick" isn't something I could ever see a direct report using to respond to any given situation, but at the same time - I have zero problem with anyone reporting to me calling ######## when ######## ought to be called. I don't want drones and I don't want kiss asses. I want people who think critically and aren't afraid to call out nonsense for what it is.

Again, I get that there's a line between making that point diplomatically -- but sometimes you don't get more flies with honey than vinegar. I've been in plenty of situations where far too much time and far too many resources are wasted because the point being made diplomatically falls on deaf ears. Sometimes, it's perfectly appropriate to pound the table and colorfully make the point in way that sticks.

My rule of thumb in such situations with my own direct reports come down to two simple things: Most importantly, were you right; and secondly, did you at least try to make the point diplomatically first.

Of course, I also try to make clear in such situations that while I prefer candor to complacent acceptance of bad ideas/decisions/etc - it can be a career stunting action.

From time to time, I hire people. I hire them in a ridiculously competitive field where I know several qualified candidates (in terms of education and on-the-job experience) for each position will get rejected -- most without even getting an interview. This leads to inevitable -- and occasionally voiced -- frustration on the part of the applicants. Some labor markets are cruel, not due to the whims of the employer.

With that in mind, I loved her email. Companies who try to scam applicants out of their money deserve to be spoken to that way. Is John Moores hurting so badly from his divorce that he's trying to milk every possible dollar out of the Padres before he finally pockets the cash the O'Malley group is throwing his way? Given his abysmal taste in hairpieces, my guess is he may need walking around money.

What a weird story. Actual Major League Baseball organizations take the time to bilk people at $500 a pop for a fake job fair? I mean I understand exploiting a community's fandom to get a free stadium but even at this micro level they are still trying to get over. I wouldn't have guessed it, but I guess I'm not surprised.

As a former Padres season ticket holder, I've had extensive dealings with the Padres ticket office over the years. Nothing about this story surprises me as far as the Padres trying to manipulate people for a few extra bucks. Petco Park is a nice park as far as the field goes - the way the fans are treated, however, is truly abysmal.

For example:

1)This is the team that tried starting a "Founder's Club" for season ticket orders when Petco Park first opened. There were various levels - $5K, $7K or $10K would get you access to purchase various levels of tickets. These weren't the ticket prices, mind you - these were fees being charged just to get the rights to purchase tickets. This didn't last long as the fan base lambasted the team quite vocally about this. And the team was actually surprised at the fans' reaction.

2)Toyota Terrace is an exclusive part of Petco Park where everything is pricier - tickets, restaurants, the whole shebang. And, yes, the employees working there are not at all shy about letting you know that the fatter your wallet is, the better person they think you are. After all, only certain people deserve to be there.

3)When Petco Park first opened, the Omni hotel next door had a ramp going directly across to a gate at the park on an upper level. It was way faster to go in to the park through the Omni and the ramp than to go through the regular gates and since my seats were on the upper level anyways this was quite convenient. It was also much faster to take the ramp getting out of the park to the trolley station going home. This lasted about 2 or 3 years I guess. Then the Padres announced that only guests of the hotel - please provide some evidence that you're staying there (ahem, shall we say - that you can afford to stay there) - would be allowed to use the ramp. Gots to keep the riff-raff out, I suppose. Then one day I was at a game not in my usual seats, but in some pricey seats as a guest of a bank I do business with. Showed my pricey ticket stub on the way out "Oh, but of course you can use the special ramp."

4)Then there is the absurdly expensive excrement that gets passed off as ballpark food. Now, I realize a lot of other parks also have lousy food but at least some places have a sense of atmosphere to make up for it. If you go to Wrigley you can have a blast out on Waveland or other streets right outside the park. If you go to Fenway there are all kinds of vendors on Lansdowne right outside the park where you can get better eats to smuggle in to the game than what you'll find inside. And it's so much fun to be there. It has atmosphere. Petco Park doesn't have atmosphere, it has - well, I don't even know what to call it. Let's just say that fly balls aren't the only things that die in the dead air there. Yet they keep passing out surveys asking us to tell them how good the food is or how great the fan experience is. Are they kidding? Trust me, they don't really want to know what I think.

Well, I realize I've ranted on enough about this. I'm getting to sound like a grouchy old geezer so I guess the only thing missing is a good "get off my lawn!"

I've been in plenty of situations where far too much time and far too many resources are wasted because the point being made diplomatically falls on deaf ears. Sometimes, it's perfectly appropriate to pound the table and colorfully make the point in way that sticks.

OK, I had to share a true story when I saw the above line. I once had a situation where we were trying to do a system conversion at work and I wasn't feeling that it was going well. But when I tried asking my people what the issues were and what we could do to make it better, everyone was clamming up. "Oh, the conversion is going just fine." Well I knew something sounded fishy about that. Finally one guy said "Oh, that's bull****, it's not going fine, there are all kinds of problems with this." Everyone acted shocked that he had actually said that - surely he had just committed career suicide! But, once he had broken the ice, I finally got some people to speak up about what specifically was causing them trouble on this conversion and we were actually able to have a rational discussion about how to deal with the difficulties.

Eventually we got through the conversion and things got a bit smoother. Came time to write performance evaluations and the guy who had spoken up in that meeting was one of my best performers so I recommended him for a promotion and a raise to go along with it. HR (stands for "Head up Rear" as far as I'm concerned) tells me I cannot get the promotion and raise for this guy approved until I include something in his performance review about how it was totally inappropriate for him to use foul language in that one meeting. Are you kidding me? It was his outburst that was the turning point getting that meeting headed in a useful direction. But they refused to waver on the subject. No reprimand, no promotion. So I gave him a dressing down for helping the department become more productive. Go figure.

Gee, I wonder why I don't work there anymore?

Gee, I wonder why I don't work there anymore?

Which Gannett newspaper was it?

"Thank you for applying. We have had literally hundreds of applicants, so it's tough to choose someone. If you take this course that we're offering, it will likely make your resume stand out amongst the pile that we currently have and improve your chances of getting a job with us in the future."

"Go #### yourself."

"Oh, okay. Thank God there are 100 people who aren't ass-hats that we can hire to do this simple job. Have a nice day."

From time to time, I hire people. I hire them in a ridiculously competitive field where I know several qualified candidates (in terms of education and on-the-job experience) for each position will get rejected -- most without even getting an interview. This leads to inevitable -- and occasionally voiced -- frustration on the part of the applicants. Some labor markets are cruel, not due to the whims of the employer.

I think it's BETTER to get rejected without an interview. I applied for a job early last year where, after 2 rounds of interviews and a BS "personality test" I had to take that was over 100 questions, I got emailed a form-letter-rejection saying they're moving on. Now THAT pissed me right the #### off, as I had spent several hours of my life jumping through hoops for those clowns and they can't even be bothered to give me an explanation.

Rejected without an interview, meh, no harm no foul.

she’s been offered a slew of job opportunities and even a few marriage proposals.

Some men sure are stupid. She's not bad looking, but I can only imagine the debt level - 31 years old, has been working on graduate degrees for some time, incomplete law school, was trying to live off her loans. Maybe Yahoo can get a hold of her next time they want to run a horror story on the student loan bubble.

The heart wants what the heart wants.

I absolutely understand all the criticisms of this letter. I even agree with some of them, completely.

#44, though, is what causes me to find letters like this awesome.

So #41, you're suggesting that rich people get treated better then the rest of us? Well I am shocked! Next thing I hear will be that all the rich dudes mostly end up with the pretty girls...

#44, though, is what causes me to find letters like this awesome.

?

I get the, uh, "tastelessness" of the letter. I also get how annoying it is to get form letters. But I also don't really see the problem of offering interested applicants a program to train them before they start and help them get the job. Yes, it costs money. Running programs costs money, go figure.