This is number 3 in my trilogy of Express Employment reviews. The Parsippany office rated 3 stars…read more I didn't get a job through them, but at least SOME effort was made on my behalf. The Fairfield office rated 1 star. I wasted a half tank of gas and an hour or 2 out of my life that I'll never get back.
The Hackettstown office gets 2 stars (although that's me being overly generous; in actuality, they could've been a LOT better!) from me because there's good news and bad news.
I'll start with the bad news first.
Bad news-- I wasn't really familiar with Hackettstown at the time of my appointment, and I drove for a long time on Rt. 46 before I found their office on the 2nd floor of what appeared to be just another strip mall. Inside, the staff were having a going away party for the young man whose final job in NJ was to interview me. He was a nice enough guy and was vibrantly enthused about the new life he was going to pursue in the Midwest. He interviewed me in what seemed like a sincere enough manner, had me fill out the requisite paperwork, wished me well (as I did him), and that was that. Never heard from him (or them) again. Hopefully, the unemployment situation in the Midwest isn't too bad.
Good news-- on my way home from my visit to Express Employment, on this fine spring day, I detoured through the town of Hackettstown. I stopped in the picturesque, historic Union Cemetery, shed my tie and coat, and casually walked awhile in the sunshine, alongside the babbling Musconetcong River that runs through the town (on warm summer days, you can see fishermen standing knee deep in the water fishing for the plentiful trout that populate the river), smelling the flowers and honeysuckle growing abundantly nearby, meditating on the distant blue-hued mountains, the cloudless sky above, the age old, sometimes majestic, sometimes humble monuments surrounding me. I was jobless, but I was alive and (relatively) healthy. Live in the moment, Buddha said, focus on the here and now. The past is gone; the future doesn't yet exist. Hackettstown made a definite impression on me, and I started coming here on a regular basis, to eat at its many quality restaurants, to shop in its many quirky and fascinating shops, to do my regular walking meditations in Union Cemetery and the pastoral environs of the region itself (Warren County has many parks and walking trails). It even has its own college, Centenary, which was attended by NJ native (and the object of many of my feverish adolescent dreams) Debbie Harry (she's also a fine singer as well and can even act!). And... who knows? Maybe someday I'll get my fishing license and gear and join the local fishermen as they while away their afternoons standing in the Musconetcong River, waiting for those trout to bite!
Final consensus? Hackettstown: Yay! Express Employment Professionals: Nay!
