Interviews
I had a job interview today, as you well know, at ScrapbookingCompany. The nice thing about this job is that it's for a development position. Being a (relatively) small IT department — all internal — I figured that I had a really good chance for the position. I'm not sure that it is a position that I would love, but it would get me a bit closer to a place I want to be, namely: development. There are lots of reasons I want to be in development, not the least impressive of which is the money.
ScrapbookingCompany is roughly an hour away from my office, allowing time for traffic and changing into my suit in the washroom of some gas station. However, I missed my exit and had to back track about 5-10 miles. Which doesn't sound like a lot, but when you're pushing time, that adds between 10 and 20 minutes. In the end I had to change in a church parking lot. Thank goodness the van has dark tinted windows!
The interview itself was going well until the man I was talking with asked me how I would feel about being pigeon-holed into doing reports. My job before BigNameCompany was doing reports. Lots and lots and lots of reports. I told him, honestly, that I had done it for 3 years, I am really skilled at it, but it is not something that I want to do long-term again. I think that cost me the interview, which is perfectly fine. Actually, as the words were coming out of my mouth my brain was saying: "This is a good thing. It's actually best to be perfectly honest, even if it means throwing away the interview. You want to be happy with where ever you end up working, and 'fudging' your way through the interview to get a job offer isn't going to make you any more happy with the job." I'm glad I listened to my brain. The interviewer said that I should hear back from someone probably by next Monday if all goes well, for the next step in the interview process. Honestly, I don't see why they need the steps they have in place. I had one interview with BigNameCompany and with ConsultingShop and we know where those got me.
It turns out that their process is this: one-on-one screening (what I did today), a technical interview (3-4 developers sit around and ask questions), and then a panel of about 7-10 people. Why on earth does an internal IT department need that kind of screening? It's not like they're a front for the FBI or something! Sheesh!
Before I left for that meeting, however, I told my boss that I was not going to be in on Friday. His response? "Congratulations." I chose to not respond to that, instead I looked at him quizzically and said, "I'll be back in on Monday." He asked me to email him a reminder, so I did just that. Later, when he had made it back to his office, he sent me a reply to that email. The final line was "Good luck with your interview. ;)" What the heck!? Well, he knows, and there is no way around it, so I'm not going to lie. I'm also not going to flaunt it. I mean, if I were in his position and were suspecting something like that may be taking place I'd probably do the same thing to flush out the information I wanted to know. I'm sure that's exactly what he's doing here. So, mum's the word.
ScrapbookingCompany is roughly an hour away from my office, allowing time for traffic and changing into my suit in the washroom of some gas station. However, I missed my exit and had to back track about 5-10 miles. Which doesn't sound like a lot, but when you're pushing time, that adds between 10 and 20 minutes. In the end I had to change in a church parking lot. Thank goodness the van has dark tinted windows!
The interview itself was going well until the man I was talking with asked me how I would feel about being pigeon-holed into doing reports. My job before BigNameCompany was doing reports. Lots and lots and lots of reports. I told him, honestly, that I had done it for 3 years, I am really skilled at it, but it is not something that I want to do long-term again. I think that cost me the interview, which is perfectly fine. Actually, as the words were coming out of my mouth my brain was saying: "This is a good thing. It's actually best to be perfectly honest, even if it means throwing away the interview. You want to be happy with where ever you end up working, and 'fudging' your way through the interview to get a job offer isn't going to make you any more happy with the job." I'm glad I listened to my brain. The interviewer said that I should hear back from someone probably by next Monday if all goes well, for the next step in the interview process. Honestly, I don't see why they need the steps they have in place. I had one interview with BigNameCompany and with ConsultingShop and we know where those got me.
It turns out that their process is this: one-on-one screening (what I did today), a technical interview (3-4 developers sit around and ask questions), and then a panel of about 7-10 people. Why on earth does an internal IT department need that kind of screening? It's not like they're a front for the FBI or something! Sheesh!
Before I left for that meeting, however, I told my boss that I was not going to be in on Friday. His response? "Congratulations." I chose to not respond to that, instead I looked at him quizzically and said, "I'll be back in on Monday." He asked me to email him a reminder, so I did just that. Later, when he had made it back to his office, he sent me a reply to that email. The final line was "Good luck with your interview. ;)" What the heck!? Well, he knows, and there is no way around it, so I'm not going to lie. I'm also not going to flaunt it. I mean, if I were in his position and were suspecting something like that may be taking place I'd probably do the same thing to flush out the information I wanted to know. I'm sure that's exactly what he's doing here. So, mum's the word.
posted by granola girl at 9:17 pm
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