> On 31/08/2012 07:01 PM, Francois Labreque wrote:
>> As one of my teachers used to say: "You don't need to remember all of
>> this stuff [he was talking about various heat transfer differential
>> equations]... You just need to remember in which book you read it!"
>
> Sure. But if you don't even know what the hell a differential equation
> /is/...

Which was the point I was making in the previous paragraph.


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/*Francois Labreque*/#local a=x+y;#local b=x+a;#local c=a+b;#macro P(F//
/*    flabreque    */L)polygon{5,F,F+z,L+z,L,F pigment{rgb 9}}#end union
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On 29/08/2012 12:08 PM, Invisible wrote:
> OK, so last week I had a call about a possible job in Oxford. That's a
> bit of a long way, but it's shorter than my current commute.

Actually, it turns out it's only 5 miles shorter. On the other hand, I 
tried driving over there to see if I could find the place, and even at 
3pm almost all of the roads along the route were absolutely wedged 
solid. And this isn't even rush hour. It took almost 2 hours to get 
there - twice my current commute time. Oh, and once you get there, there 
is NO parking anywhere. The ONLY way to park is to use the lame-ass 
"park and ride" system.

Clearly I will not be looking at any further jobs in Oxford. The journey 
is just insane. I got stuck at one singe junction for 20 minute 
straight. This is at 3pm on a Friday afternoon. I hate to imagine what 
rush hour is like. (!)

> On Friday, I got a call to say that first I have to pass a test. On
> VB.Net, of all things. So, uh, yeah... That's totally going to work out
> then! :-P

OK, well, the job spec clearly says they're looking for a VB programmer. 
I have never done any VB coding (as a cursory glance at my CV will 
readily confirm).

Firstly, this raises the interesting question "why the hell are they 
even interviewing me?" Especially given how badly I did with the test 
they sent. Presumably the purpose of a test is to weed out the people 
who are completely unsuitable, so they can concentrate on the people who 
show at least a minimal aptitude for the work.

An equally valid question - and one which I fully expect that they will 
ask me - is why the /hell/ I'm applying for a VB job when I know nothing 
about VB. (!)

The truthful answer, obviously, is that I went through the jobs list and 
applied for almost every single job in sight, without really paying much 
attention to the action specification. I took this approach under the 
(perfectly reasonable and subsequently confirmed) assumption that almost 
nobody I applied to would even bother to reply to me. I applied for this 
job thinking "what's the worst that can happen?" It turns out, the worst 
that can happen is that you get interviewed for a job you're not really 
interested in, and not skilled for.

(If this were C#, I would be interested. I can probably learn that 
fairly easily. Hell, I've already started. But VB is just a bit too 
crappy for my taste...)

None of this is stuff you want to say in a formal interview. So the 
question is... what the heck am I going to tell these guys? They're 
offering a job that's almost impossible to commute to, coding in a 
language I dislike. So why the heck did I apply?

Sometimes I think maybe I'm not really cut out to be a sentient human 
being...

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On Sun, 02 Sep 2012 20:52:19 +0100, Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:

> None of this is stuff you want to say in a formal interview. So the
> question is... what the heck am I going to tell these guys?

You do the interview and see if perhaps there's something closer to what 
you're looking for - that may be why they asked you in anyways - and if 
it doesn't look like a good fit, you thank them for their time and leave.

You don't need to say anything beyond that.

Jim

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On 9/2/2012 12:52, Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:
> is at 3pm on a Friday afternoon. I hate to imagine what rush hour is like. (!)

Around here, 3PM on a friday afternoon is the most rushing of rush hour. By 
5PM, everyone has already left early for the day.

> None of this is stuff you want to say in a formal interview. So the question
> is... what the heck am I going to tell these guys? They're offering a job
> that's almost impossible to commute to, coding in a language I dislike. So
> why the heck did I apply?

They won't ask you why you applied. If they do, tell them "because I'm 
interested in learning new things and I am confident I can do the job." Let 
them make an offer before you turn it down.

-- 
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   "Oh no! We're out of code juice!"
   "Don't panic. There's beans and filters
    in the cabinet."

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On 02/09/2012 8:52 PM, Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:
>
> OK, well, the job spec clearly says they're looking for a VB programmer.
> I have never done any VB coding (as a cursory glance at my CV will
> readily confirm).
>
> Firstly, this raises the interesting question "why the hell are they
> even interviewing me?"

A legitimate question to ask but not in those terms.

-- 
Regards
     Stephen

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On 02/09/2012 08:52 PM, Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:
> Clearly I will not be looking at any further jobs in Oxford. The journey
> is just insane. I got stuck at one singe junction for 20 minute
> straight. This is at 3pm on a Friday afternoon. I hate to imagine what
> rush hour is like. (!)

Weirdly, at 9:30 in the morning, it's apparently pretty deserted. How odd...

Consequently, I arrived almost an hour early. (Still, arriving almost an 
hour late would be way, way worse!)

Surprisingly, the interview actually seemed to go fairly well - although 
I doubt they'll be offering me the job anytime soon. And honestly, would 
I really /want/ to continue driving nearly 100 miles per day? Plus 
they're talking about working 8am to 6pm (rather than the usual 9 to 5), 
plus most weekends. On top of that, it's VB... Really, this job has 
quite a number of things against it.



Undeniably the /worst/ part, though, was getting home again.

I made the stupid mistake of trying to actually use the "park and ride" 
system that the signs scream about every 200 yards or so. The idea is 
that instead of driving into Oxford, where there is NO parking ANYWHERE, 
instead you park in a giant field several miles outside Oxford, and then 
get the bus into Oxford itself.

This part worked just fine. The problem happens when you try to get the 
bus BACK to your car! You see, the trouble is, of all the dozens of bus 
stops littered around the place, ZERO of them are for buses that go back 
to the car park. There are stops for buses going to Banbury, Witney, 
Woodstock, Kiddlington, Islip, but NOTHING going to the ****ing car 
park! >_<

Consequently, I had to WALK back to my car. (Google Maps informs me that 
this is approximately 3 miles.) Perhaps most frustrating of all, a 
God-damned SAW several 300 buses go right past me. I just couldn't find 
ANY bus stops where the 300 actually stops. Instead, I trudged on and 
on, in unbearable summer heat, wearing my best new suit and my shiny 
office shoes that gave me blisters. And all because Oxford city council 
can't be ****ing bothered to provide a park and ride service that 
****ing works!

I have a damned good mind to demand my money back for my return ticket, 
since I was clearly unable to actually GET a return trip. :-P

I do not find it funny that I had to walk down the side of a high-speed 
4-lane road, being narrowly missed by thundering juggernauts, because of 
their stupidity. Even when I GOT to the car park, there's no way of 
actually CROSSING the road short of just playing chicken with the 
oncoming heavy goods traffic. I could have been killed!

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> Firstly, this raises the interesting question "why the hell are they
> even interviewing me?" Especially given how badly I did with the test
> they sent. Presumably the purpose of a test is to weed out the people
> who are completely unsuitable, so they can concentrate on the people who
> show at least a minimal aptitude for the work.
>

Possible answer #1:  You still did better than any other candidate.
Possible answer #2:  The questions you left blank were "traps" to weed 
out the BSers (I had a few questions like that when I was interviewing 
people).  By leaving them blank it showed them you weren't trying to 
show off.
Possible answer #3:  "Bob, this guy is not qualified for my position, 
but he would clearly be a good candidtate for you!  You should check him 
out"  I've done that with many CVs that were sent to me, and have also 
received a few people that were initially interviewed by other depts.


> None of this is stuff you want to say in a formal interview. So the
> question is... what the heck am I going to tell these guys? They're
> offering a job that's almost impossible to commute to, coding in a
> language I dislike. So why the heck did I apply?
>

Andy needs food.  Badly.

(Bonus points if you get the reference)

-- 
/*Francois Labreque*/#local a=x+y;#local b=x+a;#local c=a+b;#macro P(F//
/*    flabreque    */L)polygon{5,F,F+z,L+z,L,F pigment{rgb 9}}#end union
/*        @        */{P(0,a)P(a,b)P(b,c)P(2*a,2*b)P(2*b,b+c)P(b+c,<2,3>)
/*   gmail.com     */}camera{orthographic location<6,1.25,-6>look_at a }

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Am 04.09.2012 15:19, schrieb Orchid Win7 v1:

> Consequently, I had to WALK back to my car. (Google Maps informs me that
> this is approximately 3 miles.) Perhaps most frustrating of all, a
> God-damned SAW several 300 buses go right past me. I just couldn't find
> ANY bus stops where the 300 actually stops. Instead, I trudged on and
> on, in unbearable summer heat, wearing my best new suit and my shiny
> office shoes that gave me blisters. And all because Oxford city council
> can't be ****ing bothered to provide a park and ride service that
> ****ing works!

http://www.oxfordbus.co.uk/main.php?page_id=61
http://www.oxfordbus.co.uk/main.php?page_id=62

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Am 04.09.2012 15:19, schrieb Orchid Win7 v1:

> Surprisingly, the interview actually seemed to go fairly well - although
> I doubt they'll be offering me the job anytime soon. And honestly, would
> I really /want/ to continue driving nearly 100 miles per day? Plus
> they're talking about working 8am to 6pm (rather than the usual 9 to 5),
> plus most weekends. On top of that, it's VB... Really, this job has
> quite a number of things against it.

What? 10 hours (including breaks) a day AND most weekends? What is this? 
An 18th century factory job?

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On 04/09/2012 02:45 PM, clipka wrote:
> Am 04.09.2012 15:19, schrieb Orchid Win7 v1:
>
>> Consequently, I had to WALK back to my car. (Google Maps informs me that
>> this is approximately 3 miles.) Perhaps most frustrating of all, a
>> God-damned SAW several 300 buses go right past me. I just couldn't find
>> ANY bus stops where the 300 actually stops. Instead, I trudged on and
>> on, in unbearable summer heat, wearing my best new suit and my shiny
>> office shoes that gave me blisters. And all because Oxford city council
>> can't be ****ing bothered to provide a park and ride service that
>> ****ing works!
>
> http://www.oxfordbus.co.uk/main.php?page_id=61

Wait - so you can only get ON the bus if you walk 5 miles into the 
center of the city first?! WTF?

(The stop I got off at is outside the area shown on the map.)

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