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So far this lifetime, I've been to two interviews.
This year alone, I equalled that record, attending two interviews so far.
But this morning, I smashed that record by 50%, attending the third
interview in only one year.
This is perhaps not so surprising. What /is/ surprising is that there
seems to be a realistic possibility that they will hire me. It went like
this:
- I applied to work as a Software Developer.
- The company came back and said they really wanted an experienced C#
expert, and I don't fit that. But would I like to interview for a QA
tester instead?
- Obviously, I said yes.
- About half an hour into the interview, the guy concluded that I would
be a /terrible/ fit for the QA job, but that I have very strong
programming skills. (Well, duh.) So he starts interviewing me for the
job I originally applied for in the first place.
Much like the interviews that have gone before, the guy seemed very
impressed with my technical abilities (going as far as to say I probably
know more than him), and deeply worried that I might not be a very good
team player.
There was some discussion about the possibility of some kind of extended
trial period. I don't know if that will sway his decision.
OK, so in reality, he has hundreds more CVs still to wade through.
Obviously somebody else will be a better fit than me. But it's still
refreshing to attend an interview that /doesn't/ feel like a total
failure...
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> Much like the interviews that have gone before, the guy seemed very
> impressed with my technical abilities (going as far as to say I probably
> know more than him), and deeply worried that I might not be a very good
> team player.
Hopefully he'll realise then that you're more than capable of picking up
C# quickly and bringing fresh ideas to the company (which someone who
has programmed solely in C# for the last 5 years likely won't have).
> OK, so in reality, he has hundreds more CVs still to wade through.
It's more likely he will decide whether to offer you the job or not
before looking at any more CVs.
Good luck!
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Orchid Win7 v1 <voi### [at] dev null> wrote:
> deeply worried that I might not be a very good team player.
the bane of every geek
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On 26/09/2012 03:56 PM, scott wrote:
>> Much like the interviews that have gone before, the guy seemed very
>> impressed with my technical abilities (going as far as to say I probably
>> know more than him), and deeply worried that I might not be a very good
>> team player.
>
> Hopefully he'll realise then that you're more than capable of picking up
> C# quickly and bringing fresh ideas to the company (which someone who
> has programmed solely in C# for the last 5 years likely won't have).
Actually, he said they were specifically looking for a highly
experienced C# developer to come in and tell them what they should be
doing differently. So, the exact opposite of what I am. But hey, we'll
see what they decide...
> Good luck!
Yeah, thanks...
Suffice it to say, I wasn't expecting this interview to go well at all.
In fact, it went just about as well as realistically possible.
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> On 26/09/2012 03:56 PM, scott wrote:
>>> Much like the interviews that have gone before, the guy seemed very
>>> impressed with my technical abilities (going as far as to say I probably
>>> know more than him), and deeply worried that I might not be a very good
>>> team player.
>>
>> Hopefully he'll realise then that you're more than capable of picking up
>> C# quickly and bringing fresh ideas to the company (which someone who
>> has programmed solely in C# for the last 5 years likely won't have).
>
> Actually, he said they were specifically looking for a highly
> experienced C# developer to come in and tell them what they should be
> doing differently. So, the exact opposite of what I am. But hey, we'll
> see what they decide...
>
Sometimes acting as a 3-year old and constantly asking "Why are you
doing this? Why are you doing it that way? Why? Why? Why?" can help them
see areas of possible improvement.
>> Good luck!
>
Indeed.
--
/*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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> Actually, he said they were specifically looking for a highly
> experienced C# developer to come in and tell them what they should be
> doing differently.
Well he's obviously not looking only for that, otherwise he wouldn't
have spent his time interviewing you after reading your CV.
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On 27/09/2012 08:16 AM, scott wrote:
>> Actually, he said they were specifically looking for a highly
>> experienced C# developer to come in and tell them what they should be
>> doing differently.
>
> Well he's obviously not looking only for that, otherwise he wouldn't
> have spent his time interviewing you after reading your CV.
Heh. He said that about 2 years ago they were hiring junior C# people,
and they would have totally hired me. But right now they're looking for
somebody experienced to show them the right direction.
OTOH, he also said he doesn't like to discount people just because of a
lack of commercial experience.
Basically it seems every job I go to, nobody is worried about whether I
have the technical skill, but they all assume I can't write production
code or that I can't work as part of a team. The only way I can prove to
the contrary is if I can get my foot in the door and start writing
production code as part of a team somewhere.
In summary, it looks like I need to find somebody to be the first to
take a chance on me and let me show what I can actually do. Perhaps this
company will be the one. I guess next week I find out...
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On 26/09/2012 02:17 PM, Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:
> What /is/ surprising is that there
> seems to be a realistic possibility that they will hire me.
OK, so on Tuesday the guy emailed me to say that he doesn't think I'm a
"good fit" for the role. But good luck in the future! You know, the
usual standard message.
The next day, he emails me again and says "hey, actually, there is this
*other* thing that you might be able to help us with... can I give you a
call?" So he calls me, and now it seems he wants me to come in for most
of today.
So right now, I'm just getting ready to leave the house. I'm not exactly
sure what to expect when I get there. He's talking about me meeting the
rest of the team, and perhaps the guy who pays the bills (i.e., the guy
who has to sign off on stuff), and "doing some technical stuff in the
afternoon".
There are multiple possibilities for why this is happening, most of them
not mutually-exclusive.
- They thought I was SO AMAZING that they want me back! (Hey, stop
laughing! :-P )
- They are really short of people, but the department head can't get
approval to hire even more people, so he's trying to smuggle me in the
back door.
- The department head thinks I have the right stuff, but didn't think he
could sell it to the people up top. So I'm being smuggled in.
- The department head thought I was a nice guy, so now he's trying to
create a temporary post for me to sit in.
- They have no idea whether I'd fit in or not, and they're trying to
figure that out without actually promising to employ me.
- This is all an elaborate ploy to get me to do useful work for
drastically less money.
- They just want to fuck with my head. ;-)
If anybody else has any wild conspiracy theories, you can post them here
for the group's amusement.
As for me, I got almost no sleep last night, and I now look and feel
like crap. This will surely help my efforts to impress people today.
I'll let you know how it goes...
PS. On the list of "things to not say during a job interview", I think
the phrase "one does not simply WALK into Mordor" should probably be
near the top. Honestly, I have no idea WTF I was thinking... I guess I
was just nervous. Fortunately, the interviewer thought it was fricking
hilarious.
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> On 26/09/2012 02:17 PM, Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:
>> What /is/ surprising is that there
>> seems to be a realistic possibility that they will hire me.
>
> OK, so on Tuesday the guy emailed me to say that he doesn't think I'm a
> "good fit" for the role. But good luck in the future! You know, the
> usual standard message.
>
> The next day, he emails me again and says "hey, actually, there is this
> *other* thing that you might be able to help us with... can I give you a
> call?" So he calls me, and now it seems he wants me to come in for most
> of today.
>
> So right now, I'm just getting ready to leave the house. I'm not exactly
> sure what to expect when I get there. He's talking about me meeting the
> rest of the team, and perhaps the guy who pays the bills (i.e., the guy
> who has to sign off on stuff), and "doing some technical stuff in the
> afternoon".
>
> There are multiple possibilities for why this is happening, most of them
> not mutually-exclusive.
>
> - They thought I was SO AMAZING that they want me back! (Hey, stop
> laughing! :-P )
>
> - They are really short of people, but the department head can't get
> approval to hire even more people, so he's trying to smuggle me in the
> back door.
>
> - The department head thinks I have the right stuff, but didn't think he
> could sell it to the people up top. So I'm being smuggled in.
>
> - The department head thought I was a nice guy, so now he's trying to
> create a temporary post for me to sit in.
>
> - They have no idea whether I'd fit in or not, and they're trying to
> figure that out without actually promising to employ me.
>
> - This is all an elaborate ploy to get me to do useful work for
> drastically less money.
>
> - They just want to fuck with my head. ;-)
>
> If anybody else has any wild conspiracy theories, you can post them here
> for the group's amusement.
They want to harvest your organs and sell them on the black market or as
a food delicacy on Tau Ceti IV.
>
> As for me, I got almost no sleep last night, and I now look and feel
> like crap. This will surely help my efforts to impress people today.
> I'll let you know how it goes...
>
> PS. On the list of "things to not say during a job interview", I think
> the phrase "one does not simply WALK into Mordor" should probably be
> near the top. Honestly, I have no idea WTF I was thinking... I guess I
> was just nervous. Fortunately, the interviewer thought it was fricking
> hilarious.
Don't worry about it. The Venn diagram of IT personnel and LOTR fans
almost looks like the Japanese flag. That was a safe thing to say, and
simply shows you have a sense of humour, even in stresfull situations.
--
/*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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On Fri, 05 Oct 2012 10:30:24 +0100, Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:
> The next day, he emails me again and says "hey, actually, there is this
> *other* thing that you might be able to help us with... can I give you a
> call?" So he calls me, and now it seems he wants me to come in for most
> of today.
Break a leg! ;)
Jim
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