Interview With the Vam- er, the IT Guy
I pulled into the parking lot yesterday at 10 minutes to 11, right before my interview. I'd spent the night before preparing the suit and doing the research, and hadn't hit any snags until I pulled off the highway and realized my interviewer's building was located in one of those nameless industrial parks where nothing is labelled. Luckily a quick call to a friend and some google directions got me there on time.
I applied for this place last week, got an email asking for an interview the very next day, and spent all weekend worrying about it. I haven't had many interviews as you know if you've been following this journal, so it was important to me to ace this one. The night before I'd spent the time to look up the company website, the wanted ad, and any other information I could find, and take notes on it all. It turned out that the job was even more perfect than I'd hoped- the pay was great, the location was good, the work was challenging and the shift hours were pretty terrible so there was likely to be little competition. Perfect!
The interview started at the front door, which was of course locked as is the practice at all the data centers these days. I buzzed up and my interviewer of all people actually let me in. He was the team leader for the building's IT group, but since it's an IT group he was in a t-shirt and blue jeans. For some reason IT people take pride in dressing really casually on the job. I of course was in a full suit and tie, and was easily the most overdressed person in the building. You can always see new hires at these firms because they're still wearing belts and collared shirts. The more senior you get the less you care about dress codes, I guess.
Once we sat down in a back meeting room, things got started. He actually didn't ask many questions. He was explaining the nature of the work and asking whether I could handle it, and I cut in with a few questions from my notes from time to time. It's always really hard in open interviews to ask enough questions to indicate that you're paying attention and you're prepared, but not so many that you seem ignorant. I think he probably answered more than I did though. He seemed very intent on selling the company to me, which I (secretly) found amusing. Seriously employers- if you're offering good pay and hours at this point, you can have us toiling in dungeons and we'll still take the job. Regardless he seemed confident in my abilities based off the information submitted to him, which was a very nice change. He asked if I would be okay with a background check, and we did the usual thank-you-no-thank-YOU as we left. I should hear back from him by next Wednesday.
It was a great first real interview in this job hunting season. I sincerely hope it's the last. But I can't get my hopes up yet- I'm going to keep applying and try not to jinx it. Still, I may just be employed this time next week.
I applied for this place last week, got an email asking for an interview the very next day, and spent all weekend worrying about it. I haven't had many interviews as you know if you've been following this journal, so it was important to me to ace this one. The night before I'd spent the time to look up the company website, the wanted ad, and any other information I could find, and take notes on it all. It turned out that the job was even more perfect than I'd hoped- the pay was great, the location was good, the work was challenging and the shift hours were pretty terrible so there was likely to be little competition. Perfect!
The interview started at the front door, which was of course locked as is the practice at all the data centers these days. I buzzed up and my interviewer of all people actually let me in. He was the team leader for the building's IT group, but since it's an IT group he was in a t-shirt and blue jeans. For some reason IT people take pride in dressing really casually on the job. I of course was in a full suit and tie, and was easily the most overdressed person in the building. You can always see new hires at these firms because they're still wearing belts and collared shirts. The more senior you get the less you care about dress codes, I guess.
Once we sat down in a back meeting room, things got started. He actually didn't ask many questions. He was explaining the nature of the work and asking whether I could handle it, and I cut in with a few questions from my notes from time to time. It's always really hard in open interviews to ask enough questions to indicate that you're paying attention and you're prepared, but not so many that you seem ignorant. I think he probably answered more than I did though. He seemed very intent on selling the company to me, which I (secretly) found amusing. Seriously employers- if you're offering good pay and hours at this point, you can have us toiling in dungeons and we'll still take the job. Regardless he seemed confident in my abilities based off the information submitted to him, which was a very nice change. He asked if I would be okay with a background check, and we did the usual thank-you-no-thank-YOU as we left. I should hear back from him by next Wednesday.
It was a great first real interview in this job hunting season. I sincerely hope it's the last. But I can't get my hopes up yet- I'm going to keep applying and try not to jinx it. Still, I may just be employed this time next week.