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I had a recent experience that has the elements of all of the previous
postings, including salary negotiations.
I interviewed with a company (three interviews) that was looking for a
'well-rounded' person with varied experience to work with them for on Y2K
stuff.
1. Technical background - programming, training, documentation, Y2K aware,
configuration management, testing, et al.
2. Mainframe aware (I know there are such things. I have seen them in
movies.)
However, my entire working life I have been involved with computer terminal
systems.
3. Comfortable with all levels of management.
First interview: interviewed with program manager, sent to talk with person
I would be working with. Spent Thursday all day. Good vibes. We like you
and want you for this position. However, on Friday, got called and told
that the position had been filled by upper management with a person already
on board. (I can understand that.)
Second interview: Interviewed with project manager. Didn't have mainframe
experience. Not a match. Goom by.
Third interview. (By the way I WAS hired after this third interview.
Interview started at 3:35 PM and
ended at 4:15, with a verbal offer of employment at the rate I wanted,
followed by written confirmation.
I started on Monday AM. HR didn't even know I was coming).
Was called by recruiter (who I had been dealing with). She apologized for
past 'non-acceptance' by the company, but they were definitely interested in
me. Would I come in for another interview? Having nothing to lose, I went.
I arrived for interview at 2:50 PM for the 3:00 PM interview. Interviewer
didn't show up until 3:30 PM. Was caught in the Washington Beltway traffic.
(Not a problem.) Asked what my educational background was, I said 20 years
in the Air Force, attending "Screw you" at other times. Said I did windows,
toilet bowls, and grease traps. (The jobs no one wants to do.) And had a
generally good time. She told others that it was the first time that she
had conducted an interview and laughed the whole time. She also said that
she did not know what she was going to do with me but she wanted me because
of my willingness to learn, do the grunt work, etc. I did documentation,
spreadsheets, project management, training, configuration management, and a
whole gamut of other tasks while on board.
By the way, I still haven't seen a mainframe.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: bounce-techwr-l-20951 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
> [mailto:bounce-techwr-l-20951 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com]On Behalf Of Susan W.
> Gallagher
> Sent: Thursday, 06 April, 2000 03:21 PM
> To: TECHWR-L
> Subject: Re:Advice for Job Seekers
>
.. snip, snip ...
On a positive note regarding interviews: Show the interviewer The Real
You. I WANT to hire people with a sense of humor. If you don't have one,
you can't play on my team...
.. snip, snip ...
Well, I sometimes go on interviews just to see what's out there.
