Please send some luck my way!
Last week I interviewed for a programming position at a major corporation here in Kansas City. This corporation was much better than most when it came to communicating with me. They sent me an acknowledgement letter in response to my application. Nobody ever does that. They also sent me a prompt rejection letter, in fact, they mailed it out the day after the interview, before I sent them my thank you letter. It was a bit disconcerting and depressing to get a FOAD that fast. There must have been something about me that prompted them to reject me right away.
This is one of those major corporations that owns other corporations. It does the kind of work that this anti-capitalist loathes. Still, q paycheck is a paycheck and when you live a marginal financial existence, you can't afford to adhere to your principles.
I thought that my interview went pretty well, aside from one minor gaffe. I showed up early at the company headquarters, which was on the 16th floor of a prominent office tower in KC. It's not that often that I get to visit a 16th floor anywhere in KC. Getting on an escalator is rare enough in this sprawling city.
The elevators opened up on one of those lobbies and reception areas that has CORPORATE writting all over it. There wasn't a door that one went through, rather an atrium with curvy furniture, a coffee bar, a large screen TV tuned to CNN and a friendly receptionist who looked like he had come straight from an art gallery. The reception area was adjacent to the exterior pictures which provided a rather spectacular view of Kansas City. Did I mention the curvy furniture and the leather chairs? Or the high-priced art on the walls?
A steady stream of attractive, casually-dressed women floated into the coffee bar, making themselves coffee from the espresso machine or whatever they had installed.
While I was waiting, and filling out a mercifully short application form, I spotted various pairs of guys in suits sauntering up to the reception desk. This was one of those corporations where the workers dress casually (wearing blue jeans even) while clients show up in suits.
The guy interviewing me eventually retreived me and took me to another floor. This other floor had some high-priced art too. I noticed one painting on the wall by a prominent modern painter that would easily sell for at least a million.
This was an employer with millions to throw around. This wasn't a place where you worried about them NOT paying you enough. I didn't even ask about salary.
This was one of those interviews where the interviewer did most of the talking. He didn't rely on any prepared questions. A very casual interview. These can be the toughest kinds of interviews, because you have to parse what you are supposed to be doing and saying. It's also hard to tell if this type of interview is actually the prelude to a more formal interview.
The interviewer showed me a website (not one done by the company) to explain what they were interested in doing. They explained how the job fit into the department and what they hoped it would do with external clients.
Then the interviewer asked me what I thought. I responded with the pathetic "It sounds very interesting." They then asked me to be more expansive about what I could bring to the position. Honestly, I didn't take the question a a cue to go into self-marketing mode, so I had to do some quick thinking. I explained to the interviewer that I didn't have much experience in some of the new technologies and asked why they were interested in me. Interviewer explained that they were looking for a jack of all trades kind of person and I fit that role well with my background. They also wanted to hire a person who could work in house--they couldn't outsource this work for confidentiality reasons.
These kind of interviews can be tricky, because you have to figure out when and where to talk about your background and experience. You don't know if the casual interview will morph into a formal interview, with questions that ask you to detail your experience. This was one of those interviews where the interviewer talked alot and then you were out of there in 30 minutes.
So it's on to the next round of disappointment.
Chuck
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