Might be worthwhile trying out a startup. I only interview with them (don't know what interviewing with a goliath is like), and they're fine with my ideological differences. They realize I'm probably eyeballing their seating arrangements and observing the workplace hierarchy in it. ;)
Problem is they're typically very elitist, even the saner ones. (Or maybe ESPECIALLY the saner ones. Ever read Peopleware?) Often takes some time for me to flush that competitive outlook from my system. Like, interview puzzles are dehumanizing, but they can lead to addictive bursts of adrenaline... which may instill enough confidence to bargain better. I almost insist on them, but... they're not without personal consequences, at least for me.
> The tougher part of this interview involved talking to one of the
> office's higher-ups, one of those glad-handers with a firm handshake
> and the veteran salesman attitude.
How ya doin how ya doin, big grin.
PUT THAT COFFEE DOWN. Coffee is for closers.
> The VP informed me that he had worked for some Silicon Valley
> start-ups and for a major tech company. He said that he had gotten
> tired of the bureaucracy of those places
I wonder if "bureaucracy" is a code-word meaning "they didn't let me have much power." That's what corporate-types typically mean.
> because you enter the Bullshit Zone. This guy was very upfront that
> he wanted to find out if I would be happy working for the
> company. This approach always baffles me, because I look at
> employment as a place to get a paycheck, not as a venue for
> enjoyment and self-actualization.
I'm guessing it's just a hint that he's trying to keep turnover low...? Nothing personal, just wants to know if you're a commodity with certain nice characteristics. In turn, maybe you'll prefer to see him as a robot programmed to seek out certain utterances and physical gestures, dunno.
(Sometimes you can observe these people worriedly uttering clear inanities to their subordinates, like someone frantically pushing random buttons after realizing he's lost control. Part of his role.)
But I think they're often pretty rational people. Many talk with far more sense than you'd expect -- behind closed doors. (But again, I have little experience with big-company types.)
Tayssir