Interview Eh

26-03-2011

As a few people know already myself and the lady friend are looking at leaving the great island of Ireland for shores different. Very different to be precise.

Neither one of us is of the "let's go for a year long holiday and come back to no job and no money" frame of mind, so in order for this little travel bug to be sated we both came up with a plan. A plan that makes a good deal of sense to be honest. Before leaving the country we have to have a job in the country we are going to.

I've never really had any interest in Oz. A lot of my friends have, they have gone, that's good for them. But for me it just never called out to me. Plus it's like an entire day just to get there. Who the hell wants that sorta hassle?

But Canada, well that's only a short trip across the water away. Not to mention it's a pretty damn funky place. So that was where we settled on and have started to look into making a transition over there. Even if it is only for a year, just to try something different.

As the fates would have it there was a recruitment type company in Dublin most of this weekend and they had expressed some interest in myself and her good self. So we went along to the seminar they held last night just to see what was being offered. I have to say it is an interesting offer on the table. Nice location, easy paper work load to get permits, all that stuff. Since as everyone knows I am all about the easy way of life.

But we had to return to the hotel today to talk with the VP of the tech company that had come along with the recruiters, because he had emailed asking to speak with me.

Now, while I thought this was going to be just an informal chat, upon arriving I learned that it was a bloody interview. Of the seventy or so CVs he has had a look at since arriving in the country he had asked about eight to ten people to show up for this yap. Not only had he asked them along, the lady friend discovered he had locked down the CVs. Meaning that the recruitment company that had held the talk were not allowed to use those CVs at all because this guy wanted to interview and possible hired these people first.

Turns out I was one of said people. But I showed up wearing what I usually show up wearing to most things. A hoodie, jeans and my converse. In I stroll to the interview, looking about as professional as some hungry computer science student asking for an unpaid internship so that they have something to put down on their CV after graduation.

A little known fact about me is that I do not interview well. As in at all. I don't know what the hell it is about me, but my mind just does not work in that sort of situation. I muddle myself up, I can't get across my points correctly, I'm an out and out mess. But for some reason I just was relaxed and at ease in this interview, despite not wearing my suit. Although that is probably the exact reason why I was relaxed.

One problem I encounter last time I went job hunting was that my CV was a little bit of a Jack-of-all-trades CV. I had some development work on it. Some testing. Some Sysadmin. Nothing streamlined and focused. Which had me worrying a little to be honest, because it meant I was always just about perfect for a job I went for, but they wanted a little bit more in one area than I had. Until, of course, I got the current job.

However things were a little different with this interview. The VP was actually looking for somebody with my exact CV. He liked that I had some development work, but was not a pure developer. He thought that the testing side of things was good, because it showed that I at least understood shit needs testing and is not just fire and forget. The sysadmin work ticked some boxes on his list, because it was Linux/Unix based and not Windows. Throw in the fact that in my new job I am dealing with live customer environments while deploying things, meaning shit has to work right or people get annoyed and my Jack-of-all-trades CV had suddenly become something much better than it had been before.

The hilarious thing was during the interview the VP actually said to me that there was no job for me in his company at that moment in time, so no offer was going to get made. Honesty is the best policy and I always appreciate it straight talking. But then he said something that surprised me a little.

While there was no job at the moment the company were looking to expand and build up a lab that used Linux servers to provide services to their customers. Would I be interested in working on something like that, maybe in a few months, when it came on line?

To say that I was smiling a little upon hearing this would be an understatement. Here I was, doing an interview while looking like a student, and this guy was talking about bringing me over to Canada to work on their new lab for upcoming projects. While it wasn't a job offer directly, it was damn nice to hear.

At the end of the interview the VP said that he would be keeping in contact over the coming months and get back to me with a more concrete date on when the project is coming online and also a proper job offer.

Now, I'm the usual glass half empty kinda guy. That way your hopes don't fall too far if things don't work out. But just getting told that you were being considered for a position like that is a mega career-confidence boost. It might transpire that in a few months I am forgotten or they find somebody better, or maybe I will get the offer. Who knows? All I can say is I walked out of that office thinking that I had nailed an interview for the first time in my life without question.

I'll keep you posted when I hear more myself.

Jaysus that was a long rant

Blue_jester

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