October 28, 2009

New job pt 3: deal or no deal?

For those joining us this late in the game, allow me to recap: Two companies, both alike in dignity (and their desire to get their hands on me). Two phone interviews. Two face to face interviews. Two offers. One very long day. Imagine: It’s now Wednesday 21st October, and at this point the first company have been waiting since Monday. The defence contractor has only just sorted their offer out, so I’ve got both of them sitting in front of me. ... Read more

October 26, 2009

New job pt 2: the art of handwaving

Having beaten the first couple of levels, now things get intense. Casual mode is yesterday’s news, now we’re in to Hardcore territory, and coming up to the first real boss. No raid to support you through the actual fight, this is a single player game. The phone interview Phone interviews are wonderful entry points to new companies, since they can’t spring exam-style technical tests on you or put you on the spot by asking awkward knowledge-based questions. ... Read more

October 26, 2009

New job pt 1: foot in the door

Every journey begins with a single step, and for jobs, that’s getting your CV to someone who cares. I’ve been very lucky to have had some excellent advice regarding my CV: I’ve queried several employers who’ve had me for interview if there was anything they’d change on it, and universally the answer seems to be ‘it’s absolutely fine’. After some early false starts, I’m confident at this point that I look good on paper, so it’s just a matter of getting the paper into the right places. ... Read more

June 3, 2009

Interviewfail?

Interview over. I walked out feeling like that was a total fail. It didn’t help that I got a bad case of the nerves just an hour before I was due to start. Anyway, the technical test was interesting. Turns out I revised all the wrong topics. There was a confusing recursive program (as they always are) which contained a snippet similar to: {% highlight c %} if (a == 1) if (b == 1) printf(" ... Read more

May 28, 2009

Interview!

This is what it’s all been leading up to. I have a good shot at it providing I don’t screw up the C test and subsequently stick my foot in my mouth. 1pm Wednesday 3rd June. But that’s not why I’m writing today. No no. Today, I am writing because this is a post that I lost after Firefox crashed and because it’s related to interviews. Speaking to a friend recently (TLW is getting quite a cast, I wonder if I should start including a cast list? ... Read more

September 26, 2008

Employed!

What started with a few stressful phone calls at the start of August has lead inexorably toward being employed in the same location, by the same people, doing a different job! There are pros and cons about this choice, and my biggest worry has been that I would upset someone along the way. I hope if I run into them again in 12 months time they won’t hold this decision against me. ... Read more

September 15, 2008

Curiousity Kills

I’ve just pulled the title of this post off a song by Trapt. Since I’ve started this sort of blog, I’ve kept brand names out of the posts, I’ve kept links out. I’m not endorsing anything or leaving adverts on the page. Any companies I deal with have their names removed. Generally I feel good about that. I feel doubly vindicated, because having just wandered over to 43folders.com to check out suggestions on improving my inbox situation, I discovered he’s recently taken a moment to think about what he’s trying to provide, and then told everyone else. ... Read more

September 10, 2008

Now under offer!

Another Monday morning, I’m still dozing in about 9am fully intending to get up any minute now, and a surprise phone call. My London interview came up trumps! Not only do this company want to waive the second interview they usually request, but they would like to make me an offer! I should expect to hear from them (or more accurately the agent responsible for this particular vacancy) within the week. ... Read more

September 7, 2008

What interviews are supposed to be all about

So I dashed into London on Friday (2008-05-09) for an interview with no specific job specification. The night before I found myself in a complete state, having been sent an 11 page dos and don’ts document by the agency … To cut to the chase, it was fantastic. I didn’t honestly believe there was such a thing as a “good interview” but this one was amazing. I really enjoyed the company of the interviewers, and they didn’t all pounce on me at once. ... Read more

September 6, 2008

Quick-fire round: GO!

From the sublime to the ridiculous. The first phone interview I’ve ever had was very simple and required talking around a bunch of points that my CV had made. These people may be in a hurry, but are clearly going to assess if it’s worth bringing you up for a RL interview. It lasted about 30 minutes and was nice and easy. Conversely what I’ve just been through has left me feeling quite bewildered and disoriented. ... Read more

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