Making Progress

As we all know, sometimes simply interviewing, irregardless of the outcome, provides pertinent information for one's job search. In the last 48 hours, I was grateful to have two interviews, both with different outcomes, but very telling nonetheless.

My first interview was with the Documentation Manager, and the experience felt more like a coffee klatch than a grilling session. I liked what she said about the direction the team was taking both in the short-term and long-term, not to mention the company's focus. The only downside was that she was a bit unhappy at first with the time frame I gave for relocating (I said within a month). However, when I explained to her about the forms I would need to complete and additional bureaucracy, she was more amenable. Definitely the vibe I got was that she was a manager who was willing to wait for the right person for the position, because she want to obtain someone long-term. I certainly appreciated her mindset, and was pleased when she asked for me to send samples. So I seem to still be in the running there.

Then there was my interview with a second company. That screening entailed a conference call with the CTO and a woman whose position in the company was left unidentified. Our conversation was going fine, until the question of relocation popped up again. Because the CTO's focus is more geared to addressing the company's immediate concerns, the question was consequently phrased differently: "If I was to offer you the job today, how soon could you start?". When I gave an answer of within a few weeks, I was placed on mute as they conferred with each other for a few minutes. The result was that due to my inability to commence working within 2 weeks, they were passing on my application. I said "Great, thank you", and the call ended. (Since I figured that the CTO would probably ream out HR (aka Why didn't you ask her the question at the get-go?), I made sure to send an email thanking them for their assistance to date and conveying that despite the current outcome, if they should ever require a technical writer in the future, I hoped I might be considered once again.)

I did learn a few points of note from the two interview:

1. Consider who you are speaking with at a given company. While it may seem obvious, it's useful to remember that the interviewer's role colours their questions and interpretation of your responses.
   
2. Keep alert for clues of what working at the company will be like. I saw that whereas the first company was accommodating of its workers and in turn more relaxed, the second company was results-driven versus employees. To put it differently, company 2 would work me to the bone, but company 1 might cut me some slack if circumstances should merit my requiring an extension to perform my work well. I was happy that company 2 said "No Thanks", because I am quite certain I would have been miserable working for them.
   
3. See how your skills factor into your candidacy, then fill the gap. In both my interviews, the interviewer indicated what they saw as my strengths, as well as the skills/projects I possessed that made me a good fit for their company. Use this information to prepare both to play up those strengths, but also address any "weaknesses" in your candidacy.
   
4. Put this knowledge to work for you elsewhere. What makes you a good candidate for one company often makes you a good candidate elsewhere. Apply this information when looking at other companies down the line. Also, if an interviewer expressed concern about a given skill or tool that is either only lightly represented in or absent from your resume, contemplate a "workaround" so you have an answer prepared if the topic should come up again.
   

From two interviews then, I gained a lot of insight into what makes me marketable as a candidate, as well as how to heighten my marketability in future. I hope some of these tips prove new to you, and can help you land the right job for where you are in your current career.