Interview in VA

This week I had an in-person interview in Virginia (i.e., a suburb of Washington, DC). My friend in Alexandria had been telling me for months that the VA tech writing is stable, with many jobs. So I was quite excited about my trip.

The first bump in the process happened when my departure train was delayed. That delay, combined with the cabbie who drove me from the station in VA getting lost, resulted in my interviews starting two hours late- at 6 PM. That's when the real fun began!

Interview #1 was a combo platter: the Project Manager for the team and the exiting Proposal Writer. The challenging part of that interview was shifting gears from the rather informal note that the interview started with (I was asked who my favourite hockey team was) to a more formal tone. You want to seem professional after all! Also, I found it hard to gauge what to stress in my answers, since the person you would expect to have been asking most of the questions, i.e. the Project Manager, was silent; it was the Proposal Writer who directed the interview.

Interview #2 was with VP who would be my direct supervisor. That session began at 8 PM and ran until almost 9:30 PM. I would summarise that experience as easily the most brutal interview I have ever undergone. Suffice it say that I felt as if I was being hazed in the military, although the ordeal actually gave me insight into his managerial style/methodology.

If I was to pick a common denominator to both VA interviews, it would be how vague they were. Whereas my phone interview a few weeks ago with "Mr. Challenging" (a different VP) had been rigorous, it was also highly focussed and detailed. I understood the gist of the questions, and could consequently feel confident while answering. Upon pondering the discrepancy for a few days though, I determined that the two VA interviews were vague on purpose. The team wanted to see how I deal with ambiguity. In other words, it was a deliberate attempt on the part of the interviewers to see how I would respond to their work environment.

Friends have asked me upon my return whether I was still interested in the position, if company should extend an offer. I have answered yes unhesitatingly, due to the following:

1. Every person I spoke to, save the VP, were downright nice. So overall, it seems like a relatively friendly and open environment. Plus, the verdict is out on whether the VP's personality in the interview was illustrative of his personality in general.
2. The product I would be working on would actually help people in the daily lives. That incentive stands in stark contrast to working on products/processes for banks or multinational corporations, where your work is predominantly serving to make the company richer. Sure, that's satisfying also, but I prefer to work where I can really make a difference in the lives of average Americans.
3. A permanent job opens to door to permanent jobs in the future. The primary impediment to my having been hired for permanent jobs to date is my contracting history. Until I get a permanent job and stay there for several years, nobody is going to believe my constantly uttered statement that I really want to stay and grow with a company long-term. And can you blame them? So while I'm not planning to get the job and vamoose, if several years down the line I find myself seeking employment again, the permanent job market will be open to me.

And that, in brief, was how my interviews went in VA. I'm thinking good thoughts, hoping that after they check my references they'll decide to offer me the job. Until then, I'm sending out resumes for other positions, and trying to remember what I learned from my experiences this week.

Happy job hunting!