Initial Thoughts on Interviewing
Another non-technical blog. I know, I’ve been slacking. My time has been spent cleaning up old projects and working on a new one. Throughout the process, I have been applying for gigs. I wanted to go over my experience with them here.
The first one I can speak on is with a company here in Detroit. I will hold off on any names because I’d hate for this to blow back on me anyway. The experience started out great. I had an in with a senior developer who really liked what I had been working on. He set me up for two jobs. Exciting? Hell yeah. I was linked with an interviewer. We tried to set up an interview but I have also been moon-lighting as a bartender in the mean time. I had a shift on Wednesday. I asked if we could meet on Tuesday when he had asked about Wednesday afternoon. He said no problem. Week rolls around and I got no call on Tuesday. It is weird but okay. Wednesday rolls around and I am getting ready for my shift. I get a call from him. Shit, okay thats fine. I’ll multitask. The interview seemed to go well. He was impressed with my knowledge of the company and their products. I got a couple coaching points from the senior dev as well. I’m not going to lie, after the call, I was pretty confident. I started to research what they may ask for a technical interview. It was annoying to have them reschedule without talking to me but I figured I’d look past it. This wasn’t my dream job but it was a good start. He said he would get back to me by Monday. Five days wait? sure I can manage that. Monday rolls around and I am up early like it is Christmas morning. I wanted to make sure I was ready and in a good place for the call. 2 pm rolls around, phone is still silent. Same thing for the next 4 hours. 6 pm rolls around and on the dot I get a call. I already am assuming this isn’t a good sign. He made it brief. They are going in another direction with a candidate with more experience. Sucks but thats how it goes. The part that irked me what that I had applied for three positions and this interview was supposed to be the intro for all three. There must have been something on my resume or something I had sad that made them instantly think I wasn’t the right fit. Spoke to the senior dev and he was taken aback by it as well. He said he would look into it because they usually call. A week goes by and I reached out to him to ask if he had heard anything. I wanted to get a better idea of my mistakes so I could avoid them in the future. I never heard back from him. Not letting it get to me but I see that as a shut door now.
The next major interview I wanted to talk about has gone a bit different. I had received a message from my school about a position looking for candidates immediately in the Chicago area. I was actually on a train to Chicago when I saw the post. I thought to myself “Eh screw it, apply and see what happens”. They are looking for someone to relocate. Fine, at this point, I will leave Detroit if it means a job. I put down that I was interested and I got feedback immediately. They wanted to set up an interview on Monday. Cool, I’m down. Interview rolls around and I made sure to be up early and in a good mental place. Took the call and it was one of the most pleasant job interviews I have had yet. We bullshitted about a lot. the interview was supposed to be 30 minutes and we chatted for an extra 20. I explained what I saw as my weaknesses and made the case on why they should look past that. She informed me that they were unconcerned with my lack of degree. They saw my hospitality experience and really wanted me on the team. Having someone with personable skills dealing with the client was essential for them. They work in E-commerce and need a multifaceted candidate. I had been hoping my previous experience would play into my hand and this seems to be the first time it has been on display. I was just being myself and thats what worked best. We spoke about soccer and traveling (both of my favorite hobbies) and by the end of the call I was told to expect a follow up for a technical interview. That is the point we are at now. I am not expecting anything to come from this but I go into every meeting with a chip on my shoulder. Maybe I have to cover that up a bit more but I have been using that as my driving force to get through all the rejection I have faced.
I wanted to share this today as a reminder. Keep plugging away and keep applying. It will break at some point. Also, I have noticed that I have received a lot more callbacks when it is a new quarter. Companies budgets open up a bit and they are more willing to hire a less experienced candidate when they have the budget. As always, happy coding friends.
