I Have The Oddest Job Interview Monday

Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS)
21

I had a similar experience. Having sent my resume through an acquaintance who worked at this company, I got called in for an interview for a researcher position in a different group than my acquaintance was in. The interview involved a woman from HR and the head of the research team (which so far consisted of himself). He asked me whether I knew a ton of analytical techniques: I said which ones I’d performed often, which ones occasionally, which ones I’d performed but hadn’t touched in years, which ones I could interpret the results but hadn’t run the machine. After I said “not sure, maybe I know it by another name but I certainly don’t know it by that one” to a technique, he grinned bigger than the grin smiley and turner to the HR woman saying “sign her up, please”.
HRwoman: “but she didn’t know those things?”
Boss: “she knows the ones we actually need and can interpret the ones that we’ll have to send to other labs and just get back the picture to interpret. And she’s honest!”. Then he turned to me and explained that everybody else had claimed to know every technique (including that last one he’d just “invented”) but been unable how to run even the most commonplace ones :smack:

The company blew goats, but he was one of my nicest bosses.

22

…been unable to explain how to run… (ok, how did I lose two words?)

23

DMARK how about an update?

24

Wait a minute, wasn’t this a Sherlock Holmes plot? Dmark, were the people interviewing you red-headed?

25

So did you wake up in a bathtub full of ice after your first day?..

We need to know more, man! Don’t leave us hanging…

26

It all sounds very vague and shady – which is exciting! The wonderful thing about it is that you seem to be primed to head into a ground-floor opportunity with an emerging company with bigwig clients and significant liquidity. Although you might not know what the position is, the fact that the company is still growing and expanding means that both you and the position can grow and expand and evolve with it which, as far as I’m concerned, is much more interesting and provides much broader horizons than getting with a long-established corporation with staid policies and rigidly defined positions. The possibility exists too that if he finds whatever qualifications you do possess that interest him to be of a potentially significant enough asset to the company the position may itself be partially tailored around you, which puts you in a rather unique position that may end up utilizing your skills to the greatest benefit possible within the company’s scope. Personally, I’d rather love to be in your shoes right now. The unknown factor would probably make me a little nervous, but the prospects and potential would quell that significantly.

Good luck and keep is apprised of how things go today. Second interviews are always an excellent sign that your foot’s well past being in the door – especially if the first interview was already with the big bosses.

27

And did they take one of your livers?

28

He’s got more than one? Hey, DMark, I’m impressed!

29

Duh!! Why do you think they want him!!?

:wink:

30

The next interview’s the one where they reveal that they are time traveling wizards from another dimension and you are the One foretold of in the Prophecies. They will hand you a sword and a jewel and send you to another world we’re you’ll meet a beautiful princess and fight many monsters.

31

What if DMark wakes up in a few years time to find his memory wiped and only an envelope of assorted junk as his pay? :smiley:

32

Best of luck to you, Dmark, and may the words ‘waterless cookware’ never fall from their lips.

33

He better damn well hope that at least it’ll be good junk. Interesting junk. Like those toy cranes that dip their beaks in the water automatically. Yeah.

34

If they issue you with a set of company logo-emblazoned nunchuks and a dozen well-worn passports from various rogue nations, I’d ask some serious questions.

35

In Russia, positions require you!

36

So, I went to Interview II: Meet The Geeks.

That is not an insult…I consider myself somewhat of a geek (hey, I owned a Commodore 64 and and Apple IIe if that gives you an indication.)

The owner greeted me like an old friend, but had to beg off and drive the major client to the airport, but he told me to go on in and meet with the others.

The owner’s assistant was there, as well as three of the programmers from around the country; just a few of the guys who do the hard core programming and travel all over the US, do the on-site programming and implement the software.

They had copies of my resume and the questions began…I was kind of surprised as they were interested in pretty much everything on my resume, not just the relevant data pertaining to computers and software.

And then, after about 20 minutes of questioning, it hit me - the sole purpose of this second interview was to see how I fit in with the group. It had nothing whatsoever to do with my qualifications, or lack of, per se.

This is a very small company…I believe they only have a total of 10 employees, but intend to grow to about 20 or so in the next year. At this point, it is more important to have people who work well together than people who are simply qualified for the position on paper.

Also, as we were sitting together at a table, I could see the notes the assistant was taking and it was quite obvious that my job description was being written as we spoke.

My gut feeling is that I passed the second test. I got along with the guys, we had a few laughs and some interesting discussions (the interview lasted over an hour) and we covered just about everything there was to discuss.

However, the real insight came through the assistant. I think she is the person who is pushing desperately for some more able bodies in the office, and is more than a tad eager to parcel out tasks, thus giving everyone in the company some breathing room.

And that is why this is still the “mystery job”…because they really don’t know what they can parcel out, and how I can help each of the other people in the office. I would be sort of the guy who is there to help out…sort of the guy who will help organize and give a different perspective, based on my coincidentally appropriate background in many different fields.

My guess is that after I left, the guys all chimed in on what, if anything, they thought I could do to alleviate their workload. My guess is the owner has already said he is fine with hiring me if the others agree. And my guess is that the assistant will be typing that job description in the morning and presenting it to my agency by noon.

I might be wrong, but I don’t think so.

At any rate, I will keep you all filled in on the continuing saga…

37

Ah, but did you like it there? This sounds as if it could be a lot of fun for you.

Good luck!

38

Did they talk money yet? My one and only mystery interview wasted a lot of time for all of us, because they wanted to offer me over 20k LESS than what I was making.

I have another thought. Is the company called Wonka?

39

Sorry I am late to this party, but what an interesting time for you.
I think you need to break out the Ethel Merman Disco Album during the next interview.

Oh, yeah, and the best of luck with the time travel, jewels and slaying dragons.

40

Well, isn’t that…interesting. It does sound like this could be very good for you - a company who wants you to do everything you’ve already done, and more! I’m trying to think what your job title might be - assistant manager? Guy who does stuff? Go-to guy?