The interview this morning wasn't really a typical interview. I didn't get asked a single normal interview question, even though the employment agency consultant had warned me that this company tends to ask a lot of questions and they expect detailed answers. The company and the job position were explained to me in great detail and she closed by saying, "You're definitely my top candidate and I'm going to call the agency and tell them we want to hire you. Can you start right away?" This is the second time this has happened to me at an interview. I told her I have another interview coming up on Tuesday and I'd like to wait and get back to her after that. Her response was, "Well, I sure hope they're a horrible company and the people are nasty because I want you to work here!"
The Job: I would be working for ComputaCenter on a contract with IBM to handle the service of ensuring all Cisco employees in Europe have a laptop. I would be based at a Cisco office and would officially be employed by ComputaCenter but would represent IBM. It seems like a good opportunity to get big-name international companies on my resume, a great team who are supportive of each other, a beautiful location, and easy to get to... the major negative factor is that transportation will cost over £200 per month to commute to work.
Near the beginning of the interview she stopped mid-sentence, leaned across the table and said, "Just a minute, you have a money spider in your hair," as she reached over and picked it off my bangs (I arrived early and went for a walk in the park so I'm guessing that's where I picked it up). She let the spider climb onto her hand, circled her hand around the top of her head three times while saying, "Money, money, money" and then let the spider crawl into her head, explaining that the spiders are good luck and she's now going to win the lottery on Friday. I laughed and said, "You're welcome!"
Oh, and in case you think my amazing set of skills or my fabulous first impression got me the job offer, think again. When she said that they have to track a lot of details in Excel spreadsheets and paused to gauge my reaction I said, "I actually love spreadsheets," and she gasped and said, "You're hired!"
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
Hahaha. That's awesome. Way to go Amanda. You and your stupid interview skills. You know I interviewed at 10 places before this job? 10! And you always seem to get your first try.
Ask for a company car! That solves all your problems! ALLLL of them.
Thanks for the laugh, Keri!
David, rejection is never a fun experience and those months were tough to watch. Glad you found a job though! The crazy thing is, I actually sort of enjoy job interviews.
I like Keriann's idea and think it's worth persuing!
A money spider? And a woman who actually lets spiders wander around her head? Sure you want to work there? $400 smackers a month for transport -- wow! What's the salary?
Carol
My take-home would be about £1,100 per month so transport is about 20% of my income.
The spider thing definitely seemed out of character compared to the rest of the interview, but cracked me up so I had to mention it. She seems like a good manager with checks in place to make sure her staff are happy and able to handle their jobs well (no overtime!).
I'm pretty sure if someone told me I had a spider in my hair, I would blow the interview right then and there by spastically flailing in a fit of panic. Kudos to you for not doing that!!! :)
Post a Comment