Post by Deleted on Apr 24, 2014 9:43:02 GMT -5
I'll give you backstory:
January 30: I applied for this job.
February 18: They call to set up a phone interview.
February 27: Phone interview - went very well.
March 11: They call to ask if I would be available to come to campus for a real interview.
March 19: I get invited to a real campus interview.
March 27: The interview was three hours long, and I had to make a presentation. I KILLED it, I did so awesomely well with the interview and presentation.
April 7: They emailed me asking for references and asked me to complete a small project to demonstrate my abilities for them.
April 14-16: References were checked. I know this, because my references said they were called.
April 18: They invite me back for a second interview.
April 23: Second on-campus interview.
I think it went good, but I didn't hardly get to talk because they did so much of the talking.
- The hiring manager bought me bagels and cream cheese in case I hadn't eaten breakfast, but maybe they do that for everyone.
- Told me that my project was "perfect." Lead web developer says "Yeah, that's exactly how I would've coded it too."
- They seemed not to have seen HTML5 code before, so does this mean that whoever I'm competing against has not developed in HTML5 or shown them any HTML5 code? If so, that person is a less-good web developer than I am.
- Potential coworkers who were kind of standoffish and job-interview-ish last time were substantially more friendly yesterday morning.
- So then, they spent an hour showing me their content management system in excruciating detail.
- Then, they spent another hour hashing out their upcoming projects. They seemed to have not hashed this out previously. It seemed like an unrehearsed debate on how to solve their web problems. I have no idea what that was about, or what they were trying to evaluate, or whether I even did okay. I didn't really even talk, I was just like "Hmmm, okay, that's very informative."
- Then I asked them some questions about how they generally manage their work. They seemed engaged in my question-asking, and they provided detailed answers.
- Then, when it was time for me to leave, they were enthusiastically all like "BYYYEEEEE!!!!!" As I get into the elevator, and as the elevator door begins to close, hiring manager sticks her hand into the elevator door and waves "Bye!!! Bye!!!! BYEEEE!!!!" and repeats herself several times. It wasn't like "Yah, bye, whatever, we might call you." It was like going home after a really great first date, where you're both really into each other and neither one really wants to leave the other.
So then, I wrote them a nice thank-you email where I provided them with some information about how other similar organizations have solved exactly the kind of web-design problem they're trying to solve.
I've never had my references checked or been asked to do a project without getting a job offer. In my experience, this is the normal process that happens before a job offer -- but, there's always a first time for everything!
So now I'm terrified of checking my email.
My significant other and my parents and everyone are all like "yeah, that went really well, seems like yesterday was just a formality" but I don't know who else I'm up against, or who else they've reference-checked and second-interviewed, or what other candidate is potentially slightly-more-awesome than I am.
I've learned that they're slow to reply and that a day or two of delay isn't necessarily cause for alarm with them. But, nevertheless, I'm nervously climbing up walls here.
Do you think that was a pretty good second interview, or what? What was it even about, what were they aiming to achieve by bringing me back to meet with them yesterday? I don't know what to make of the fact that they didn't really ask me any questions?
January 30: I applied for this job.
February 18: They call to set up a phone interview.
February 27: Phone interview - went very well.
March 11: They call to ask if I would be available to come to campus for a real interview.
March 19: I get invited to a real campus interview.
March 27: The interview was three hours long, and I had to make a presentation. I KILLED it, I did so awesomely well with the interview and presentation.
April 7: They emailed me asking for references and asked me to complete a small project to demonstrate my abilities for them.
April 14-16: References were checked. I know this, because my references said they were called.
April 18: They invite me back for a second interview.
April 23: Second on-campus interview.
I think it went good, but I didn't hardly get to talk because they did so much of the talking.
- The hiring manager bought me bagels and cream cheese in case I hadn't eaten breakfast, but maybe they do that for everyone.
- Told me that my project was "perfect." Lead web developer says "Yeah, that's exactly how I would've coded it too."
- They seemed not to have seen HTML5 code before, so does this mean that whoever I'm competing against has not developed in HTML5 or shown them any HTML5 code? If so, that person is a less-good web developer than I am.
- Potential coworkers who were kind of standoffish and job-interview-ish last time were substantially more friendly yesterday morning.
- So then, they spent an hour showing me their content management system in excruciating detail.
- Then, they spent another hour hashing out their upcoming projects. They seemed to have not hashed this out previously. It seemed like an unrehearsed debate on how to solve their web problems. I have no idea what that was about, or what they were trying to evaluate, or whether I even did okay. I didn't really even talk, I was just like "Hmmm, okay, that's very informative."
- Then I asked them some questions about how they generally manage their work. They seemed engaged in my question-asking, and they provided detailed answers.
- Then, when it was time for me to leave, they were enthusiastically all like "BYYYEEEEE!!!!!" As I get into the elevator, and as the elevator door begins to close, hiring manager sticks her hand into the elevator door and waves "Bye!!! Bye!!!! BYEEEE!!!!" and repeats herself several times. It wasn't like "Yah, bye, whatever, we might call you." It was like going home after a really great first date, where you're both really into each other and neither one really wants to leave the other.
So then, I wrote them a nice thank-you email where I provided them with some information about how other similar organizations have solved exactly the kind of web-design problem they're trying to solve.
I've never had my references checked or been asked to do a project without getting a job offer. In my experience, this is the normal process that happens before a job offer -- but, there's always a first time for everything!
So now I'm terrified of checking my email.
My significant other and my parents and everyone are all like "yeah, that went really well, seems like yesterday was just a formality" but I don't know who else I'm up against, or who else they've reference-checked and second-interviewed, or what other candidate is potentially slightly-more-awesome than I am.
I've learned that they're slow to reply and that a day or two of delay isn't necessarily cause for alarm with them. But, nevertheless, I'm nervously climbing up walls here.
Do you think that was a pretty good second interview, or what? What was it even about, what were they aiming to achieve by bringing me back to meet with them yesterday? I don't know what to make of the fact that they didn't really ask me any questions?