Thanks very much for the stories / advice (still somewhat shocking, Jos!). > Neil Van Dyke wrote: > Secondarily, remember that when you're interviewing for a job, it's actually > true that you > should be evaluating the company as much as they're evaluating you. (Don't > let them > confuse you about the dynamic with the "Now is the time in interview when you > code/dance for our amusement! Pet my monkey!" routine.)
I'm glad to be coming to the end of my summer job, which was my first taste of the IT industry. I'd thought a lot prior to my interview about how to conduct myself. With respect, Neil, some of the advice you've given, while it certainly makes a lot of sense and I'd come to some of your conclusions myself, was just hard to execute in the interview. My job has been acting the "pet monkey" operating mainframes, getting shouted at frequently. In my interview, I got a vicious roasting by a mainframe administrator who'd seen too few sunny days I thought. I was literally shaking at the end. Was I prepared to say "Now that you've finished Sir, I'd like to conduct my own interview." And then confidently stroll around the office evaluating other employees, seeing if their motivated? Nah, I wanted to throw myself out of the nearest window and /sprint/ back home. I wasn't even being asked to dance, I was just really nervous. Is his lack of kindness a sign of a company I'd rather not work for? Maybe not, he could be really talented, and in some sort of pai mei relationship, I might learn a lot (didn't happen btw), so I can't rule a company out on this. I realise my interview isn't the type of job we're discussing, but I think the principles are the same. Unless the employer is acting as though he's receptive to your questions, I'd find it hard to probe them asking good questions, because I'm into survival mode, calculating how quickly I can exit the building after he's finished spitting at me. Horace. _________________________________________________ For list-related administrative tasks: http://lists.racket-lang.org/listinfo/users
