the interview of interviews, condensed

So I had an interview Thursday. I don't expect to get the job--this one is definitely going to be decided a lot on tenure--but I went ahead and applied because it's been a while since I applied for a job and since I really do like what I'm currently doing, it wasn't a big deal. Plus, I felt my interviewing skills needed a brush up.

This interview did not go as expected.



As the manager and their lead sat down with me, the first thing Manager said was they weren't sure how to start, since the usual questions I'd already answered--my familiarity with the system, my experience with the system, what I did now kind of answered that, and my application was very, very thorough. So it mostly turned into a very strange hybrid interview slash the-history-of-jenn at work. I mean, I'll be honest, it was possibly the most enjoyable interview I've ever had, and was a lot like hanging out with people at a work party more than anything. A few questions worked their way in, but mostly, I was telling work stories and the interview ran over and at the one hour ten mark, I'd just finished my 'how I got banned from the birthday committee' thing (it's under my work tag) and he sat back and asked me to tell him something else, so I told him about the deer that attacked my building once. There was also my questions on whether we were provided snacks during overtime, since that was kind of a dealbreaker and at my current job, they dont' chain us to our desks during overtime but lure us to stay with pizza. He admitted breakfast tacos and birthday cake, so I told him I was still interested. At some point, I think I pointed out that this was the first time I'd applied for anotehr job in years because I loved what i was doing and it was challenging, but this one had looked so interesting that I decided to try anyway.

For the life of me, that's the only thing concrete that I can remember from that interview and it went by blindingly fast. At the end, he remarked this was the most lighthearted interview he'd ever done, and I thanked him for the most fun I'd had doing one ever. I pointed out that I'd been in interviews where the interviewer had managed to reduce me to six sentence answers, and Manager and Lead looked so disbelieving that it was kind of hilarious.

So the interview went over by about fifteen minutes, and they gave me the take-home questions, which are a double test; what I say is important, but even more important is how I say it, since the job requires written articulation, and I can honestly say that however the content might be judged, I nailed the hell out of articulation. Nine pages of it do not lie. Also attached were my custom spreadsheets with my macros so they can see how I organize and how I think.

This is what has become a problem; this wasn't just a good interview for me. Manager is someone I can work with because the rapport was fantastic. I liked him, is the problem, and the job is now ten times more attractive not even including the pay raise because I have a type when it comes to managers and he's one that will give me good work, interesting work, interesting projects, and make my job life ten times more interesting than it would be otherwise. More, he liked me personally, and that means he'll be more likely to want to get to know me personally and again, better relationship and better work because of it.

I love my job now and not getting it won't wound me badly, but before that interview, I didn't want it like I do now, because honestly, even by my standards it's gonna be a difficult job to do. So I'll be grumpy and dissatisfied for a few weeks when I don't, because this is going to be combo tenure and experience, and even the best interview and most terrifyingly complicated take-home interview questions might not weigh heavily enough for me to get it.