Interview Day

I rarely find the need to drive these days, it costs money to run the car and I am ever conscious of our spending.  So, actually having to navigate my way to the interview was going to be fun!  Anticipating that I was bound to get lost on the run from A to B I set off to cover what theoretically should only have been a 40 minute journey, with a full hour to spare.

I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that I hate being late and am slightly less tolerant of others who keep me waiting.  Especially those who know that you have arrived for interview and are probably so fired up that you want to get in there and the whole ordeal over as quickly as possible.

But…they insist on keeping you waiting in reception!  I’m sure they do this because of two reasons, the first being that you will consider them to be very important and as such are not as subservient as the rest of us, and the other, that they are so busy that they have to squeeze you in to their busy schedule.  Both of which are supposed to make you feel grateful that they have taken the time out of their day to speak to you and as such make you feel small from the start.  Or is that just me?

Well, I did get lost twice on route, well once for real and the other was the wrong choice of lanes.  Have you ever done that?  It looks as if you need to be in the right turning lane and then you realise that you just missed the filter lane which came of the centre lane.  Arggghhh!  So, round the roundabout, up the hill and round the next to come back on myself and try again.  That wasted a good 8 minutes or so.  Tick, tick, tick…

Then the turning which I had noted down from Multimap didn’t appear.  A quick stop at the local garage and they pointed me in the right direction, which incidentally I was going in to start with.  Just that the map of the area bore no resemblance to the actual road layout.

I was on track again and proceeded to turn left at the lights as instructed.  Then the left again turned out to be a right turn only and everything was up in the air again!  I drove on up the road and then noticed a road I had made a note of.  I checked my notes, this was the road beyond the one I needed.  Why the bloody hell they don’t put road signs at the bottom of roads where you can see them goodness knows.  You can imagine I was now getting a little stressed but still had time to spare which helped me calm down once more.

One three point turn later and I was heading back the way I came.  This time I was approaching the turning from the right side, because the sign could actually be seen from this angle unlike on my earlier approach.  I just noticed that I haven’t included any of my usually joviality in this yet.  😀  That’s better.

Now I was on the right road for the company I was looking for.  I couldn’t miss them the road went round in a loop.  Yeh, sure, right!  I drove all the way round the industrial estate and could not spot the company I was looking for.  When I got to the bottom, just before I left the estate, I pulled in to a car park with someone just getting in to his car.  I asked him if he knew where the company was and he said he had never heard of them.  I was beginning to get a little bit fraught now.

I pulled out from the car park and noticed a building directly over the road which looked like the one I had seen on the website for this company.  Slowly I passed the walls with their high hedges until I got to the opening for the car park and there on the front of the building was the smallest sign, which couldn’t be seen without careful observation.  At last I had found the business premises and with 12 minutes to spare.  Moral of this story so far, never underestimate your journey time.  A good algorithm would be normal journey time x 2 = less stress.  Lol.

A woman from reception greeted me and led me to a leather couch where I spent the next 10 minutes calming and cooling down.  For once I was grateful they didn’t see me straight away whilst I regained my composure.

After my cooling down period a pleasant faced guy walked through a set of double doors opposite reception and guided me upstairs to his office.  I’ll not bore you with the detail but he was impressed with my resume and my confidence rocketed after hours of contemplation and worry about how I would be perceived by a potential employer after so many months out of work.  I wanted to kiss him he made me feel so good.  🙂

He was a happily married and had two lovely children.  Out of bounds, no more said!  After our little chat he decided to show me round, which I always consider a positive move and means you are usually in the running for the position.  😉

Firstly he took me to see the engineers room.  It was very impressively tidy, everything in it’s place in little boxes which were carefully labelled.  Tidy desk with very little on it.  I didn’t get chance to meet this guy but I’m guessing he is a little anally retentive.  Probably nice but awful to live with, as soon as you leave a towel on the bed he would probably pick it up and return it to the bathroom.  You know the sort.

Next was the development department, two elderly guys and a young geeky looking chap.  So, no talent there.  🙁  They were all very friendly but not one of them possessed the ability to give a good firm shake.  Tut, tut!  Not that sort, honestly.  I meant handshake.  They were all limp wrested and half hearted, whereas I like to get a good firm grip.  😉  You just knew I couldn’t resist slipping that one in.  😀

Then off to the toilets.  I know it sounds strange to be shown around the loos but he had just spent a considerable amount on fitting them out and I must admit he had done a really nice job of it.  Modern tiling and fittings.  This post is beginning to sound like House and Garden.  Lol.

Down the corridor and in to the sales office next and…”well, hello…”  The sales guy is very, very knicker-droppingly gorgeous.  Salvation at last!  He has swarthy good looks, perfect white teeth and is immaculately groomed.  Ooh, I’m such a sucker for a suit.  😉  I wonder if they are looking for anyone is “Sales”.  Just a thought.  He is a few years older than me but you know I have a weakness for experienced guys.

Finally, he led me to the main office where I would be working.  The first thing that struck me as I followed him in was that the desks were all in a row and each girl behind the desks looked like a clone of the one next to her.  All blonde bobs of varying length and exactly the same shade.  Not thinking I blurted out “an office of beautiful blondes and I’m a redhead”!  What I nearly said and stopped myself from saying was an office full of blonde clones.  Lol.

Even funnier he actually turned round to me and said you can always buy some peroxide.  Everyone in the room giggled and the girls all seemed very pleasant.  It does of course mean that I would stand out if any male totty visited the office, which could be a good thing.

I left the interview feeling comfortable with the prospect of working there.  Things just seemed to be right and I usually get accurate gut feelings.  So I know I would say yes if asked.  It’s just driving me mad waiting to hear now.  I need to do something to take my mind of it…

…”Alex”!