That was last Monday. He said he’d let me know the status of my application by the end of the week. Well, last week came and went. It wasn’t until Wednesday evening (very late in the evening) that I got an email from him requesting another phone interview. He also wanted a CV (though he had my résumé). So, you’ll notice I’ve posted a second résumé going into a little more detail about my scientific background (maybe that’s why I’ve been striking out!). Posted for your perusal and distribution!
Again, I just got off the last phone interview. Only one possible oops, maybe two—I asked about money (that’s why they call it money, right?) and he said he wasn’t qualified to answer. He tried to reassure me that it was higher end pay for the industry, but isn’t everything in California require higher end pay for living expenses? In any case, he invited me to a sit down interview next week. Wow! Just the other day I was ruminating over the possibility of working another year as a substitute teacher. Of course, that still may happen, it is, after all, just and interview. What was the other oops? Well, I told him about possibly getting a Ph.D. He asked what I would study if I went for a Ph.D. He brought it up! You have to understand, I quit graduate school because I wasn’t getting anywhere with my Ph.D. So, I got the M.S. After telling him what I’d study if I did get a Ph.D. he started talking about me needing to stay at the company for a certain period of time and I couldn’t go and quit to go to a doctorate program. Then I backtracked a little and told him about my desire for stable employment, how I’m looking to stay in one place, rear a family, yadda, yadda, yadda. Eh — I think he got the message I would stick around.
I leave next week for the interview. Here’s how it is going to go. I’ll fly in the night before. Then I’ll get over to the company at about 9:00am. I’ll tour the company and have my face to face interview with the hiring PI. I’ll visit with the PIs for 20-30 minutes each and have lunch with other research associates. When that’s all done around 3pm I fly back home. And I guess they call me if they want me to work for them.
It is a little weird that I might be employed soon. Beyond that, I might be moving myself out of Tucson and back to California. It is southern California, so it’s like I’m moving home, but not quite. Also, I don’t want to get too excited considering I may not get the job at all. However, the format of the interview is very much like a graduate school interview. And if I remember correctly a graduate school “interview” is much more of a recruitment weekend than it is an interview. That aside, I may still end up just substituting when this is all said and done. I’m just happy I’m doing more than submitting résumés to websites. At least I’ll finally get a little feedback. But I’ve beat the odds so far — 6/200 for a phone interview. I don’t know if they’re flying all six phone candidates out, but I know I’m one of them!
I think the major take home for me is: talk to someone, anyone. I think this has greatly helped my chances for success. Just getting someone on the phone to say, “Hey, you get my résumé?” has been the most helpful tactic to date. Hooray for phones!
July 29th, 2005 at 6:42 pm
I’m smiling with joy for your opportunity. And, if you don’t get the job, it’s not because you were not qualified - the other guy had more of what they want. Joel, I don’t really need to tell you this, but in an interview, you have two ears and one mouth as the song goes - listen carefully and ask questions; clarify what they want to know and apply your knowledge to that question. You won’t know everything they ask and after you have worked for them a year or so, you’ll know more, but no one goes into an interview with all the right answers. And tell them you want the job and why. Research their company and during the interview drop a few nuggets of knowledge about their company, their product or their philosophy. Let them know you’ve done some homework and like what you see. And fast and pray that you are doing what the Lord wants to you do. If it is, things will work out the way they should.
July 31st, 2005 at 8:15 am
Fingers are officially crossed.
August 1st, 2005 at 10:34 am
Jacque gave you great advice. This is a little late, but do you need a suit? If you can get one, I’ll pay for it. So you are doing this blogging thing all in html and not with an editor? I’m impressed. All my html skills have gone out the window since I have been using an editor for so long. Good luck. Sometimes the Lord doesn’t let you know what he wants your profession to be - He does leave some decisions up to you. You need to know if this will be in harmony with your goals to keep your covenants. We continually pray for the best for you and feel that getting a job is a good thing (how Martha Stewart).
Mom
August 1st, 2005 at 11:15 am
Actually, this blog is from: www.wordpress.org. It is an open source application for the web. However, the rest of the website is all me. I really hope I don’t need a suit. I’ll be sporting a shirt and tie, though.