the job interview

I haven't done job interviews in a while. Been with the same company for years. I'm what you can call a passive job hunter. Am not really actively seeking another job, but if a headhunter or a recruiter approaches me of a potential job, I'd entertain it.

The advent of LinkedIn made things easier. Sorry Jobsdb and Jobstreet, but LinkedIn is the new Facebook! :D  As Fortune magazine succinctly puts it, "If you don't have a profile on LinkedIn, you're nowhere."

LinkedIn is just publishing your professional credentials online. You can link your blog, shoutout (ala-FB), connect to your colleagues (past and present), have career recommendations from your bosses/peers, post books you've read/reading and recommend them thru mini-reviews, join a multitude of career fora and groups, etc. In a nutshell it's a professional network.

The good stuff happens when headhunters/recruiters search for candidates and contact you. What's revolutionary for me with it is that, you just sit, wait and go on with your life. Unlike before where you search for job postings, and submit your CV. Its target market are the ones like me who's not that desperate yet to search for jobs, but open to opportunities.  

With LinkedIn, I get direct interaction with the recuiters/headhunters. They contact you then send details of the opportunity, hoping to find a match and then schedule interviews.

My job interview earlier was a product of the above swift process. I met the headhunter in a coffee shop, he asked about my work, including my desired compensation. He told me about the opening, introduced (more like hard sell. hehe) the company. When I confirmed my interest, he scheduled me for the interview that was supposed to be marathon type. Yes, marathon is such a fad these days that even company processes as recruitment are fashioned the same way.

Marathon means, all the interviews will happen in one day, thus I had to take a leave from work.

Gf told me to power dress, headhunter told me to come in early. I did both and even reviewed on my technical stuff.

After waiting at the reception area for 30 nerve-wracking minutes, the HR officer came, only to have me answer a psychological test. Whatthe?!  Ohwell, I'd also like to know how my psyche measures up. I was done with the test in 5min. The HR officer re-appeared after another 20minutes. Geez! Now I know why they call it marathon. They pace things to actually complete in one day. At the rate they're going (which is below slow), I may actually be done night time. The HR officer, who looks stern pretty and a new graduate, interviewed me. Now I know this is going to be a breeze. Hehe. After we talked, she said they'll just contact me again for the next steps. WTF just happened? I complained about the disconnect, told her about the marathon thingy. Only then did she explain that the VP and Sr PM  had an emergency and flew out of the country. Neat! J-u-s-t g-r-e-a-t-. They demand me to go on a whole day leave from work, power dress, only to be interviewed by an intern-looking HR officer?! I felt insulted.

To make things worse, as the intern was escorting me back to the reception area, I saw an ex-officemate from my current work!  Who as it turned out, works there already. Of all the place! Aaargh! I had to do damage control and did something unnatural from me - I made chika to her (we didn't talk in our ofc then).

I doubt if she'll keep her mouth shut, but at least I tried. I texted the recruiter and complained about the non-marathon interview. He called, apologetic and explained the same thing the intern-looking HR officer told me. To make amends, the next interview (because I passed the HR interview *yahoo!*) can be done thru phone. Fine. Fair enough. I passed. Yey! =)

thanks for all those who wished me luck! :)