Interviews

The last two days have been filled with interviews of different kinds. Well, not filled, I guess. Interviews don't take more than an hour on their own (typically), but with the preparation and the worrying and then the detox, it feels like forever. I treat them like a majority of the day affair, even though I did more than those things in a day. Tough call, though. Ha.

Yesterday, I had therapy early in the morning before my interview at a staffing agency at a place called Office Team, a branch of Robert Half. It's a company that specializes in the placement of individuals in office-based positions, so it's right up my alley with my background and experience. While in therapy, I received a voicemail from someone named Dara who said that she was calling about my application for the Process Specialist position at her company and she would like to speak with me about an interview. I called her on the way to my interview to the Office Team's building in the Nicollet Mall. We talked briefly about the responsibilities of the position and how she wanted the interview to be as soon as today. I told her that would be fine. So, once we got everything squared away (with necessary paperwork emailed to me and directions given), we ended the phone conversation, and I went to my interview with Office Team.

Darcy, the Staffing Manager, was very kind and direct. She had her receptionists have me fill out a number of documents and surveys before the interview. Once the interview began, I instantly got the impression that once the process was finalized, that I would be immediately placed in a position. Darcy was very strongly implying that Wells Fargo was in need of people to answer questions about mortgages in an incoming call center environment. Not my ideal job by any means, but if it were my only option, I'd take it.

The process wasn't going to be finalized until they talked to my references (they needed three) and I completed a background check and was fingerprinted. They managed to get a hold of one of my references today, so that was covered. I spoke with someone named Jenna, another member of the staffing team, I guess, who sent over the background check information. They needed information of all the residences I've lived in the past 10 years. I filled it out to the best of my knowledge, but to be honest, I didn't remember all six of the addresses I lived in college. I just couldn't remember all of them. So, I gave the ones I remembered, and then just gave my mother's permanent address. That should suffice. I scheduled my fingerprinting for Monday morning. We'll see how that goes.

Aaaanyway, after that, I went to Kohl's to buy an interview shirt and jacket since I don't have one that fits anymore, and couldn't find one there. Boo. So, I went to JCPenney and found one there instantly. I've really come to love that store. I have never really been disappointed by their selection, their prices, or their staff--at any of the locations I've been to. I'm sure that their are exceptions.

My evening was spent filling out the paperwork, reviewing the job posting, and reading the company website. The following morning, after I cleaned up, I did the same thing for a hour or so. After I had a strong grasp of the position's description and skillset and the company values and purpose, I moved on to refreshing my knowledge of how to interview. How to answer typical questions, what questions to ask them, etc. I wanted to be ready. For the most part, I knew the stuff. I'm a great interviewer. But I'm a great interviewer because I always put this work in, so I'm glad that I do it every time...even when I don't really need it. I probably didn't need it this time, especially for how it turned out.

I left an hour before, so I'd arrive a half hour early, leaving me with ample time to get lost, if need be. It turned out that it was easier to find than I thought it would be, so I was there thirty minutes early. I waited in my car for about fifteen minutes before going in. Everyone I ran into was wearing jeans and casual tops. Here I was in a business suit, signing in as a visitor, pinning on my visitor's badge to my black jacket and the receptionist was sitting in blue jeans and a white t-shirt. I couldn't help blushing a little. I made a light joke about being overdressed for the occasion of signing in, and she laughed a lot, which was a good feeling (I read somewhere that making nice with receptionists is a good thing). The receptionist called Dara, the HR representative responsible for the interview, and alerted her that I was here. I waited for about five minutes before someone showed up.

It wasn't Dara, but the Process Manager named Jennifer--the manager of the position I was interviewing for. We talked for a little bit before the interview actually began, waiting for Dara to come, so I took that opportunity to interview her a bit. I asked her about the creation of the position--whether or not it was new. She told me that it was a new position that it was created because the department and company was growing. That makes me feel optimistic about the company's stability in the economy; they are growing. Dara showed up. She explained that she was just there to interject sometimes as needed, but that Jennifer would be conducting the interview mostly. She explained that it was Friday and she wouldn't be keeping me long, so we would just do the interview for the sake of filling the position and move on. This strikes me as promising, too; it almost seems like they are just doing the interview as a formality to get me into the position. Maybe. Who knows? But that's where the interview actually began. Jennifer read from a piece of paper where about four questions had been printed out with space to write notes between there. The questions were typical. "Tell me about yourself." "Give me an example of when you have used customer service." "What motivates you?" "Why do you feel like your a good fit for this position?" Dara interjected a few times to ask about a few things about my resume--like my languages, past positions, etc.  Very low key. After that, it was just done. Dara kept using words like "Perfect," "Awesome," "This is great," and "Wow."

It was during my answer to "Give me an example of when you have used customer service" that used ponified language. I was talking about the shipping and call-tagging part of my job and how I was supposed to call our customers and attempting to swap out equipment (good equipment for bad equipment) and I used the phrase, "and if anypony was still unhappy with the way the equipment was working for them, I would work to ensure they would..." ::blush:: I played it off as normal. I'm pretty sure I didn't even blush in the moment, because I so suave about. Their faces didn't even show any changes, so I'm thinking they didn't even notice, but still, close call. Hahaha.

I interviewed them too. I asked them about the culture of their company. I was told that it was a very self-directed, casual, hands-off type of company, where people wanted to be there and worked well together. They worked well to satisfy customers to the best of their abilities, even if it means giving them an unsatisfactory answer. Dara then excused herself quickly from the interview, suggesting Jennifer give me a tour of the facility. The tour went well. I continued to interview Jennifer while we walked, so all and all I think it went well.

Whew, this has gone on way to long. All and all, the interview lasted about 45 minutes. I finished it off when I got home and sent a Thank You email to Dara reiterating my interest in joining the company and thanked her and Jennifer for meeting with me. Since then, I been basking in the afterglow.