In which our guest blogger spends 5 hours in Nova Scotia

To tide you over until I have stories from my DAY OF MARATHON INTERVIEWING (see previous post), today we have another exciting guest blogger!

[UPDATE: Um, my day of marathon interviewing may not even HAPPEN now because of the MASSIVE SNOW BLIZZARD THING that's currently barreling towards the mid-Atlantic. I swear, if I have to reschedule FOUR INTERVIEWS, SOMEONE IS GOING TO GET CUT. THIS IS DEFINITELY AN ALL-CAPS SITUATION.]


Say hello to [J], who, let me tell you, knows only too well the horrors of the job search process. Enjoy.

Greetings Blogdom. It's been entirely too long since I addressed you. I had so much to complain about during grad school. Unemployment - for me - was far less interesting, though no less frustrating. In full disclosure I should let you know that after 15 long months, I found a company willing to employ me. The past 6 months have brought various excitements that come with a new job and a move across the country. Yet while it is true that I have one good interview story, it is also true that I have a myriad of terrible interview stories to share. And since today is my 6 month employment anniversary (as well as a day in which I find myself dreadfully bored), I thought it an appropriate time to piece together one such story. Thanks to [K] for hosting the blog and continually posting humorous - if tragic - interview stories.

When I escaped grad school, I still wasn't sure what I wanted to be when I grew up. I had spent the previous four years studying the combustion of porous carbon particles. Fascinating, no? One revelation I had during those years was that I am passionate about renewable energy. I was especially interested in wind energy as I believe its potential for growth over the next 20-30 years is enormous. The tricky question was, how does one transition from studying coal combustion to a job in a "green" industry? So I started applying to every wind energy company I could find - for any position that seemed remotely interesting.

[WP] was the first wind company to show interest in my talents (whatever those are). This company is actually based in Bristol, England and the job would include an international relocation - something that, quite frankly, at this stage of life would be ridiculously exciting. The interview process began with an international phone interview. Now, it's hard enough to understand foreign accents in person. Attempting to confidently carry on a conversation over a cell phone across the globe is at least slightly more of a challenge. The interview progressed as many phone interviews do. Let me tell you about our company. Tell me about your background. Here's the position we're considering you for. Are you interested? (As if there has ever been an unemployed person who would answer "no" to such a question!?) Ok, well, I'll get back to you.

After the interview I spent the next several days re-examining my every word of the conversation. How did I sound? Was I too enthusiastic? I did my best to resist the urge to day dream about life in the UK. After all, the chances were certainly slim that I'd be offered such a dream job. But then I got an email, asking to set up a second interview, this time with the department head as well as another team member. Holy jeebus! They're actually considering me for this position! I have to learn what the crap it is they're asking me to do. Research time.

The more I looked into the work involved with the position they were discussing, the more fascinated I became. This is the perfect job for me! It's exactly where my background in applied math intersects with the wind industry! I'll be hired for sure. I spent two weeks reading journal publications related to the discipline of wind resource assessment. Then came the interview. I made the mistake of drinking some coffee that morning, so I was good and wired for the interview. Not to mention my stomach was nice and unsettled. As if the previous interview hadn't been difficult enough to understand, this time they took it to the next level and put me on speaker phone. Have you ever tried to understand a British person on speaker phone? It's harder than you'd think. The interview is somewhat similar to the first, though the boss's questions are much more pointed. But I do my very best to assure him that - in the words of B.Rock - "Yes I Can!" (I wonder if [K] will censor that quote haha.)

[Note from [K]: cough ten percent national unemployment cough cough]

I come out of the interview feeling optimistic.

Another several weeks of waiting ensue. It's at this point that I make what would turn out to be a fatal flaw. In the excitement of the interview process, caught up in the illusion of an imminent international job offer, I decide not to continue my job search. I foolishly believe that I've nailed it and this job will be mine. Then the phone rings... they'd like to bring me for an on-site interview. Heck yes! A free trip to.... Nova Scotia? It turns out that flying me to Bristol would be too expensive. So they want me to interview at the next closest office in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Um... ok! I'm free tomorrow. Oh, uh, yes... several weeks from now would be fine.

More waiting. More anticipation. More dreaming of a charming life in Britain. At this point, my wife and I are seriously considering the prospect of moving abroad for a few years. The day of the third interview arrives. I catch an early morning flight from Dulles to Halifax (which is a beautiful city by the way). A half hour cab ride to the office. The interview lasts about three hours. It's the usual fair. I crush it. Afterward it's right back to the airport to catch my flight home. All the way home thinking, surely they wouldn't have spent two grand on plane tickets if they weren't going to offer me the job, right? Wrong.

After three interviews, including one international flight, I am informed that the company has decided it would be too expensive to hire a US citizen. It seems work visa's are quite hard to come by. Therefore they've decided to hire someone less qualified than me who happens to have the advantage of being a UK citizen. I am stunned. I mean absolutely floored. I did not see this coming.

Some of you may be thinking "that's not a terrible interview story". I would reply to you that in all my job hunting, never was I strung on for longer (and only once over a greater distance) during an interview process. And let's not forget: The higher you climb, the further and harder you fall.

Best of luck to those of you still searching. Keep the faith.