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The Interview

So, here it is - after four months of pissing around on a temping contract, for half of which I've been nagging my bosses for a permanent position, I finally get an interview for a permanent position. There's an extra 9 grand a year in it for me (after Tony gets his cut, obviously), and more in the way of security and perks. Oh, and the 20% of pay pension, which is healthy.

I'm sat in the boardroom with Sharon, the HR manager. Geoff, head of the Tech Dept, and Fliss, the communications manager. I know these people - one of them's my boss, and I've worked with and whinged at the others. I get on with them. From the point of view of Alex, the Temp, they're good people. However, right now, I'm not Alex the Temp. I'm Alex the Prospective Permanent Employee.

The people sat opposite me will be instrumental in deciding my future. Whether I stay at this company, for which I enjoy working, or have to look elsewhere - either another position in Oxford, or maybe even a move to London, away from the life I've built here, and away from my girlfriend and her child. Naturally, I'm shitting a brick.

"Do you want anything?" says Sharon.
"Prozac?" I quip back, a nervous grin on my face, palms sweaty, trying to keep my composure.

Geoff and Fliss are ten minutes late. If I didn't know them better, I'd suspect them of using Nazi-esque tactics, leaving me in the boardroom, with only my own twisted, paranoid, stressed-out thoughts for company in an attempt to break me, to leave me sobbing and crying, shouting out that I don't deserve the job, that I'm not good enough. Then they'd take me outside, shoot me, and bury me in a shallow grave for Allied troops to find.

Of course, they've just been busy - when I went down, Geoff was talking to his PA in his office. They sit down, and all is smiles and happiness. Sharon repeats my Prozac comment for the entertainment of the latecomers.

I look at them, and try to guess what they're thinking from the looks on their faces. I think that they read as anything from "Well, this is just a formality - we know him and we can work with him" to "Hmm, how are we going to break it to him that he's not up for the job." No use.

I'm quizzed about my school life, how I got a scholarship, why I chose UMIST, and what I've been doing in various work positions. I think I answer articulately and thoughtfully. Then I'm quizzed about the website itself, how I'd handle having my ideas rejected by Management (fine, as long as they've got a decent reason), and how I work best - in a group situation or on my own.

I'm asked about how I like the company, and what I dislike. Finally, I get to vent my frustration (in a very political and sensitive way) to Geoff that I'm often left hanging waiting for him to perform some task or other so I can continue to work. On the whole, I'm happy with Nominet's management structure, and the work environment. I suggest that a decent-sized desk and a coffee machine wouldn't go amiss, along with my own personal Linux box to run as a test server.

After that, Geoff poses a few technical-oriented questions - what my strengths and weaknesses are in terms of computing, stuff like that. I get to ask where the company will go in terms of making the site more interactive, and that's pretty much that, other than being stumped on the "Where do you see yourself in five year's time?" question.

I think it went fairly well - I showed that I like the company, that I can do the job, and I'm a good person to work with. Hopefully, I'll get the job. I'm still nervous that I screwed something up, though - I was confident about my finals, after all, and look where that got me...