Job interview ramblings

I just spent two hours in a job interview. It's actually my fourth interview with this company. Until today, I've been looking at this as just another potential job. Now, I'm excited, and I didn't think I would be. It's not a big or important job. I've had better titles, and I've earned more money in other jobs than this one will pay. However, I am so impressed with the people, and the attitude the company seems to hold. I've rarely had that feeling that a job could be so right for me, when by all surface appearances, it's just not me. Well, we'll see. I should know something by the end of the week. In the meantime, I've got my fingers crossed.

Jobs are complicated issues in people's lives. We all need to support ourselves, but a job does so much more than that. I've written before about how a job can provide meaning and a sense of mission in people's lives, but it's still more than that. Jobs provide the sense of community and belonging that neighborhoods used to provide. Most of us know more about the people we work with than the people we live near. For many people, work is the primary source of their social life.

That was one of the things people used to consider when they were picking the neighborhood they wanted to live in. Are these people in the same phase of life that I'm in? Do they share similar tastes and possibly beliefs? Those aren't questions we usually ask when we're job hunting, but we need to ask them. The answers have more effect on job satisfaction than the typical questions about salaries and benefits. It's tricky though. You can make yourself look like a total nutjob while you're checking out the corporate culture if you're not careful.

I always have to pump myself up for job interviews to get my energy and extroversion going. It's the same thing I always did prior to any sales call. Once I get my energy level where I want it, I can keep it there for hours. There's always a price though, a big energy dump that clearly announces when my "buzz" is over. I can't always control when the release will happen. Once it happened near the end of an all day interview with a large company. I'd talked with person after person all day long. My last contact for the day was with the local head of the company. Right before I went into his office, I just deflated and sat there yawning and stammering, wanting nothing more than a nap. Needless to say, I didn't get that job. That draining sensation just hit me, and I think I'm going to go take a nap. It's nice to think that I won't get to take a nap whenever I feel like it not too soon in the future. Some pleasures are best when you can't experience them any time you want.