An election happened. Whatever way it's sliced, I was probably the only person at the office today who could ave gave a fuck less. I was happy to have the damned affair over. I voted early, but I knew the madness would not stop until today.

That's not why I am making this journal, however. I have more of a bone to pick with how some companies choose who gets hired.

Let me set the stage for you all. I had an interview the other day. I was nervous. It was for a position at a medium-big company. I was worried it would be Niagra Falls all over again like the train wreck that is my job right now. Not only that, but as another added twist...they said I could come interview in business casual clothing. I have never had that for MY dress code for an IT interview even when the rest of the people I am chatting with are in it.

Turns out the company was very contained so that eased my fears a little. I got prepped, got my resume, list of questions, etc. and went to the interview. I talked to several people individually and did a small aptitude test on which they said I did well.

The questions were not the usual "Describe a time when," technical questions. They wanted to know more about my personality as they apparently had somehow already vetted my resume. And so the interview went on without a hitch. I seemed to get along well with the people, answer questions to their satisfaction, and the whole process felt more organic than rigid. Then they gave me the standard "We won't let you know for two weeks" deal. Now most people view that as a bad sign. I've had it mean good and bad things so there it is. There are a few more important facts to take away from this event. They told me things were very informal and laid-back. They said not to worry that people had ample time to learn things and people were available to ask questions. It sounded like a good place and really there was no reason to think otherwise at the time.

I left feeling confident even into the next day. Then that's when it all went south. I got a call from the recruiting firm that submitted me to the company and they wanted to give me feedback. They said they were surprised to get feedback so quickly. I had tried to act cordial, unassuming, and inquizative during the interview and like I said it seemed to work initially. They gave me feedback that apparently I wasn't in-your-face enough or aggressive enough for what they wanted. I'm sorry...am I supposed to have a navy-seal oorah attitude to start at a computer screen for eight hours and write code while pile-driving other developers?? That vexed me and I couldn't put into perspective what in the world I had done that made them think I wasn't assertive enough.

The second thing they said was that I had a resume that showed a lot of "jumps" from place to place. I have only had two real world jobs and two internships for my chosen field. First of all, I can't control how long a company has a person around for an internship. The places I worked had no plans to hire me on after, but it was good experience as I was still in college at the time. Second, I had stayed at both of my jobs for at least a good year. The first job, I had explained to them, was one where there was no room for upward mobility and I wanted to move to where I am now to get more opportunities. The second job was where I was at with tenured contract so obviously I needed to move to a permanent position before it was up. Seems all logical right? Apparently not to them. No one else dinged me for having internships on my resume so I am not sure why these people thought it was such a travesty that I had them listed.

I am trying to remember the last point and it had something to do with asking a lot of questions about what normal days and training were like at the company. Again, I'm sorry but...am I not supposed to act like I want to be here ready to take whatever job offer may come my way in two weeks? With people interviewing me who want me to shove my opinion down other people's throat, act like I am king shit of fuck mountain, can't understand that everyone has a different journey when they are traveling down the career path for IT jobs, and can't see genuine enthusiasm and curiosity about the place they most want to work, they don't deserve to have anyone worth their salt taking the position. I told my troubles to a couple of my friends and they said this experience was a blessing in disguise. I had dodged a bullet.

Both IT places where I had worked before had a balanced environment. You didn't need to act like you were top stag at the watering hole and were berated if you tried to be. I don't care if you think you are God's gift to software development. You code will get edited even if you leave the company for new employment. You're code isn't going to be perfect.

So I just wanted to get that story off my chest. I don't know how a company can be so ass-backwards or why they tried to sell their environment as one more akin to a hippie-commune as opposed to cutthroat developer hell. I know I am worth a junior developer position that pays well. I just need to find a company that actually gives a shit about employees for who they are and not who they need to rise above.