Definitely -- I made my mother go through a box with me recently, which was a great call. Partly because most things in it were basically trash, but sentimental trash! So hard to throw out.

I'm assuming you're keeping the weapons, Connie. They sounded...communal.

Bless him for being there for you.

So today is Friday which means it's mystery interview day. They sent an email with time and phone number they would call at and were off one digit. I literally have no idea what I might be getting into.

I've been spending a lot of time thinking about the interview test I blew. The test premise was that they gave me a summation of a project halfway through and told me to give a presentation and recommendations. Well, if you give me two pages of summation, how much summation can I do? And there's not really enough to be analysed.

it was kind of scary in that it was about a data interface, and one of the findings was that two of the fields "seemed" to have been swapped two years ago, one is missing and they don't know what's in the other field.

My primary "finding" was to include a stakeholder from the company providing the data and use what leverage you have to get the data explained--the data was being used to calculate pension payouts, after all. And then when you understand what's in the fields, change your system to put the right amount in the right boxes, as well as go back the two years and correct the payouts. And this was based on a real project.

They wanted an off the cuff decision about something I thought required analysis, so it's fair to say we wouldn't have worked well together

the second scenario required more insurance knowledge (this was Farmers) than I had (I had to know the implication of catmit, not just that it was catastrophe mitigation--not covering obvious high risks but passing that off to companies that do that sort of business) to be able to, again, summarise a summary.

It's stupidly hard to convince myself I couldn't have thrived there anyway (also there were no personal things in the VP office I tested in (ninety minutes!) or the cubes I walked past (which also had low walls).

I guess you just want to win every time, even if you don't like the game.

I liked working for UCLA last time round (can't beat the commute!), but I wish I knew the *job*. I thought I'd been careful about filing all the reply emails and screenshotting the final applications for Evernote, but I'm still lost.

At least it's a more active job market than last time.

So think good thoughts towards me at 11:30 Pacific today. And create a good job for me.

Yes, I hear you on the "want to win every time" thing. I once had a therapist ask me if I was trying to get an A in therapy.

I've decided I'm going to take August off from Facebook games on the unarguable basis that I'm spending too much time on them. See if I can't refocus more of my energy elsewhere.

(I'm actually finishing out a 'crystal chapter' on Gardens of Time, so I've got another 5 days to go on that one, but the rest of are going to be put aside starting this morning.)

I guess you just want to win every time, even if you don't like the game.

Yeah, and sometimes it's hard to remember that you should be evaluating them as well!

Yeah, and sometimes it's hard to remember that you should be evaluating them as well!

Yeah, on top of all that, it's not like I clicked with the putative manager. The job is better off in someone else's hands

(I'd still take it if they offered me--that's the culture of desperation I'm steeping in)

I just interviewed someone who would be utterly eaten alive if she landed the role. (Spoiler: she will not) I liked her too much to throw her to the wolves.

I interviewed an applicant once that amongst other things, showed up with colour copies of all her certifications. Between that approach and her general tenor, I recommended against hiring her.

I was overridden (common at that job) and she didn't last a month. I even told her in the interview she wasn't a good fit.

Ah, well.

Later she threatened to sue because we wouldn't lie about how long she'd worked with us.

Wow.

Starting with the good thoughts a little early, in case I forget.

I"m trying to taper off the way-too-much amount of coffee I have been drinking without falling into Caffeine Withdrawal Headache Hell. It's challenging.

People are a mess. A colleague just told me she had interviewed one of our interns for an entry-level job, and it was going well...until the intern said she preferred to have lateral relationships at work vs. hierarchical, and didn't want to just take on everyone's scut work. Yeah, no. She would be the lowest position in the department, and assigned tasks accordingly!

Wow, Jesse.

I need to remember this stuff whenever I'm feeling like a failboat.