Interview today

Hypntick

So I went in for another interview today. Smaller company, bout 5k employees over all. They were looking for a level 2/jack of all trades kinda guy. Only 13 other IT people in the company supporting over 60 locations and growing. Thought the interview went well, went through a recruiter but this is for a direct hire job.

So I speak with the recruiter later on and ask some followup questions, see what's going on. He says I haven't been ruled out (3 others interviewed), that I have the strongest tech background of all the candidates and am very strong in that department. However the CTO, who did the interview, said that I seem a bit to career driven and doesn't know if I would be happy staying in that role for long.

Now as this is through a recruiter, they get a finders fee so there is an expected commitment of two years. Talking with the CTO this seems exactly the type of thing i'm looking for, small shop, lots of hands on tech, lots of working in groups to find solutions etc. Since there is an expected commitment, which I knew about before I applied, i'm comfortable with the two year figure as this place seems like it'll give me tons of experience. Obviously after two years we would have to renegotiate.

Does this sound like i'm at least in the running? I know zip about the other candidates, so no clue how their interviews or background are. The recruiter did tell me I was the only person who prepared for the interview as thoroughly, research of the company, research of who I would be talking to, get a feel for business practices, talk to someone on site etc. I just hope I didn't come off as to eager because I really do want this job.

Will hopefully hear something tomorrow sometime. If I can make it to round two of the interviews i'll be sure to drill that i'm not going anywhere anytime soon, so there is no need to worry. I just hope I get that chance to reassure them that i'm looking for stable and not the side to side hop.

millworx

No way to tell for sure. It sounds like you did good in the interview. One thing I usually always try to throw into an interview is how I am interested in staying with xyz company for the long haul, and how I would like a place where I can work and grow with the company.

I guess it is a fine balance of being eager and showing that you have interest at the same time not coming across overly eager or coming across overly confident in the position so much that you put on the facade of being overqualified.

If it's more or less a little bit above entry level with no option to ever advance, I wont mention anything that would make it seem I'm over competent for the job.

Ehh... just my 2c. I'm sure you'll do fine, just don't stop applying for work! you don't want to lose time in the even you don't get it!

Congrats on the interview btw!

Hypntick

millworx wrote: »

No way to tell for sure. It sounds like you did good in the interview. One thing I usually always try to throw into an interview is how I am interested in staying with xyz company for the long haul, and how I would like a place where I can work and grow with the company.

I guess it is a fine balance of being eager and showing that you have interest at the same time not coming across overly eager or coming across overly confident in the position so much that you put on the facade of being overqualified.

If it's more or less a little bit above entry level with no option to ever advance, I wont mention anything that would make it seem I'm over competent for the job.

Ehh... just my 2c. I'm sure you'll do fine, just don't stop applying for work! you don't want to lose time in the even you don't get it!

Congrats on the interview btw!

Thanks. Currently working now but I did want to move up to something with a bit more responsibility. This seems to be the ticket. Heck 13 guys supporting 5k people and 60+ facilities and from everything i've read of the company they're looking to grow even more. There will be hope for advancement there i'm sure. Oh well, we'll see what happens tomorrow.

Essendon

Good luck to you mate! I got turned down once for being a bit too enthusiastic for a company's liking. It was a L2 job and they thought I'd take off after a year or so since I had high ambitions. It's one of those things, when you should be just enthusiastic enough, not too much and not too "less".

Hypntick

Essendon wrote: »

Good luck to you mate! I got turned down once for being a bit too enthusiastic for a company's liking. It was a L2 job and they thought I'd take off after a year or so since I had high ambitions. It's one of those things, when you should be just enthusiastic enough, not too much and not too "less".

That seems to be what happened. They decided to pass on me. Oh well, I still have a job for now, just kinda bummed out. Hopefully I can find something a bit better than L1 help desk. Done my time, ready to be done with that role.

Essendon

Damn man that's no good... Good thing is you still have a job which keeps the bills paid. You'll find something soon.

RouteThisWay

Good luck man, it will happen. I had to spend 3 years doing T1, and the last year of those 3 doing T1/T2 before I finally got a gig as a sys admin. It will happen man, you seem to be pretty motivated and bright.

Hypntick

RouteThisWay wrote: »

Good luck man, it will happen. I had to spend 3 years doing T1, and the last year of those 3 doing T1/T2 before I finally got a gig as a sys admin. It will happen man, you seem to be pretty motivated and bright.

Thanks. Yeah i've done 3 years in a network help desk doing T1 and acting T2 when volume warranted. That's the problem though, the IT job market here in Memphis is pretty small. It's actually kinda funny, starting a new job I see a half a dozen people i've worked with before. I think that's part of the problem, a lot of people with similar skillsets and backgrounds competing for the same types of jobs.

RouteThisWay

I can only imagine. Knoxville is the same way, kinda.. but coming from Houston... every market seems small lol

Ahriakin

The way I see it when a company sees you as potential short term because you are climbing quickly in your career (and presumably matching skillset) then they are essentially admitting that they don't think they will challenge you in the future, which leads to them moving slowly, which to me means lack of vision or resources to grow their network as needed over time...So consider it a bullet dodged

Hypntick

Ahriakin wrote: »

The way I see it when a company sees you as potential short term because you are climbing quickly in your career (and presumably matching skillset) then they are essentially admitting that they don't think they will challenge you in the future, which leads to them moving slowly, which to me means lack of vision or resources to grow their network as needed over time...So consider it a bullet dodged

Thanks for bolstering my spirits a bit. Not as bummed out today about it, throwing myself into this current spot as much as I can. Still looking though, not going to give up. I just want a small shop instead of a giant company. Need more chances to learn more skills on the job.