It's been a crazy week..
So, I've been passively looking for "the" job. Not just a job- I have a job, but a job I could keep long-term and really sink in, and grow with. My overall goal long-term is more than one CCIE, so I'd like to be somewhere where I can keep being challenged. That being said, I have literally interviewed all over the place, and gotten several offers in the last few months. I've turned a lot down for various reasons (not a long term position, salary, lack of benefits, etc), but made it a point to keep in touch with each company.
That being said, about a month ago I interviewed with a Fortune 100 company. It went really well, and it was a "real" tech interview. As I say, a good tech interview usually feels more like a conversation about technology rather than a Q & A session. It was just like that. Walked out of there, got an offer a day later. The offer was mid 100k-200k range'ish. I turned it down amazingly, because it was a short term position (6 months) although it had the possibility of going longer. I was more concerned about taking care of my family at the time. Plus- there was some amount of loyalty to my current employer since they had promised me a bootcamp soon.
Time goes by, the bootcamp falls through with the current employer, and miraculously I got a phone call from the hiring manager on the way to work the other day. He basically says "We have a permanent position that just opened up..if you want to apply..let me know"- of course I said "you'll have an application by this evening" and moved on from there. The offer *should* be coming soon, so I don't really have any numbers, but I can't imagine it'll be much different than the other position, since this job will be replacing their lead engineer.
What's really crazy here is not that they approached me, I think, it's rather that they came back after I turned them down, and asked me to apply again. That's insane!
To make it crazier, the same thing happened to me last week with another employer, although I turned them down again- because not enough had changed with the offer. It's a long story, but basically the job seemed "good" but not "great", and the changes they made in their offer two months later after my first offer, was still not that great. It also required a ridiculous amount of travel, which was not discussed at the time of our interview.
So, I guess the lesson to be learned is..make an impression at interviews, and you may end up working for them in the long run. Unlike most people, I do believe sometimes it's necessary to burn bridges, but just don't burn them unless you *never* want to work for the company, because you just never know!
