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Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Sacramento, CA
Posts: 866
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2/23/04
Here is an update on the job. I guess I owe everybody an explanation. I interviewed for the job on 2/10/04 (Tuesday). I was interviewed by 2 people, an Associate Engineer, Pete Hall (lead interviewer), who appeared about 60 years old, and a young Asst Engineer who had only been there 3 years. It was a very informal interview (meaning they didn't have a sheet of prepared questions). So they had printouts of my application and resume.
So the lead guy would ask me questions like, "I see you took classes in Civil Engineering, but you have a Bachelor's in Electrical Engineering. Tell me about that?" Or, "I see you used to be a Senior Engineering Technician with Water Quality, but you are back to a Engineering Technician II. Tell me about that?" Some people tell me I shouldn't have put that down on my application, but I wonder about the legality of omitting things. At one point during the interview, he even asked "How old are you? You have a few gray hairs on you." I made a joke, "Isn't that an illegal question [I laughed]?" They were pausing for an answer, so since I wasn't going to have kids anytime soon, I decided to answer it [Do I look like I'm going to retire any time soon?]. That was the only strange question that came up. The interview lasted no more than 38 minutes, and the lead told me they would make a decision in about a week [he says I was the last interview].
The day after, 2/11/04 (Wednesday), the lead calls one of my references, a Associate Engineer, and calls my current boss (who is not a reference; I didn't know til 2/17 that Pete called him), I guess because they used to work together. I'm sure they both gave me good props. A few hours later that day, Pete Hall calls me up to offer me the job [says "We were very impressed with your interview yesterday"] and we discuss a suitable start date [I mentioned wanting time to transition my replacement on my projects, when really I wanted to use some vacation time]. We agreed on 3/22/04 and he tells me to run it past my current boss to see if it's okay, and to get back to him. I ask him if he is going to send a letter and he says yes. I decided not to talk w/ my boss until that letter came. Meantime, I told all my non-department friends (everyone except Transportation folks) about the news. I figure it's a done deal.
Tuesday 2/17/04 rolls around, and still no letter. So since my current boss knows about the job (since they talked), I decided to talk to him about my generous time for a start date. He says it's okay. Later on, a co-worker comes up to me to ask who my interviewer was. I said "Pete Hall, why"? She says he called her up and wants her to interview for the position [she moved and her invitation bounced back to her, so he just called her up]. So her interview is Friday 2/20/04. I don't know what to think [I'm steaming mad at that guy, not the co-worker]. I email him after lunch, and say the 3/22 start date is okay w/ my boss. Pete immediately calls me up and says (paraphrased), "I'm afraid I have some disappointing news. We've had a chance to think things over, and we've had 2nd thoughts, and we've decided to rescind the offer." He didn't say anything else much. Some people say, "Unbelievable!", that Pete was weird for not doing his research and jumping the gun on the offer.
Later on that night, after getting drunk, it occurs to me that since Pete called my current boss (not a reference), he also might've called my former boss (where I did the failed stint at a Senior Engineering Technician). I suspected that he might've bad-mouthed me (hence why people say I should omit that from the app). I was told to look up my personnel file to see what if he put in some comments about my performance or work history. The only thing it says is "Released from employment. Transfer back to dept." Better than demotion I guess. So I suspect I was bad-mouthed (maybe inadvertently) by Bill Hinshaw from Water Quality (but I can't prove it). My exit interview with him was a total joke. When I asked what I could improve, he says, "I'm not at libery to say." Chicken s---! My only hope might be to omit him from my job app, or wait til that guy retires. I can understand not being right for a job, but do I have to keep paying for it for the rest of my career? That's the only thing I can speculate on. My co-workers say it might've been out of Pete's hands, that he was over-ruled by someone above him. I'm told in the private world, that people are made verbal offers all the time, but minds are changed in-between then and the letter.
So you see, I have pie on my face now, thanks to one of (or both) of those guys. That's why I hesitated on this update (not to mention all the details that would have to be re-uttered). It proves that you don't have the job til you get the letter. I was riding a high for that short time. I felt really good about myself. Such is life. I'm obviously paying a pennance for my past lives.
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"Born in Lust, Turn to Dust. Born in Sin, Come on In." -- Linoge, Stephen King's "The Storm of the Century"
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