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The second interview seemed to go very well.  I’m actually a bit disappointed by it.  I had planned and prepped for a major trial by fire.  Instead all I got was a rather plain and simple interview.

I met with the same lady from the first time.  We chatted for a few minutes while we waited for the programming guys to show up.  It was just the usual small talk about weather, what I did over the Labor Day weekend, etc.  They showed up and we did introductions and the like.

It started out pretty much the same.  I told them about myself.  I then was asked to list a few positive and negative traits of myself.  You know that’s a really hard thing to do!  Trying to come up with something original instead of the same junk everyone says that is.  I mean you know everyone always says they’re a hard worker for positive and most will say they’re a perfectionist as a negative.  So, I tried hard to come up with something different and original that should make them remember me if nothing else.

After that they started asking more detailed questions about topics more related to computers.  How much experience I had with COBOL for example.  What kind of website development I did with PHP.  Linking to databases and the likes.

The one guy did make a bit of deal about the fact that I haven’t ever had any paying jobs during college.  I tried my best to play it down and point out that I may not have had any working experience but I believe I would still be able to walk in and be just as productive as any other person.

I then asked a few questions about what the daily work schedule would be like for a programmer there.  I think I asked about overtime and working weekends.  I also asked about what kind of timeframe it would take to get to learn their systems and start being a productive member.

That was about it.  They all thanked me for coming in and said they would contact me next week when they made their decision.  So now I just have to wait and see.  They didn’t say how many they were interviewing but they did say they had others to interview before they made their decision.

The tone of the interview was rather light and happy.  The two guys made plenty of wise cracks and joked about the work.  For example when I asked about what the daily work schedule was like the one guy laughed and jokingly said to the other guy that was a good question and he would like to know that himself.  The guy then wise cracked back that they mostly talk on the phone and play mine sweeper.  Then he explained what they really do.  These sort of playful jokes happened a few time during the interview.

I guess I’m not sure how to take the joking attitude of the interview.  On one side you can see it as a good thing.  I have enough education that they don’t see the need to bother too much with technical skills and instead focus on how well I’ll fit in with them.  Do I laugh at the silly jokes and appear to be relaxed around them, etc.  Of course on the other side you see it as a bad thing.  After they start interviewing they realize I’m not going to fit their needs so they just joke around instead of asking any serious questions.

I would assume it’s the good side but the fact that the interview went so short has me a bit confused.  The first interview was about 30 minutes so I really was surprised to see the second one only take 30 minutes as well.  I really expected it to be a bit longer interview with perhaps some test of my skills and maybe even a short tour of the facilities.

Oh well no use wringing my hands and second guessing things now.  They’ll contact me next week one way or the other.  If things work out good then I’ll have a great job to start my career.  If things don’t work out then I’ll just go get a job at home depot or staples like I had been planning on last week.