Back the grind of disemployment after a rejuvenating weekend.
Busy day. In the morning, I visited the office of the company that I had left last August. Their attempts to replace me have not been successful, and they are ready to welcome me back into their corporate family. As my former and prospective boss warmly put it, “You’re a known quantity to us.” Aw. I feel so loved.
In the afternoon, I had two phone interviews that resulted in two invitations for face-to-face interviews.
First phone call with the VP of a small start-up looking for a technical and marketing writer:
“Okay Meredith, sell yourself to me in one sentence.”
I read directly from the cover letter that I sent him with my resume. “‘I’m a seasoned technical communicator with a proven track record for delivering high-quality product materials with which to empower end-users.'”
“Oh good. Buzzwords. Glorious buzzwords. Just what we need!” I detected a note of sarcasm, but he gave me the interview anyway. Buzzwords really are what small start-ups need.
Second phone call with a recruiter representing a behemoth corporation:
“You would be on a team with 12 other writers. Have you worked within large teams before?”
“Yes, at [former behemoth company], I was on a team of 8.”
“Would you say you prefer working independently or working on a team?”
“I see a value in collaboration, although I work quite well on my own.”
“Any serious problems or conflicts with your team members?”
“Umm, no, not really.” Despite my obvious hesistancy, I got the interview. The recruiter is probably thinking, “How dangerous could she be?” Well, there was that time I drop-kicked a despised team member’s bagel and cream cheese across the break room, but that was more of an ideological dispute.
