My reward for lost time

Few months ago I was in nice job interview. I mentioned it on my blog a while ago.

I got to the second round from the interview. (My guess is that they couldn't decide which one to pick after the first round so that's why the second round.) This time there was no interview. We "just" had to come up with a new idea for their website.

I made a presentation and a demo of the site and what it would look like. You can check it here. Making the website and pdf-presentation took me about a weeks work.

Well finally I didn't get the job. Shit happens and you can't win them all. I didn't let it bother me. What happened next was the funny part.

I told my friend that I kind of wasted time for nothing. He then told me about his friend who prepared a lecture for some firefighters. It took his friend 20 hours to prepare it. Then day before the presentation he was told that the lecture was canceled. Nice. Week after that he received 2 tickets to cinema to compensate the time he lost making this presentation.

Now one week after I found out I didn't get the job a letter came with the mail. Guess what was inside it? Yes, 2 ticket to cinema!

Honest to god I couldn't stop laughing! Those tickets were compensation of the time I lost in the interview (about 4 hours). No mention of the website presentation (about 40hours of work).. According to my calculations that would make about 20 movie tickets more.

I didn't ask for any compensation because I didn't want any. They gave me an assignment and I wanted the job so I did the assignment as well as I could in the given time.

I know this company meant nothing but good by sending these tickets. I appreciate it! Thank You! But please, please, please don't give away tax deductible movie tickets for a work that took time and effort. It's not really innovative solution from a company that works in the advertisement industry. Actually it's never an innovative solution.

A simple thank you will do just fine.

Does your boss respect you?

You know what bothers me a bit. When you ask for a job certificate from your employer they reply: “You can write it yourself and we'll just sign it afterwards.” I know I should take that as an ultimate compliment. I've done my job so well that they even let me write my own job certificate (or what ever it's called in English). Great!

But that's not how I see it. To me it just tells that “You were a good guy. But I don't consider you that highly that I would spend 15 minutes of my personal time writing you a document.”

If someone does that to me after many years of working in the company I will say "F### you!" Just so that you know.

Anyways, I'm of to Norway. One week of skiing and having fun with my friends. I'll be back!

Best job interview ever

There were 8 of us and 'Speed interview' was the theme of the night. 9 bosses, 5 minutes each. Everyone asked a bit different things. It's been a long day and I missed my train back to East because of the job interview but it was totally worth it. I'm saying that before I even know if I got the job... That should tell something.

The job is something that really interests me. I know I'd be good for the job but let's see what they think. One thing is for sure... It beats my last job interview 100-to-1 (cheers PHS for showing what a crap interview is all about). This time I actually got to talk with every owner. That tells a lot about the company. It shows they care who they hire.

And hey! It's not everyday you get to drink beer and drinks with the owners after the interview. It's a strange world we're living in and every once in a while I love it.


EDIT: It was also the longest interview I've been to. At 4 p.m I entered the bar and after 10 p.m I left the place behind me to dive into the dark night of Helsinki. (Well ok, the interview lasted only an hour and after that it wasn't that formal anymore.)

Oh, I also made a funny joke to few girl about one of the co-founders of the company and he was standing right next to me. I mean that's something that isn't going to happen in the near future I'm sure of that! I don't know if I stepped over some line with the joke but I just had to say it. The owner didn't really know how to react to what I said. If you are reading this post: I'm sorry. Maybe a bit too much too soon. I'm an observer and react to things when they happen and then think. That's what humor is all about.

I often have this problem that I'm too friendly too soon. Finns don't always like it. I just have to hope they liked it because... well that's just me.

Nice tittle for a job

Selailin kuukausi sitten Helsingissä työpaikkailmoituksia työkkärissä. Tämä ilmoitus vei voiton!

Kaikesta ei voi saada mediaseksikästä vaikka yritys on kyllä hyvä, tai no oikeastaan ei edes ole...