Interview done and results received. Sadly I did not progress, but happily I did get some feedback. If you recall, the point of the exercise of applying for a different role and an executive role at that, was to determine if my credentials, work experience and interview skills were up to the challenge. The feedback was quite good and I’ll share it with you. Firstly though I want to reflect on some of the process that I went through during this little adventure.
Whenever a new role or new challenge is on the horizon we all have unconscious programming that runs through our heads. For me, it’s a constant examination of what the job, the environment and the changes might look like. Particularly for example the car situation, the physical workspace and what I’m going to do with the revised income. There is always the niggly voice asking if I’m the right person for the job, especially an executive role. I tend to squash this voice with my resume 🙂 I was very open with my boss about this role and he knew why I was looking. In fact, that support meant a lot – it was encouraging and a little flattering to have. The day of the interview was a normal day – I was a bit nervous, which usually manifests as being a bit yawny and tired, but otherwise I had existing projects on my mind. In fact I was busy planning the next year’s activities in the run up to the interview time. I met with the HR staff member and one of the company executives and had an hour long discussion with them. I felt the interview went well but had a couple of issues with what I’d said. The after action post-mortem is never fun and I can be very critical.
8 days later I got the call back – they were advancing someone that had industry experience (not IT, the actual industry). On reflection, the things I was unhappy in the interview post-mortem about were apparently all good, I interviewed well and there was only one small example of something I’d explained unclearly. No worries really. They thought I’d be a good fit and so on – I just lacked that industry experience that someone else had. From a success stand point I am quite pleased. Credentials and experience are up to the task, interviewing skills are good too. But like many a solo enterprise where there is no direct competition you do your best and leave it all out on the field.
I’ve thought a lot about this in the intervening days to now. The role I applied for has more of a work/life integration than work/life balance which concerned me. I have so little time outside of work and travel for work that I get really protective of my time. My usual work day with to and from travel is 7:30am to 5:45pm most days. And in winter I leave almost in the dark and return in the dark which isn’t great. I like spending time with the kids and my wife and protecting this time is high on my to-do list. I feel like I still need to work on soft skills while trying to preserve my technical skills and develop my project skills more. This process has been a good touchstone on my career path. I’ve learned too that I need to focus more on enjoying what I have and making the most of it. It’s easy to get bogged down in wanting something else and miss the fact that things are great already. Want what you have and life can be so much more enjoyable. So now to business – there is so much to do and things to explore. It’s very exciting and my current job is a good one. Looks like I’ve avoided another mid-life crisis 🙂 hahaha
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Angus' Blog 