Section 1.3
Landing "The One"

After speaking with the hiring manager and setting up a date for the interview, I headed home from school (to Herndon, VA) to go through with it.

That morning I was sure to take a good shower (odd smells turn people away), shave nicely, and keep my suit clean through breakfast.

It is very important to look serious about the position by dressing nicely and looking clean, image is a very good portion of the application process. If you don't look serious, they won't take you seriously.

I arrived on-site (about 2-miles from my house), got a visitor's badge at the receptionist, and sat down waiting for someone to come down to get me. I waited, and then waited some more - these computer guys are really busy with meetings. Finally, HR came down to get me since they could not find my soon-to-be mentor. I was escorted to a nice meeting room, was sure to sit up nice and straight, and eventually two-men came in. The first gave me sort of a verbal programming quiz that I should have done well with but under pressure it crumbled me. The second gentlemen began to ask me what exactly I wanted to do. I explained that I wanted to freshen up my programming skills, I loved the company and the people involved with it (I really do, otherwise I wouldn't have stayed a 4th summer), and that despite not knowing some of the things they were looking for that I loved to learn and would pick them up very quickly.

After all was said and done, I returned to school that Monday morning (after the interview) and attended class. It was pretty hectic having an interview and a 2-hour drive followed by a 10:30AM class. I got a call later that week by the hiring manager letting me know that they were very interested in having me work with them. I was thrilled, but also had another job on the line. After the other company flaked, I called back and accepted. My mentor would be Lead Test Engineer - Anteneh Shiferaw.

<1.2 Finding Openings | Home | 2.0 About the Job>