I interviewed, in person and over the phone, with about ten companies. Two led to job offers, two rejected me, and the rest I either passed on or else they were still bumbling around by the time I accepted this other offer. So what have I learned from all of this? What wisdom can I impart unto you?
Jasona has twice given advice to job seekers. From my interviews, I've compiled a list of hints for seekers of job seekers, i.e., the employers.
1. Don't use the economy to justify a crappy offer. One of my first interviews led to a job offer. It would have been remarkably similar to what I was doing (I was still employed at the time), with a bit more work. Similar types of docs, similar user levels, very similar product. And a 10% pay cut. "After all," I was told, "the economy is bad right now. You should be happy you're getting a job offer at all." Oh, yeah, that's just the way to win me over. Sure, there were other things that I didn't like about the company, including the dour Russian VP of Engineering who informed me that someone by the name of Kaplan attempted to assassinate Lenin in 1918. I got the feeling that he was willing to hire me despite that fact. But the "you should almost be paying us for the privilege of working here" attitude is really what made me decline the offer.
2. Have the decency to tell someone that you won't be hiring them. This happened to me twice The first time, I went for an interview, everything went really well, they said they definitely wanted me back for a second interview…then nothing. They didn't call me, and didn't respond to my calls or email. Last month, it happened again. This time I had gone in for two interviews, had made a presentation, had taken a writing test, and multiple people told me that everything looked just great. The HR person was calling me daily, telling me how wonderful everything was, until after that second interview. Then, nothing. I spent a few days trying to contact the HR person, then I tried to reach the doc manager. Finally, almost a week later, the doc manager confirmed that they had decided to keep looking. That's just unprofessional, and makes me assume that the HR person either didn't have the courage to give me the news, or else was simply an asshole. Either way, it just makes me send angry email to their CEO.
Another company expressed interest, but balked when I gave them my salary requirements. "Oh, we're not willing to pay nearly that much." Hey, no problem; at least we determined that quickly. I don't expect that they'll be getting a very good senior tech writer for that price, but that's their problem. At least they were willing to give me a definite answer.