I Am Not a Loser!

I had a job interview! Woo hoo! You wouldn't think this would be such a big thing, but it was. And is. After lobbing out loads of resumes and getting no response, I got a call yesterday and went to the interview today. I think it went pretty well and I'll find out sometime in the next two weeks just how well. They asked the pretty standard questions and boy am I glad I prepared for when they asked "what salary are you asking for." I said that I would prefer to put that off until after we had decided that this firm and I were a good fit. Hopefully, that will work. I mean, honestly, what am I supposed to say? One million dollars (in my Dr. Evil voice of course)? How about the minimum salary for a Major League Baseball player?* They gave me a strange look, but then again, the look would have been even weirder had I given either of those two answers. Besides, does it matter how much I want to be paid? They know what they want to pay their associates and since I don't have a lot of leverage here, I would essentially have to take what they offer or not take the job. And there's always the danger of saying I would take x dollars when they would be willing to pay x +20,000 per year and then getting stuck with the amount I gave them.

Since I had responded to an anonymous ad on Craigslist, I was a bit confused then the firm name showed up on my caller id. "Can you come in next Wednesday?" "Sure," I say. A little while later, she calls back to ask if I could come in today. With a week's lead time, I know I can find something to wear, but one day, well, that's not so clear. So I said I would call back once I confirmed I had a sitter. Sitter equals dropping Bug off with G at work. I ran upstairs and rummaged through the closet. I haven't worn a suit in over a year and since I built and had a baby in that time, I wasn't sure what, if anything would fit. Good news! My suit fits, but it's a little too big. Darn. As my friend Steve would say, this is a high quality problem to have. It was even clean and wrinkle free. So "yes I can can interview tomorrow," I tell her.

Now all I can do is wait. And lob out more resumes. And send thank you notes for their taking the time to interview me. And try to be optimistic since if they were interested enough to meet me, other firms might be as well and someone will hire me. After three years of not having a real job, it will be most welcome. Of course, it will also mean that I won't be spending every waking moment with Bug, which will be sad. But I'll deal with that when the need arises.


Extra double bonus points to anyone who can identify the movie in which Bruce Willis said the title to this entry.

* The 2005 minimum salary for major league baseball players is $316,000 per year. I think I could live on that.