Tuesday, April 22, 2008
my monday
i had a telephone interview with a company in sheffield. richard p. from infineon works there now and he forwarded my CV to the people responsible for doling out jobs ;-)
they seemed impressed with my experience and knowledge. you can really tell the difference: at interviews in switzerland the people doing the interviewing have been to the eth themselves and aren't particularly impressed, cause they've been there, done that and bought the t-shirt. in the uk, they aren't so jaded and can still appreciate that the stuff we're taught here and the practical stuff we do is pretty unique. annoying jaded swiss engineers!
i wasn't very well prepared though. my mum made some comments about how i shouldn't be looking for a job in the uk, and if i absolutely have to get a job in the uk, why not 'that company youu were at before'. and anyway, 'dad says the field you're looking for a job in is very narrow', i.e. why don't you become a computer programmer like i wanted all along...
so i was not in the mood for an interview. i was feeling more like applying for a full-time job at mcdonald's or jumping off a cliff just to spite her... or getting a job in sheffield, it seems like a nice distance from her...
and then they asked some questions where i just thought 'how can they possibly be asking what it sounds like they're asking, that's just too simple. the simple answer can't be the one they're looking for' and didn't answer at all. of course the simple answer was the right one. as usual, well done vicky...
after the interview i had kiwo (kinder woche, kids' week). i've agreed to help out with one of the workshops. so i'm spending an hour a day helping kids make cards. how on earth did i let myself get stuck here?!
my friend who's in charge of this particular workshop got the times mixed up and arrived 5 minutes late. the kids arrived 5 minutes early... so i spent 10 minutes freaking out, going mumbling under my breath about killing alexandra. the problem wasn't only that i simply cannot deal with kids (although that's a huge one to be going on with anyway), but that we'd been given the model for how to make the cards yesterday and alexandra took it home to work it out. so i had no clue what we were meant to be doing... i got them started colouring things in and eventually she arrived and took charge of the annoying boy who was not impressed with the colouring in. instead i got the timid one who was too timid and indecisive to do anything other than colouring in, so i pretty much did all of her card for her. ok, i can see why she claimed she couldn't draw palm trees: at the end she drew some waves (copied them after i drew them on a piece of scrap paper for her). they weren't really wavey, more like jagged... and she's coming back tomorrow to finish the card off! oh noooo! i really don't do well with kids...
they seemed impressed with my experience and knowledge. you can really tell the difference: at interviews in switzerland the people doing the interviewing have been to the eth themselves and aren't particularly impressed, cause they've been there, done that and bought the t-shirt. in the uk, they aren't so jaded and can still appreciate that the stuff we're taught here and the practical stuff we do is pretty unique. annoying jaded swiss engineers!
i wasn't very well prepared though. my mum made some comments about how i shouldn't be looking for a job in the uk, and if i absolutely have to get a job in the uk, why not 'that company youu were at before'. and anyway, 'dad says the field you're looking for a job in is very narrow', i.e. why don't you become a computer programmer like i wanted all along...
so i was not in the mood for an interview. i was feeling more like applying for a full-time job at mcdonald's or jumping off a cliff just to spite her... or getting a job in sheffield, it seems like a nice distance from her...
and then they asked some questions where i just thought 'how can they possibly be asking what it sounds like they're asking, that's just too simple. the simple answer can't be the one they're looking for' and didn't answer at all. of course the simple answer was the right one. as usual, well done vicky...
after the interview i had kiwo (kinder woche, kids' week). i've agreed to help out with one of the workshops. so i'm spending an hour a day helping kids make cards. how on earth did i let myself get stuck here?!
my friend who's in charge of this particular workshop got the times mixed up and arrived 5 minutes late. the kids arrived 5 minutes early... so i spent 10 minutes freaking out, going mumbling under my breath about killing alexandra. the problem wasn't only that i simply cannot deal with kids (although that's a huge one to be going on with anyway), but that we'd been given the model for how to make the cards yesterday and alexandra took it home to work it out. so i had no clue what we were meant to be doing... i got them started colouring things in and eventually she arrived and took charge of the annoying boy who was not impressed with the colouring in. instead i got the timid one who was too timid and indecisive to do anything other than colouring in, so i pretty much did all of her card for her. ok, i can see why she claimed she couldn't draw palm trees: at the end she drew some waves (copied them after i drew them on a piece of scrap paper for her). they weren't really wavey, more like jagged... and she's coming back tomorrow to finish the card off! oh noooo! i really don't do well with kids...
Labels: interviews, job search, kids - arrgghh
If you end up with the job, I'll be able to come see you when i go home (although that isn't that often).
--> 'dad says the field you're looking for a job in is very narrow'
Yeah but it's a neat combination of algebra and plumbing. Plus the salaries are low so it encourages a non-materialistic life-style.
I'm good ;-)
Patrice
» Post a Comment
I moderate comments, so they won't appear straight away. PLEASE don't leave ten versions of the same comment... ;-)
© 2006 I am NOT SWISS and I DON'T SOUND SWISS either!
Blogger Templates by GeckoandFly.