Hate against gays has to end. This is just plain disgusting, but I guess ignorance is bliss.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
The Job Interview
I'm not so sure I'm cut out for this blog thing. I don't update enough. haha. Every time I go to write something I think I have nothing to write about. By the time a month has passed, I can rattle off list of things I should have been blogging about and didn't. Oh well. The few readers I do have will have to be okay with my sparse writing.
(This is a way longer post than I had planned. It's about my trip to Chicago for the interview, and if you've heard it before, I wouldn't waste my time reading it. haha.)
I think the last time I wrote, I was about to head to Chicago for my second round of interviews in person at Weather Command. I flew out Monday (President's Day) and made it to Chicago on time. I headed straight for Hyde Park and waited at PotBelly's while Ian finished with Workshop. It was my first time seeing the new apartment and I think it's totally awesome. Tenth floor, large living room, kitchen could be better but typical for Hyde Park, and large bedroom and the best part is the wonderful view of downtown Chicago and Lake Michigan. We spent a nice five hours together before I had to drop him off at workshop dinner on the Northside. I made my way back to drop off the car (which in retrospect, I wish I had just kept instead of taking a taxi but that's a whole nother story), and onto the hotel.
By the time I made it to the hotel, I was starting to feel pretty crappy. I had taken my temperature at Ian's because I was starting to get that - I feel weird, I think I'm getting sick- feeling. Oddly it was below normal at 98.3 F. I thought ok maybe I'm just tired from getting up early that day and traveling. Well, I knew when I got to the hotel that something was not right and all I wanted was a nice hot bath before bed. Guess what. There was no bath tub!! I couldn't believe it. It was a beautiful hotel (Indigo) but it was lacking in a tub. I eventually fell asleep only to wake up at 3 AM miserable and tossing and turning til I just gave in and got up at 6 for the interview.
To say the least, I medicated myself with sudafed and tylenol, and by the time it kicked in, I was feeling okay. Mike Doll picked me up at 8:45 and took me to the office. I met everyone working there, about 3 people at the time, and he explained generally how the office worked. It was a smaller than I had expected. The main forecasting area had four cubicles with computers all facing each other with peg board all around with different maps and such. They still do hand analysis which was nice to see. That morning they had calls coming in from the DOT from the toll road about possible snow later.
Mike and I went in for the main part of the interview in the conference room. It was pretty much what I had expected...basic questions like "why weathercommand, why do you want to forecast" and so on. There was a bit of snow forecasting in there but it went well. I met the CEO/President and he seemed nice but was very apparent he isn't involved with the everyday workings of the company. I can understand why, but I was getting the impression that he was too disconnected. Could be wrong, but just a feeling I got. Oh one question that threw me a bit was, Who is someone you admire in meteorology? I had to think quick on my feet and initially I thought Ted Fujita but went with Chuck Doswell. He sorta chuckled but I think he liked I came up with something different. He said many people had said Tom Skilling (weatherman on WGN) and Ted Fujita. haha.
Then Mike and I went to lunch. This was the part I was most nervous about. I hate small talk but have learned to deal with it over the years. Surprisingly, this part was the best part of the whole day. I think we both relaxed and just got to know each other. He was very, very honest about the company which was refreshing and reassuring that they weren't trying to seem like they were the perfect company. Most of the employees have been working there 10 years or longer and I asked him if they would have any problems with a fresh, out of college employee working with them. That got Mike on a roll about the direction of the company, and how they need something new and refreshing. He told me repeatedly throughout the conversation that I had interviewed well on both sets of interviews and that got me excited. I knew it'd come down to experience, though, so I was nervous not knowing who else was interviewing for the position.
So, it's been about three weeks. I have received one email from them saying they needed more time but would let me know early last week. Well I haven't heard yet. nothing. The funny part, though, is that they needed more time because they had an internal flu outbreak that week. Well, they most likely got it from me because by the time I got home Tuesday from the interview, I had a 101.2 F fever. I was out the rest of the week. It was awful. On top of that, I had an ear infection.
I'm back to normal, though, and the JGR paper is done. It was sent off to the co-authors last Thursday and hope to hear back from them by Friday. If we don't, we're submitting it anyway. I'm nervous about what they might say, but all I know is I worked my butt off and did the best I could.
'til next time...
(This is a way longer post than I had planned. It's about my trip to Chicago for the interview, and if you've heard it before, I wouldn't waste my time reading it. haha.)
I think the last time I wrote, I was about to head to Chicago for my second round of interviews in person at Weather Command. I flew out Monday (President's Day) and made it to Chicago on time. I headed straight for Hyde Park and waited at PotBelly's while Ian finished with Workshop. It was my first time seeing the new apartment and I think it's totally awesome. Tenth floor, large living room, kitchen could be better but typical for Hyde Park, and large bedroom and the best part is the wonderful view of downtown Chicago and Lake Michigan. We spent a nice five hours together before I had to drop him off at workshop dinner on the Northside. I made my way back to drop off the car (which in retrospect, I wish I had just kept instead of taking a taxi but that's a whole nother story), and onto the hotel.
By the time I made it to the hotel, I was starting to feel pretty crappy. I had taken my temperature at Ian's because I was starting to get that - I feel weird, I think I'm getting sick- feeling. Oddly it was below normal at 98.3 F. I thought ok maybe I'm just tired from getting up early that day and traveling. Well, I knew when I got to the hotel that something was not right and all I wanted was a nice hot bath before bed. Guess what. There was no bath tub!! I couldn't believe it. It was a beautiful hotel (Indigo) but it was lacking in a tub. I eventually fell asleep only to wake up at 3 AM miserable and tossing and turning til I just gave in and got up at 6 for the interview.
To say the least, I medicated myself with sudafed and tylenol, and by the time it kicked in, I was feeling okay. Mike Doll picked me up at 8:45 and took me to the office. I met everyone working there, about 3 people at the time, and he explained generally how the office worked. It was a smaller than I had expected. The main forecasting area had four cubicles with computers all facing each other with peg board all around with different maps and such. They still do hand analysis which was nice to see. That morning they had calls coming in from the DOT from the toll road about possible snow later.
Mike and I went in for the main part of the interview in the conference room. It was pretty much what I had expected...basic questions like "why weathercommand, why do you want to forecast" and so on. There was a bit of snow forecasting in there but it went well. I met the CEO/President and he seemed nice but was very apparent he isn't involved with the everyday workings of the company. I can understand why, but I was getting the impression that he was too disconnected. Could be wrong, but just a feeling I got. Oh one question that threw me a bit was, Who is someone you admire in meteorology? I had to think quick on my feet and initially I thought Ted Fujita but went with Chuck Doswell. He sorta chuckled but I think he liked I came up with something different. He said many people had said Tom Skilling (weatherman on WGN) and Ted Fujita. haha.
Then Mike and I went to lunch. This was the part I was most nervous about. I hate small talk but have learned to deal with it over the years. Surprisingly, this part was the best part of the whole day. I think we both relaxed and just got to know each other. He was very, very honest about the company which was refreshing and reassuring that they weren't trying to seem like they were the perfect company. Most of the employees have been working there 10 years or longer and I asked him if they would have any problems with a fresh, out of college employee working with them. That got Mike on a roll about the direction of the company, and how they need something new and refreshing. He told me repeatedly throughout the conversation that I had interviewed well on both sets of interviews and that got me excited. I knew it'd come down to experience, though, so I was nervous not knowing who else was interviewing for the position.
So, it's been about three weeks. I have received one email from them saying they needed more time but would let me know early last week. Well I haven't heard yet. nothing. The funny part, though, is that they needed more time because they had an internal flu outbreak that week. Well, they most likely got it from me because by the time I got home Tuesday from the interview, I had a 101.2 F fever. I was out the rest of the week. It was awful. On top of that, I had an ear infection.
I'm back to normal, though, and the JGR paper is done. It was sent off to the co-authors last Thursday and hope to hear back from them by Friday. If we don't, we're submitting it anyway. I'm nervous about what they might say, but all I know is I worked my butt off and did the best I could.
'til next time...
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