Just got back from the longest, most thorough job interview I've ever undergone. Man, these people at Bo-ny are thorough! Basically, I was interviewed by four people with a fifth person (an intern) spectating. The main interviewer was the HR Senior Officer. She was very good at asking lots of pointed questions that made me feel on the spot. The kind that there is only one "correct" answer to and if you don't hit it you're back-peddling and trying to regain ground. Things like: What do you expect from Bo-ny? How do you think this interview is going? What do you want to do with your life? Why do you think this job is for you? Can you see yourself answering calls all day long? How long could you see yourself doing this kind of job? You say you're easy-going and relaxed, does that mean your work is easy-going and relaxed? Stuff like that.

I was also interviewed by call-center operations manager who asked me similarly pointed questions, but more related to the particular details of the job. Things like: Why do you think you can do this job? Are you the type of person we're looking for? Thinking about your experience of this interview so far, what does it tell you about us? When I spoke he looked at me very intently. He laid everything out brutally honest and plain which was nice. The only thing they were missing was a hard, direct light shining in my face and a two-way mirror.

They also brought in the engineer who had graded my "technical test" (which took me about an hour to complete). He cross-examined me on the answers that I had gotten wrong or had not answered completely. Gave me a chance to redeem myself and/or prove further knowledge. He did say I did well on the test and that I had a strong, well-rounded knowledge of IT, but I had just been incorrect on some of the details.

Then they had one of the other Swedish employees come in to talk to me. There are only one or two of them, so they definitely need more. This guy had only been there for about two weeks. They couldn't test his Swedish, but they used him to test mine. We just chit-chatted about whatever, they had no idea what we were saying. I'm sure they'll take him aside later to ask what he thought of my speaking ability. Have to admit, I'm a bit rusty. I kept mixing in Danish words and having to throw in an English word once in a while. On a five-point scale, I'd give myself a three. It's going to take me a little time to get the Swedish part of my brain working again. And after that, I have to work on losing my Danish/American accent.

The interview session took almost three hours. Three hours of having to stay completely aware of my body language, my appearance, and my every uttered syllable. I generally have no problem answering questions and being honest, but when my answers strongly affect the outcome of something that directly applies to me, it's a different story. I am exhausted! But I do feel pretty good about the interview. I scored well on the test and I held my ground pretty well during the inquisition. Despite feeling extremely self-conscious, I did feel comfortable talking to them because they were all friendly, easy-going, open people.

The manager told me that I would be contacted tomorrow or Thursday about whether or not I got the job. If yes, I have to come in on Monday at 9 to begin training. If no, they will tell me why. They need to have a meeting first, to deliberate on my candidacy. They sure put a lot of effort into making sure they get the right person, don't they?

--RP--