My last round of interviews was tough. Oh, let's be honest. Mucho suckie. First, jobs even tangentially related to my background were few and far between. Secondly, the last time I had put myself out on the job market I was in my early/mid-30s. Now I was in my mid 40s, and the age thing did not play to my advantage.
Only a handful of interviews came with that magical "clicking" sound track. Mostly, it was pure silence as I sat there dumbstruck listening to their expectations and what they were offering. Even in this harsh economy, it was crazy insulting.
As hard as it was, I tried to be OK with the click count as it's there as much for me (us) as it is for them. Don't give away all your power, especially not at the beginning. Being older, I know my strengths AND weaknesses. I don't tolerate fools quite as readily these days, and I met my quota for crummy jobs a long time ago. I wasn't interested in a redo.
What I do is less important to me than who I do it with. Work tends to become all-consuming for me, and if my co-workers make me miserable, I'm not going to do a good job, no matter what it is. In one click-deprived interview I ended up putting an end to it. The interviewer/future boss informed me that he was an impatient, high-powered, go getter and I had to have a thick skin to work for him. I don't. Thick skin, I mean. I expect people to be adults. I expect them to be decent to one another, and I was oddly thankful that he was as truthful as he was. I don't want to work for someone like that, and I told him as much.
I've been at my current job for nine months and it is much more stressful than ever anticipated. Ridiculous workload, bizarre expectations, belligerent clients, can put in 12 hour days, work six days a week and not even come close to getting caught up. But I do like my co-workers. Thank the gods I like my co-workers. It's a good work culture with very little game playing and it values honesty and integrity. I figure the rest will come around . . .eventually. (Got my hopes pegged on 2032. That's going to be my year!)
I apologize for allowing this to become such a self-indulgently long post, but I do believe that chemistry matters. Not just for them, but for us. Trust it and listen to your intuition. That you had one excellent, chemistry-rich experience is just great . . . my strong, strong hunch is that you will be one of the finalist. The other one, eghhh, whatever. It happens. It's ultimately a gift as you won't be having to spend your days with people with whom you fundamentally don't connect with and who make you feel out of sorts. Phew! Dodged that bullet . . . .
