American Dreaming - 1990's / Part III

I entered the job interview dressed in all my adult clothes and armed with several rehearsed lines of rationale on why/how I would be the best person for this job along with what my salary requirements were going to be. I knew in the back of my mind that if I got this job, it would eventually lead to a re-location to this unfamiliar city. After having spent the whole of my life in rather rural environs, this would lead to a taste of urban life (at least some measure of urban life… it was a small city). I was both apprehensive and somewhat excited about the prospect of essentially a new career with this job being the initial jumping off point for that new life.

The face-to-face interview was actually a second interview with this organization. I had a phone interview several days preceding this and apparently garnered enough interest that they wanted a “second look”. It was to take place in a very small annexed section of what was once a shirt factory on the riverfront in the city of Troy, NY. The building looked like it had definitely seen better days. The annex wing was a newer build onto the structure which otherwise consisted of a rough brick facing that was in need of a facelift (the paint was visibly peeling).

I entered the building and was immediately struck by a whirlwind of activity. There seemed to be laborers and contractors everywhere. The office structure was literally being built as business was being conducted. Well, business of interviewing prospective job applicants anyway. I was pretty sure there wasn’t any other type of business even possible given the lack of infrastructure visibly apparent to me within my first impression.

I was greeted by a receptionist who was dressed sharply and in a business fashion situated behind what appeared to be a folding table with a tablecloth covering. She was sitting on what appeared to be one of a half dozen or so folding chairs in her workspace and in the waiting area. I must admit I was a tad taken back by the temporary furniture and lack of carpeting and indeed some wall coverings but I was fascinated (and impressed) by all the activity that was abuzz within my current perspective. I was told that the gentleman I was there to meet with would be free in a matter of a few minutes so I sat down in one of the folding chairs and began a mental inventory of the points I wanted to make once I got into the interview.

In a short while I was greeted by a gentleman (my eventual interviewer) who was to become the eventual COO for the business unit that was being constructed (as we spoke). I was given some background as to the purpose and plan for the business unit and finally we discussed the actual position that I was applying for.

The job title was that of a data analyst. The job description indicated that the responsibilities for the position would include (among other things) analyzing operational data for management reporting. The interviewer explained that because this was very much a start up operation that there was likely going to be a large amount of flux in both the working conditions as well as a lot of the tasks that would be assigned to all of the staff assigned to the working group. I knew little of working in a corporate environment within an IT function but the idea of building something from scratch with what appeared to be a lot of autonomy was very appealing to me.

We were interrupted a few times by workers who would basically knock on the door, enter the room and either report on details of tasks to my host or to ask questions. My host would graciously excuse himself from our conversation and promptly make decisions or give guidance and then return his attention back to our interview. About the third time this occurred I noticed a sly smile come onto his face. I wasn’t sure if he amused at the turn of events that continued to plague our interview or basically what his impressions were of me.

Another interaction took place where one of the electricians that were working in the space entered the room and was looking to connect electrical and data cabling to the desk that my host was sitting at. In order to accomplish this, he was in need of either a ladder or some type of stepstool. He turned to me and asked if he could utilize the chair I was sitting in. I stood up, offered him the chair, he completed his task and then my eye caught my interviewers eye and we shared a good laugh at the absolute insane circumstances that kept us from what was generally a pleasant interview. We discussed what my career goals were. I told him that I was very interested in developing my database and analysis skills and that I was also interested (at some point) in entering management. The manner in which he handled the chaos and our disjointed conversation impressed me greatly. I didn’t know it at that point in the game but, this person would become one of my mentors in my career (and life) over the next five or six years.

The conversation then turned towards salary discussions. I had prepared (and rehearsed for the 100 mile trip to the interview) what my rationale was for the asking salary that I was going to relay once the conversation got to this point. I explained first that my current conditions were two jobs (working out of title in a driver’s position but laboring within an IT function at one of the state facilities along with pumping gas a local gas station in the evenings.) and that I lived 100 miles away. My combined salary at that point was just under $20K. My next line of logic was going to be to combine the two salaries and add on a good measure for the transportation costs to arrive at my asking price but before I could get those words out, my interviewer stated…

“Well, let’s see what we can do to get you down to one job. What would you say if I offered you $33,000 / yr to start the position with. This was about $10K more than I was going to ask for.

I immediately replied (without thinking or considering negotiations), “I would say that you’ve found yourself a data analyst.”

He smiled, shook my hand and then proceeded to take me on a quick tour of the office space that would eventually house the operating unit. We went into the bowels of the shirt factory building and up to the 2nd floor of that 8 story building. The first thing that I noticed when the elevator doors opened was that there was no wall on the north end of the building, only a gaping hole that opened up onto a parking lot. I must admit this was a bit disconcerting. He stated that the plan was to have the office operational in four weeks. Not wanted to show concern (although I had many), I simply nodded my head. We agreed that I would be starting in two weeks time, he led me back through the maze of work areas to the annex and we exchanged good-byes.

As I was walking back to the parking lot, I was filled with a whole slew of conflicting emotions. I was excited, apprehensive, thrilled with the prospect of the salary change, scared of the other changes that all of this was about to bring to my family and myself.

---Jim