: Interviews in New York :
It was a very productive trip to New York. All in all, I met with the four agencies I had scheduled interviews with, and all of them were positive to varying degrees. The first agency was about the same size as my old firm. The interview was very formal, with specific questions asked from three women, all four of us crowded into a tiny office. It should come as no surprise that space is much more at a premium in New York than it is in Houston. Regardless, I felt that the interview was rather stiff and formal, but they were impressed with my work and I thought I answered their questions adequately. I also have to complete their writing test tomorrow and send it back to them.
The second interview was actually in the same building, but off a different elevator. This firm is somewhat larger than my old firm, with a west coast office and one in London. It struck me as being the closest cultural match to my former company, with the founder still taking an active role in the business (I met him, along with three other people, separately). They have a larger and much nicer office than the first firm - marbled lobby, glass walls and doors on offices for the higher-ups, but the cube zones between the two firms were about equal. The second interview was a lot more relaxed than the first, and the people seemed friendlier to me.
The third interview was with a small boutique firm of only seven people in a loft located in the fashion district. In fact, there were rolling racks of dresses crowding the building entrance, bound for some company in the same building. The advantage of being in a small firm having greater opportunity for advancement and achieving an equity stake (ownership) of the business someday. The downside is greater risk of the company losing a big client and being laid off as a result. The other drawback is that since all the employees are in one room with no cubes at all, there's absolutely no privacy.
I showed up for my fourth interview an hour early, so I went back downstairs and had a hot chocolate at the nearby Starbucks. When I came back, two of the three elevators were stuck, one at the lobby level with people trapped inside. The building superintendent was trying to get the elevator door open, but without success. When he went downstairs to get some tools, the trapped people knocked and asked how things were coming, so I answered that he had gone downstairs. I think I heard a collective groan in response. So of course when the one remaining elevator finally came to take me to the 20th floor, it was with some trepidation that I got in...
The fourth interview was with the PR headhunter, which was much more relaxed than with the agencies. She didn't even want to see my portfolio. She wanted to know more about my skills and what kind of job I was looking for, to see if I would match with any of her clients that were looking for a PR/Marketing person. She seemed to imply that there may be an opportunity with a local utility, which might be a good fit with me, given my background with electric utilities.
The final interview was with a big firm in a big building with a rather overzealous security checkpoint. The lobby had electronic gates to pass through by using a cardkey, so I gave my name to the security guard and let him know my business. He asked for a photo ID - I couldn't give him my old ID! He would undoubtedly call up to the company and announce me with my legal name. I told him that I didn't have my ID, but all I had was my resume. So I had to call up to the office myself and ask them to put my name on the entry list.
I met with a vice president in charge of the company's largest account, the woman who needed a right-hand person to help her run the account. We hit it off right away. The client has some connections to the energy business, and the VP said I "spoke her language" when I talked about the work I've done writing white papers and case studies about the natural gas liquids, jet fuel and coal markets. She didn't even really look at my portfolio much - we just talked and talked - twice, she remarked that she had to leave for another appointment, yet we continued to find more things to talk about. Her office was almost as big as my entire apartment, complete with three couches, chairs, tables and her desk. It reminded me of Gordon Gekko's office in the Oliver Stone movie Wall Street.
So of the four agencies I interviewed with, I liked the last one the best because the job seemed to be the most closely aligned with my current skill set. I would be making a lateral move with the fourth agency - the others would probably choose to bring me in at a lower position, because of the way their titles are structured. But basically, I just felt a stronger connection with the last VP - we shared some common experiences with our different clients, and despite spending only two hours together, by the end we were finishing each other's sentences.
My former boss and mentor Ben also called me directly after the final interview and let me know that the first agency had already called him for a reference. His feedback for me was that they seemed to have a hard time understanding how someone like me, who seemed so reserved and demure to them, could have the personality to account for the results I was presenting. He hypothesized (and I tended to agree) that I was making such an effort to be feminine that I was not letting my core personality show through. It is indeed a tricky balance in creating an entirely new identity by incorporating the best of my old identity, new things that I've learned about myself in the past year, and packaging it in such a way that I can pass, both to myself and to others, as female. Passing to store clerks and strangers is one thing. But based on the feedback from my first interview, I still have yet to master the presentation that comes from not "acting feminine," but rather just "being female."
Nevertheless, the good news is that I felt very comfortable in all my interviews, and I didn't have any problems with people looking at me funny or seeming to be uneasy with my appearance or demeanor. There should be a lot of things happening in the next few days. Three of the four firms said they wanted to make a decision within the week. Hopefully I'll get one or two job offers to consider before the month is out.
The second interview was actually in the same building, but off a different elevator. This firm is somewhat larger than my old firm, with a west coast office and one in London. It struck me as being the closest cultural match to my former company, with the founder still taking an active role in the business (I met him, along with three other people, separately). They have a larger and much nicer office than the first firm - marbled lobby, glass walls and doors on offices for the higher-ups, but the cube zones between the two firms were about equal. The second interview was a lot more relaxed than the first, and the people seemed friendlier to me.
The third interview was with a small boutique firm of only seven people in a loft located in the fashion district. In fact, there were rolling racks of dresses crowding the building entrance, bound for some company in the same building. The advantage of being in a small firm having greater opportunity for advancement and achieving an equity stake (ownership) of the business someday. The downside is greater risk of the company losing a big client and being laid off as a result. The other drawback is that since all the employees are in one room with no cubes at all, there's absolutely no privacy.
I showed up for my fourth interview an hour early, so I went back downstairs and had a hot chocolate at the nearby Starbucks. When I came back, two of the three elevators were stuck, one at the lobby level with people trapped inside. The building superintendent was trying to get the elevator door open, but without success. When he went downstairs to get some tools, the trapped people knocked and asked how things were coming, so I answered that he had gone downstairs. I think I heard a collective groan in response. So of course when the one remaining elevator finally came to take me to the 20th floor, it was with some trepidation that I got in...
The fourth interview was with the PR headhunter, which was much more relaxed than with the agencies. She didn't even want to see my portfolio. She wanted to know more about my skills and what kind of job I was looking for, to see if I would match with any of her clients that were looking for a PR/Marketing person. She seemed to imply that there may be an opportunity with a local utility, which might be a good fit with me, given my background with electric utilities.
The final interview was with a big firm in a big building with a rather overzealous security checkpoint. The lobby had electronic gates to pass through by using a cardkey, so I gave my name to the security guard and let him know my business. He asked for a photo ID - I couldn't give him my old ID! He would undoubtedly call up to the company and announce me with my legal name. I told him that I didn't have my ID, but all I had was my resume. So I had to call up to the office myself and ask them to put my name on the entry list.
I met with a vice president in charge of the company's largest account, the woman who needed a right-hand person to help her run the account. We hit it off right away. The client has some connections to the energy business, and the VP said I "spoke her language" when I talked about the work I've done writing white papers and case studies about the natural gas liquids, jet fuel and coal markets. She didn't even really look at my portfolio much - we just talked and talked - twice, she remarked that she had to leave for another appointment, yet we continued to find more things to talk about. Her office was almost as big as my entire apartment, complete with three couches, chairs, tables and her desk. It reminded me of Gordon Gekko's office in the Oliver Stone movie Wall Street.
So of the four agencies I interviewed with, I liked the last one the best because the job seemed to be the most closely aligned with my current skill set. I would be making a lateral move with the fourth agency - the others would probably choose to bring me in at a lower position, because of the way their titles are structured. But basically, I just felt a stronger connection with the last VP - we shared some common experiences with our different clients, and despite spending only two hours together, by the end we were finishing each other's sentences.
My former boss and mentor Ben also called me directly after the final interview and let me know that the first agency had already called him for a reference. His feedback for me was that they seemed to have a hard time understanding how someone like me, who seemed so reserved and demure to them, could have the personality to account for the results I was presenting. He hypothesized (and I tended to agree) that I was making such an effort to be feminine that I was not letting my core personality show through. It is indeed a tricky balance in creating an entirely new identity by incorporating the best of my old identity, new things that I've learned about myself in the past year, and packaging it in such a way that I can pass, both to myself and to others, as female. Passing to store clerks and strangers is one thing. But based on the feedback from my first interview, I still have yet to master the presentation that comes from not "acting feminine," but rather just "being female."
Nevertheless, the good news is that I felt very comfortable in all my interviews, and I didn't have any problems with people looking at me funny or seeming to be uneasy with my appearance or demeanor. There should be a lot of things happening in the next few days. Three of the four firms said they wanted to make a decision within the week. Hopefully I'll get one or two job offers to consider before the month is out.
