Alan's Skew

Interview Last Friday

I had an interview for a six-month contract on Friday, March 5th, with a large financial services company. Their headquarters are in Boston, but this position is at a facility in Marlborough, about 35 miles west of Boston. I think the interview went well. The three phase project sounds pretty interesting: first, leading a team to decide the what and where of using identical data field labels across a range of product web sites which all serve slightly different groups of customers. Next, mine the sites for terminology, compile a glossary, and then help the content teams update their sites; and finally, set and implement standards for language in instructional and procedural text on all of the sites.

Okay, I'll admit it, this probably only sounds "interesting" to me.

Regardless, it sounds like more than six month's worth of work, so if I'm hired and make steady progress, it could likely turn into a much longer term of solid work. On top of that, it involves working with all levels of teams, including senior managers and VPs, in all of their institutional service groups. This means that if I do well on it I'll not only know a lot about their businesses and the industry lingo, but I'll also have a motherlode of contacts on whom to call for future contract work and references.

The hiring manager said they would make a decision within two weeks. Here's hoping I get called in for a second interview.