My Job Interview with Sikorsky

The interview itself was very informal. I met first with Dennis, my friend who got me the interview in the first place. He asked me a few basic questions about technical aspects and explained the job and structure of the databases I'd be working with. He started to draw a diagram on the back of my resume and, when I pointed out I had blank paper, suddenly realized what it was he was about to draw on.

It was a little strange having him do part of the interview not only because I know him, but also because he'd ask me a simple question, I'd answer it, and he'd say something along the lines of, "Perfect! You'd be surprised how many people can't answer that." In one case, he told me of interviewing some woman who was supposed to be an expert SQL user. (SQL, or Structured Query Language, is the language used to get information from a database.) He said he'd asked her the same really basic question and she'd been unable to answer it. The question was really basic, too. Anyone who's ever done anything with SQL should have been able to answer it.

After about 15 or 20 minutes, Dennis told me I'd passed his test and he went to find Larry (his boss) for the second part of the interview. After asking me if I knew anything about the database system used by the company and hearing that I didn't really, he turned my resume over and drew a diagram on the back of it. I guess it was a good thing that I'd had Dennis leave that spot blank for him earlier. :-)

In the course of talking to Larry, he told me that what had actually interested him in me in the first place was my background in math. They have a need for someone who can help predict when they should start making parts that take years to make but cost lots of money to store, so he was hoping I could do some basic data analysis and come up with a system for making such predictions. (They have had several software vendors claim that they had a solution for him, but the were all, in his word, "shit".)

He finished by telling me that he wasn't looking at anyone else for the job and that, in fact, until Dennis told him about my math background in a totally unrelated conversation, he hadn't been looking for anybody. He wants me to start working as a contractor with the company this spring; this would be part time work done whenever I could around my other work schedule and my class schedule. If everything works out, I could become full-time with the company as early as July. There are no benefits while doing the contract work, but upon transferring to full-time, I would get full benefits--including having Sikorsky pay for my tuition, fees, and required texts while I complete my degree!

There are details to iron out and all, but it looks like I'll be working for Sikorsky before long, doing both data analysis and some application development for them. :-)