My big interview

I think it went really well.

The company I interviewed with is kind of like a cult. They have a *huge* amount of land in a suburb of Wisconsin where they have a campus of interconnected, geothermally-heated buildings. There are currently six work buildings, and they are all decorated very uniquely (the buildings have different architectural and decorational themes). The conference rooms are amazing. Maybe you think it's weird to get excited about a conference room. I think you just have to see them to know what I mean. They are huge and comfortable and pretty.

Anyway, the company has a really lax atmosphere. No dress code, no one gets hired in as a manager, and so on. Every employee gets his own office. They have a cafeteria with really cheap ($3) lunches. Oh, and they've experienced ~30% annual growth over the past 10 years with no sign of slowing down, especially with the passing of the stimulus package (which affects them a lot). I definitely like the company's foundations.

I also like the work I'd be doing. The position I originally applied for was in Implementation Services, where I'd know a lot about the software and I'd travel to installation sites to customize the software for the client and make sure everything goes smoothly. They always have their prospective employees take a test to make sure they will be able to understand the necessary coding. I did so well on the test that they moved me from implementation services to software development! That's exciting because I wasn't crazy about all the traveling, I've always wanted to try software development, and software developers make more money (minimum of $65k!) and have the lowest turnover rate at the company.

So, I like the company, I think I'll like the work, they like me enough to put me in a $600 hotel room for the night, and they are financially poised to hire me. The only drawback is that they are in Madison while my wife has to stay in Chicago to finish her Ph. D. The two cities are only about 3 hours apart, and my wife only has a little longer than a year before she's done, so it's workable and temporary.