The tie that Binds, Part 2
Whoo! What a day of interviews yesterday! I started off with S., the Director of Network Engineers at Binder. She was interesting. She surprised me by asking if I was all geared up to do my presentation. Gulp! Presentation? Well, it seems that I missed a voice-mail at home about that, so I was totally unprepared. Luckily, she saw that right away and waved it off until another time. If I made it that far… It was a pretty standard interview otherwise. She mainly went over stuff that R. had already told me. But, she did keep hammering away at me to get me to ask questions. I didn’t really have any to ask her, but I tried my feeble best. She also surprised me by asking why I was “taking a step backward” in my career. That one caught me by surprise. Until then, I hadn’t really thought of it as a step backward. Honestly, I had thought of it as a total step sideways, but not backward. Hmm, I’ll have to give that one some thought.
The interview with P., the Regional Director of Sales, went better, I think. He was very relaxed and open. He was not what I think of as a “typical” salesman. He was really low-pressure and personable. Of course, that is one sales technique that is growing in popularity. Anyway, we talked about all the sales aspects of the position and how I might fit into it. He asked some of the standard interview questions, too, but I think he was mainly trying to get a feel for my personality. He also told me about the way they’re reorganizing the sales-networking setup. He explained that S. was new to Binder and that they were still working out the new Sales-to-Network ratios. It should mean less travel for the Network Engineers when it gets all worked out. That was good news!
Finally, I talked to C., who is an Engineer already. He was mainly excited to find someone who was as crazy about Japan, martial-arts and anime as he is! (Check out my Interests on my Resume, for details.) After we got a feel for out mutual obsession levels, we got down to the actual interview. Again, it was pretty standard stuff, but I did get to ask questions of someone who actually does what I would be doing. The good news is that Binder really does supply the training that they promise. Now that is refreshing! Also, he reinforced for me just how great all the benefits were at Binder. Not to mention the fact that part of my salary would be tied to how well the Salesman that I work with do. Obviously not as big a portion as the Salesmen themselves, but still it’s a nice bonus.
I also met someone from Sales on the way down in the elevator. She was nice, too, even if she was a little too “bubbly” for my taste. Still, she was open and friendly like you’d expect someone in Sales to be, but more so. That seemed to be a kind of theme with the people who have worked at Binder for a while. They all seem to get into a kind of relaxed and laid back mode that’s really refreshing. It makes it tempting… Ooops, there I go again, assuming that I’m going to get an offer. Well, we’ll see what happens. I’m still not sure if this is the right move for me. It would be totally different than what I’ve done. And, I’m not sure about the travel, either. Though, they all told me that it would be reduced down to 50%, or less. I’m pretty sure they’re going to make me some kind of offer, but we’ll just have to see I guess.
I left T. at DÜT a message to call me back on Monday. I’d really like to get another interview series going before I get an offer from Binder. I’m hoping that it will be a position that I’m interested in, too. It sounded more like what I have been doing, and I think I might be more comfortable with that. I haven’t really decided about the position at Binder, yet, but I’m starting to have second thoughts because of what S. said. If she sees it as a step backward, how many other people will, too?
