Well, yesterday I had my job interview at the web & marketing agency. It seemed to go well — they liked my quirky personality and my writing and editing background, but they were less than enthused about my lack of solid programming experience. They said I still have a shot, but they need to weigh the pros and cons of having someone on staff who can write and edit copy but is only really half a programmer, vs. someone who’s really good at programming and can dive right in to their big queue of projects that need to be coded. Which is understandable.
The place had a fun, geeky-hipster vibe and it did feel like a great fit, personality-wise, and they’re getting ready to move into an office in the hipster/yuppie district of downtown that sounds like my dream office. And I would definitely have plenty of opportunity to grow my skills as a developer. The starting pay is less than I was hoping for, but there would be opportunity for raises as I increase my skills and prove myself, and they’re cool with me continuing to freelance on the side for extra income as long as I don’t do it on company time or with company equipment (natch).
The only real con that’s making me hesitant about it is that they don’t have a group insurance plan. They do help cover premiums for individual plans, but we were really hoping for a group plan. I’d like for there to at least be an option for maternity coverage if I ever need it, for one thing, and Matt really wants to get off of Medicare before it goes all to heck. So on that count, I’m a little torn as to whether I should just keep looking. But in all other respects this sounds like a dream job, so if I do get an offer I’ll most likely take it.
I’ll be pretty surprised if I do get an offer, though. They still had two or three more candidates to interview, and it’s pretty likely that at least one of those will be more qualified than I am. If I don’t get it, at least now I have a better idea of what web-industry hirers in this town are looking for, and which areas I need to focus on in expanding my knowledge and skills. Now I just need to carve out some time to practice and build up my portfolio in those areas. Yay, yet something else I need to cram into my overflowing schedule!
To that end, I actually wrote out a weekly schedule, and gave myself Tuesday and Friday afternoons to work on my portfolio and learning new skills (I also gave myself a whole entire hour each morning for writing and editing–and was able to edit two entire chapters of Dominion this morning as a result. Yay!). Now if I can just make myself stick to the schedule and not get sidetracked, I’ll be all accomplishy and stuff.
Speaking of which, schedule says time’s up, get back to work. Anyway, thanks to everyone who sent me good wishes for the interview. Love!