The Fires of Interviews
July 24th, 2007
Okay.. so.. In a previous post I mentioned how I had a VERY important phone call at 4pm. Well, that call was a phone interview with EA Mythic (Formerly Mythic Entertainment) a well respected computer game developer in Fairfax, VA. It went very well. I know this because at the end of the call the interviewer said, “I liked your answers to some of my questions. I would like you to come in for a face-to-face.” This was how my vacation started. I was on cloud 9 the entire time.
I would have to wait a week before I heard back from Mythic. During that week I was a mess. Every time the phone rang I would jump. Just when I thought they had forgotten about me, I get a phone call. I spend about a half hour on the phone going through another phone interview (during which I was very confused… I thought I would be coming in for a face-to-face). This new guy was very nice as well, and even told me that the first guy to whom I had spoken only had positive things to say about me. I decided that was a very good sign, and calmed down a bit 
At the end of that second phone interview we scheduled a date for me to come down to the office. They usually fly people in from the west coast, so they like to make the most of their interview day. This meant that I would be interviewing from 10AM until about 2PM with lunch (provided by them) in the middle. I have never had that kind of interview experience. I was completely overwhelmed. When I first sat down with them they told me, “You wouldn’t be sitting here if I didn’t think you could do the job. This is to see how well you would fit in with us.” That both relieved me, and scared me immeasurably. Fitting in is such a subjective aspect. I wasn’t really sure what to expect.
The gauntlet of interviews (there were 5 of them in total, including the informal lunch interview and the HR guy at the end) broke me down and built me back up again. By the time I walked out of the building I was even more excited than when I first walked in. I now had to wait over the weekend to see if anything would come of it. I was told that they were making decisions quickly because they had fast approaching deadlines that they needed to meet, therefore once they had run things through the VP of Development I would hear … SOMEthing.
The weekend went by…
Monday came and I got a phone call. It was the HR guy. He was calling me to tell me I would hear something Tuesday or Wednesday. Talk about keeping me on the edge!!
Tuesday comes… I don’t hear anything. I start imagining every possible thing that would make them hate me. My friends here at work are on the verge of smacking me.
Wednesday comes. They call. They offer me a job! I was soooooooooo excited!! I have to hold it all in though, because I need to wait until I have the actual paperwork in my hand.
Thursday comes. I keep calling John to check the mail… they overnighted the offer package and I was worried it would get locked away in our building manager’s office. john finally gets a hold of it. I go home that night and go over the offer with John. I sign the acceptance letter and put it in the mail. I was a nervous wreck, let me tell you.
Friday comes, and I have the horrible duty of giving notice. This was one of the worst days of my life. I have been here for 10 years. Most of the same people are still here as when I first came in. This has become like an extended family. Everyone is so nice, and we all get along so well. The workplace is so pleasant and has such a great atmosphere because we all get along so well. I’m afraid of leaving this all behind.
A friend of mine called this my Brass Ring, and I would have been a fool not to try and grab it. Well… I grabbed it, alright! Now my life changes completely as I start down an entirely new path in my life. I will come into contact with a whole new set of people, problems, obstacles, joys, and rewards. I pray that I will be successful and that I can make my friends and family proud of me.
My first day with Mythic will be Monday, August 6, 2007. I can’t wait!!
