Aaah, to be a Japanese Salaryman!

I went for Interview #4 today - with a large, private corporation. I thought I'd delve into something more than social justice, just to test the waters and see if I could return to such a world...this particular job is not the way to do it, but the interview alone left a slightly acidic taste in my mouth...let me just say, that they called ME and I did NOT apply for this position...the dangers of randomly putting one's CV on Monster!

Let me break it down:

1. The job is for a project coordinator - working with a number of IT projects. Basically, shepherding IT project managers (PMs) to meet project outputs and goals. Very, very boring work any-which way you look at it. But good pay!

2. 98% of the PMs, at this particular corporation, are Indians from the South of India. And I mean, right off the boat from India...they all speak various south Indian languages as they walk around the halls and the women ALL wore salwar churidar (not to be confused with the north Indian salwar kameez)! A lot of sly, male looks were given my way...I felt like I was traveling through India on my own again...

2. One of the important skills for the job is to be an effective communicator. One of my tasks would be to attend numerous meetings between the PMs and the VPs of this corp., (who appear to be all WASPs) and basically guide the PMs through the meeting – stepping in when necessary - an explaining or interpreting what they are saying to the VPs.

The interviewers (two nice boys from Denver) explained that it is often difficult for the VPs to grasp what the "brains" (i.e. the PMs from India) are saying. They meant tech jargon and not accents...I hope!

3. I was asked to give examples of projects I have coordinated – preferably ones that I've seen through a whole cycle...I gave two examples, of course both international. One was Lebanon. They asked if we met the project deadline. I said we met the project deliverables ("X" amount of persons evacuated) but that the project was extended due to the continued shelling of Beirut.

They said: Aah, so you didn't meet the proposed time deadline?

I said: "Well, the war/crisis went on longer than foreseen by the Israelis or the rest of the international community: the stakeholders in the project (the EU, IOM member states, the Lebanese, the Israelis etc) foresaw a possible extension but hoped to avoid it"

They said: Hmmmm…But you didn't deliver the goals in the set timeframe?

I said: You could say that - though working with stakeholders who are sovereign states is different from working with private companies.

The head interviewer, one of the nice boys from Denver, said:

"I GUESS THAT IS WHY THIS WAR (IRAQ) HAS BEEN HANDED TO PRIVATE COMPANIES, SO THAT DELIVERABLES CAN BE ASSURED".

I said nothing and gave them my best fake smile.

I don't think I'm (1) getting this job; (2) taking this job

They also asked me if Brussels was colder or warmer than LA in temperature/weather. I laughed and said Brussels was rainy but the surfing was better.

And that my friends is really dependent on what you want from your waves, because as well ALL know, its the motion of the ocean and not the size of the waves that matter:
http://www.globalsurfers.com/spot.cfm?land=Belgium&surfing=246