Despite the good news, I'm still getting over the shock of the whole process of seeking employment. Too many companies have personnel that can't write a decent job description, or don't know how to interview. I saw too many descriptions that had horrible grammatical errors and spelling mistakes, or were terribly vague in what they wanted. Worse, if you pointed out the problems they'd get offended. One company I interviewed with on the phone had the most professional job descriptions I'd seen and I let them know that. Though I didn't get the job, I was pleased to have passed on the compliment.

Interviewing is a tough skill. Too many interviews I went to sounded like the interviewer had thumbed through a help book and copied the questions. "Why do you want to work for us?" "What are your strengths and weaknesses?" I had fun though throwing the same questions back: "What do YOU like about working for this company?" "What don't you like?"

What too many interviewers fail to realize is what they are interviewing for and that is not just competency but does the candidate fit the company environment. Do they get along with people. Most people who lose their jobs all get some training in dealing with interviews and specifically the same questions that get asked by novice interviewers. The best interviews I had focused little on my competencies because they could see that in my resume. Instead, they sought out whether I was personable.

Too many companies have problems which are solvable but don't give the employees the means to achieve the solutions. Too often an interviewer would say something like "we want to automate this process but can't because of all this other work." I'd suggest tools and a methodology to reduce the other work but the interviewer would inevitably say "we'd like to but can't because the company won't give us the budget." So, in essence, I was being asked to get involved in to a futile, frustrating position of fighting fires while the Executives gave themselves fat bonuses. No thanks.

OK, you may say "Mahatma, if you're so damn great why didn't you get a job sooner? Why did it take you nearly a year?" Part of it was that I was grossly overqualified for many positions and my previous salary was grossly too high for others. Too many companies wanted my experience but didn't want to pay for it. Others, well, I don't know.

But it worked out and life is good.