Interviews...

I completed a degree with honors in software engineering recently. Normally, a new college graduate would be interviewing for that first job, but I am (very) gainfully employed and besides, 25 years of experience means I've already had my first job. and second, and third...
Over the years, I've interviewed folks and been interviewed many times. I was thinking about a couple of silly incidents that show there are some real challenges out there. The "real world" is not always "real" as you'll see!
The estimate: A middle-level supervisor once asked me to estimate a fairly significant enhancement to a commercial banking software package. I knew exactly what was required, and could even pseudo code most of it in my head being very intimate with the code. And, knowing that this request would likely be implemented, had begun to stub out some of the requirements in the code just to make sure I had things under control. I confidently replied that it would take "6 weeks" including testing, and that it would be flawless.  The supervisor (who I've known since high school) laughed and said "You've got two weeks, that's what I told the bank!" with a smile.
Have you ever been there? I asked him what he based his estimate on and took my 6 weeks and even the bank was happy with the results.  Sometime we don't have the luxury to do things properly, but somehow, especially in the big corporate world of IT, we always have time to do it over, and over, and, well, you get the picture.
The job:  I was asked to interview for an IT Director position at a call center. The owners were very enthusiastic about my experience and what I would bring to the company. Until this question: "This job will probably take you about 70-80 hours a week. How do you feel about that?"
(Think really hard about how you would answer such a blatant disregard for personal time)
I replied "It sounds like you have TWO openings!"   Well that pretty much ended the interview. Even if I had said OK, it would have NOT been ok. Personal time is for rejuvenation in order to be productive when you are at work. 70-80 hours would have quickly ended in a disaster for everyone.
I'm glad I don't have to deal with such silliness anymore - BUT wait!  There's more....for the next post....
Happy hunting everyone!