Praise then darkness, and creation unfinished

I went up to Northgate this morning to take a proofreading test, for a company that is looking to hire a proofreader, with possible promotion to an editorial position after a 3-month training period.

I'm not sure how well I did on the test—they said I'll find out sometime next week—but it's worth a try. The ad asked candidates to bring a resume, so I gave it to them with my completed test. I'm guessing that if they like those they will want an interview, but I know I test better than I interview, so doing the test first improves my chances. The office is in a nice-looking residential neighborhood (of the sort where I'd expect to brown-bag my lunch every day, and maybe keep a stash of nuts in my desk or daypack in case I forget). The bus trip was a little over an hour, which is not ideal (especially since I can't comfortably read on a moving bus) but I think tolerable.

After the proofreading test, cattitude and I met in the U District for lunch (he took the bus into Seattle with me, partly in order to investigate a cheese shop, and waited for me to call him after the proofreading test). This is the first time I've gone to the U District, rather than just changing buses there. We had cream puffs and pho at Than Brothers, then strolled through the farmers' market. We got there late, and hadn't brought bags with us, so all we bought was a half gallon of pear cider, which I carried by the jug handle. (I didn't have any sort of shopping bag because I was trying to look somewhat business-like; Cattitude just hadn't thought to bring one.)

Last week, I was summoned to a meeting about my unemployment insurance benefits. I had to take the letter they sent me (I think it said that) and fill out a form about my job hunt. The meeting was at 8:30, which turned out to mean that they open the building then; got about 20 of us in a room for a presentation that started about 8:50; and then there was a short wait and a meeting with someone.

( cut for length )

I went downtown this afternoon, and met with a man named Simon, who seemed predisposed in my favor, from (I'd guess) some combination of my resume and wanting to get the position filled because they really need someone. We talked a bit, and then he gave me a proofreading/copyediting test.

I did the text, and gave it back. He seemed surprised at how soon, and took me to talk to someone else for a few minutes. She told me a little more about what the company does, and I talked a bit more about what I've done, and she took me back to Simon. He asked whether, if they told me in a bit that they wanted me, I could start tomorrow. I said basically yes, but I'd rather not get the call at 9 p.m. His response was to mark my copyediting test on the spot.

I aced it.

I start tomorrow at 10 a.m. At least for a few days--they understandably want to be sure I do as well on real work as on a test--and likely for two or three months. I told them that I have a bit of freelance stuff, and a couple of long weekends in mind over the next three months. The existing freelance projects will get done, probably largely on the weekends, except for the ACM proofreading that can often be done on the train, but I may not take on any new stuff for a while.

It seems like a good place to work, to the extent that I can tell from brief conversations with two people. Madison around 31st Street; I've got a couple of nearby branches of my gym to check out, though I may keep going to the usual place in Times Square.

It's cold, but sitting home isn't good for me, so I went to the gym this morning, bundling up and leaving the house with cattitude. After working out, I missed my stop on the N train to Chinatown, which meant riding back from Atlantic Avenue, but it's a sunny day, so the view from the Manhattan Bridge was nice. That was because of general distractability; when I made it back to Manhattan, I went to the usual place, had the usual thing, and came straight home.

I rearranged the workout a little, mostly for the sake of novelty. The odd bit was doing my stretches at the end, then deciding that I really did want to do squats now that there was space on the mat next to the railing, so doing that and then repeating two of my stretches.

I've got a bit of freelance work, and a possible temporary copyediting assignment. The agency called to ask if I was interested while I was getting dressed at the gym; I said yes, and they'll send my resume to the company that needs the copyeditor. If that doesn't produce a very fast yes, I'll send email about more work from the people I've been doing the wiki editing for.

( gym numbers/details )

I didn't get the job at the CPA Association. There was a "thanks, we hired someone else" letter in today's mail.

It's dated Thursday.

I am not only disappointed at not being hired, I am annoyed because I was promised a phone call by yesterday, and apparently they decided it was easier to put it in the mail. Okay, a minute or two of ease for her, against a day or two of extra stress and uncertainty for me, and probably also for at least one other applicant.

I just reached the HR person at the company I interviewed with. She says they'll have a decision by Friday, and that she'll call me. The subtext was that the person who told me I'd hear by last Tuesday should have known it would take longer to decide.

I haven't heard from the HR person at the place I've been interviewing with; on Thursday I was told I'd hear by this morning. I'll call her tomorrow (unless she calls me later tonight, which on the record so far is not unlikely).

On my way home from the gym, I was figuring there'd be a message saying one of "It's yours, call so we can discuss when you're starting"; "Sorry, we hired someone else"; or just "this is $HR_person, please call me." I spent some time going back and forth between expecting the first and the second. Then I got home, saw the message light, played it—and returned my mother's phone call.

The distraction is not useful to getting other things done, but nothing else has a deadline in the next few hours.

( gym numbers )

I'm somewhat out of practice at this, and hadn't any answer ready for the bog-standard "What do you see yourself doing in five years?" I fumbled and said I'd been doing the freelance stuff and not really focused on the long term, and then talked a bit about wanting to be in a job where I could do the work (editorial) rather than worrying about what the next project will be.

I didn't shine, but I may have done well enough: when we were done, the interviewer gave me her business card, in case I have any further questions, which I figure means she hasn't ruled me out.

She said there's one more candidate she needs to talk to, and that I should hear either tomorrow afternoon or first thing Tuesday. She said "Monday" at first, but when I asked Monday or Tuesday, she said they would be closed for the holiday, so Tuesday.

About 20 minutes ago, the phone rang. It was the HR manager for the company I had a second interview with last Friday, asking if I could come in to talk to the communications director. We're tentatively scheduled for 3 tomorrow afternoon; she'll check with the comm. dir. tomorrow morning, then call me to confirm.

( also, the morning gym numbers )

I think that went well: the person in charge of production (I don't recall his exact title) and the head copyeditor sat down and talked with me for a bit.

The work would involve more copyediting than I'd thought from talking to HR. Also, the copyeditor made clear that the job involves grammar and fact-checking, and only minimal rewriting. She wanted to be sure that I'd be comfortable with that; I told her I would, as long as it's made clear to me what the expectations are for a particular project.

Then I talked to the HR person again, briefly. There are two other candidates they're having in for second interviews, and the decision will probably be made within a week, two weeks at most.

I've called cattitude and adrian_turtle with this already, while walking to the subway.