Application Support Analyst
Okay. So.. I've mentioned this in passing in previous posts. Some people know a lot more details as I've actually talked to them. Others have heard snippets from brief conversations. But here it is for everyone.
In September, David and I were talking. I was lamenting my lack of money. About how I had to get a 2nd job. He asked me, with the extra hours at the 2nd job, what my actual rate of pay was if I got a raise at my current job. I did some quick calculations and while I get $8.50/hr at the 2nd job, that figured over the year, only added to my regular rate by like a dollar fifty. Then he mentioned that his company, VW/Audi/Bentley Financial Services, was hiring in the programming/development department. He asked if I wanted him to give my resume to the manager. I said I'd need some time to get it updated and all that. He said that he'd spoken with the manager already and that he'd been shocked to hear how much I was making for what all I do here at the company I'm at now. He said that the manager told him I'd make at least 10$ more per hour if I was one of his employees. It was temping, but I hate change. And this is a big one. So I put it in the back of my mind.
David kept on me though. Harassing me about the resume. Telling me about the benefits at the company. So I dug out my old resume. I spent.. nearly a week updating it, polishing it up, getting input from people (Macay, John, Amy, thanks Guys!). I'm actually pretty proud of it. And I sent it to him to send to whoever on Wed, Oct. 10th. He sent it to his boss, Rehan, and the development manager, Frank that afternoon.
On Mon, Oct 15th, David asked Rehan if he'd had a chance to look at my resume. Rehan said no, and that I should fill out the online application for the Application Support Specialist that they had on the VW website. So I spent about an hour or so filling it out and submitted it.
On Tues, Oct 16th, Rehan sent an email to David telling him to tell me to call him. Rehan wanted to do a phone interview. He'd looked over my resume and was really excited to talk to me. David passed me Rehan's contact information. Rehan requested again that I fill out the online application. David told him I already had, and Rehan contacted HR to have them send it over to him to review. After giving David my work/exercise schedule, it was arranged for me to call Rehan's cell for the interview on Wed, Oct 17th, at 8PM.
On Wed, Oct 17th, I went to work. I went to exercise. Then I rushed home and had what David said would be a "short, 10 or 15 minute" phone interview with Rehan. It was more than 40 minutes. It went very well. He asked me at one point about the various programming languages I knew. As I listed them off, and the dates I'd started working with them, when I finished, he exclaimed, "COOL!!" I dunno about anyone else, but that sounds like it's going well. We talked about David and how he's "technically challenged" but learning. We discussed benefits and salary. I said "I work for a small company. For what I do, I don't get paid nearly what I would be worth if I worked for a larger company. They just can't afford to pay me that amount. As such, I'm looking to take rather large step up, and I would like at least 55,000." Without taking a breath, he responds, "Yeah, okay, sure, we can do that." He said that he wanted to do a "technical interview" but that it was too late in the week to do it Thurs or Fri, and that he'd be out of town the following week. He wanted to schedule it for the week after that, so between Oct 29 and Nov 2nd. He said that someone would contact me from HR to schedule it. I hung up the phone feeling damn proud of myself.
On Thurs, Oct 18th, Rehan raved about me to David. Of course he passed this information along to me. He really wanted to hire me. The interview had gone really well. Etc. Thursday night, however, I got an email from VW HR. They were denying my application that I'd submitted online on Monday. I forwarded it to David and he said he'd talk to Rehan on Friday about it.
On Fri, Oct 19th, David went to Rehan first thing. Seems that Rehan already knew. He'd gotten an email from HR too saying that they'd denied me. They had looked over my resume and decided that it didn't "fit" the job description. Rehan reamed them a new one and told them that it was his decision. Rehan told David to let me know I'd hear from HR that day about the interview. And true to his word, HR called me that afternoon. It was arranged for me to interview with them on Oct. 31st at 3PM with Rehan and a woman named Sujani. This meant taking a day off from the current job. I put in for a personal day without explanation. John didn't ask, and signed off on it. They also sent me an email with a bunch of forms and an actual paper application to fill out. They wanted me to fax them back to them. I printed them off at home that night and submitted them on Monday afternoon.
Over the next week and a half I got a new dress shirt, and a new suit. I also got the suit altered so that it fit me better. David, John, and I went to dinner on Thurs, Oct. 25th and David told me that Rehan had probably already decided he wanted to hire me and that the interview was just a technicality that HR required and that I'd probably get the job offer letter Wed night after the interview.
On Wed, Oct. 31st, I got up, showered, got ready, and left my apartment at 11:40. I drove up to Vernon Hills, got a portfolio to take potential notes in, and then finished the drive up to VW. I ran into some construction, so it was nearly 1 when I picked up David. We went to lunch at Bakes, and then went back to his office at 2. We ran into one of his coworkers outside and talked to him for a bit, then went inside. David went back to his cube and I sat in the waiting area reading a magazine since I had nearly an hour to kill. A little while later, David and another coworker of his, Pierre, came out. Pierre is from Quebec. He starts speaking French at me. It took me a second, as my first thought was, "Huh? That's not English", followed by, "Wait, that's French, what's he saying?". Then I realized he'd asked me a question, so I countered back with an answer. I think that surprised David, but oh well. Pierre switched to English at that point and said that David had told him I spoke French. I laughed and told him barely. We talked for a few more minutes and those two retreated back into the office. At 3, Rehan came out to get me. He lead me back to a conference room where another guy named Alex was waiting. I then learned that it would be Rehan, Alex, Pierre (the same one I'd met just a bit earlier), and a different woman than Sujani. I can't remember her name. She's the manager of the database department however. Alex and Pierre are in the same department as David, all three of them are under Rehan. They all asked questions, I gave answers truthfully and honestly. I couldn't answer all of their questions. And I had trouble understanding the woman. But I would ask for clarification, and I did the best I could. We laughed about some David things. At 4:15 we finished. Pierre and Rehan walked with me back to the front and Pierre asked me more about the French. How long had I studied, when, etc. Rehan was surprised to learn that I knew it. Then Rehan walked me to the door and told me that I'd hear by Friday from HR about their determination. I left feeling.. okay.. about the whole thing. I wasn't as confident about it as I had been about the telephone interview, but, I figured, the worst they could do is say no, and I've still got my current job, so I'm not out anything.
I didn't hear anything on Wednesday. Or Thursday. Or Friday. Nada on Saturday, or Sunday either. I didn't hear anything yesterday. Yesterday I got contact information from David for Rehan - his email address, as well as the phone number for HR in Libertyville. John said that if I didn't hear anything by this afternoon, I should contact someone.
Today, at noon, HR called me. Asked me if it was okay to talk. I said, "Uhh.. kinda..." She told me that they were offering me the job. Rehan had "tweaked" it and I was not being hired as an Application Support Specialist, but as an Application Support Analyst. I will be paid 56k salary. There are various other benefits, health, dental, etc. She told me that I'd get a formal email later with the actual job offer letter, and that she was sending me an email with the various benefits. I did get that email, and at 2:30 this afternoon I got the actual job offer letter. I have to print it out, sign it, and fax it back to them by Friday at 4PM. I'll print it out at home tonight. I need to call Rehan to discuss a start date and hours for working. And I need to have the dreaded discussion with John, my boss. I'm not sure how to do that. It's scary.
So that's it. It's a major life change. I'll be commuting over an hour one way every day. Though, I did it before, when I moved here, when I drove from Kenwood to this job. It was during the summer. But if the weather sucks, I'll be giving my spare keys to Joy and she can feed the kitties and I'll stay at John's place. He's only 20 minutes from the new job. This last weekend, I bought stuff to keep at his place (toothbrush, toothpaste, etc), and I'll bring some extra clothes to keep there too.