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I got home about half an hour ago from writing the technical test for one of the positions I'm currently up for. It was a 50-question test, administered by computer. There were a few questions which struck me as being phrased awkwardly (or at least, I didn't quite understand what they were asking), and a couple others where the subject matter was something that, at my past employers, has always been done by database administrators rather than programmers, but for the most part I think I did okay. The recruiter told me that she would probably have my results by the end of today, and then she would know in another day or two if I would be going forward.
I kind of prefer doing these kinds of things with a real live person, though - that way, if a question is phrased in a way that makes it confusing, I can ask for clarification. Also, I can "talk around" the problem - not avoid the question, but explain my answer more fully than can be done by simply clicking a button on a computer screen.
Well, we'll see.
I recognized someone while I was there, too - I think he was a manager at Sears (though I'm not 100% sure whether it was there or at CDS). I waved as I was taken past his office, and he waved back, though I'm not sure if he recognized me. Then again, as I said to the recruiter, I wasn't blond back then. :) (Not to mention, if it was Sears that I knew him from, I left there over ten years ago; if it was CDS, that was four years ago, and in either case, I haven't seen him since, and I didn't work for him anyway, so I wouldn't be surprised if he had no idea who I was.)
When I got home, I had an email from Mike. It looks like we'll be getting together on February 2 - he said he'd come over after work (which would be around midnight) and then we'll go to the bridge club the following afternoon. I haven't even touched a playing card in over a year. Yikes. Though I'm sure I won't make the same mistake he did the last time we hadn't played in a long time - he opened one notrump, I responded with Stayman1, and he forgot what that was... oops. I think we ended up in some ridiculous number of clubs because he had five of them, and every time I bid some other suit, he couldn't figure out what I was doing and "corrected" back to clubs. So we played it from my side on a 5-1 fit. (I'm pretty sure he won't repeat that mistake either, because when we talked on the phone recently he was the one who brought the incident up. :) )
1 - for non-bridge players reading this, "Stayman" is a bidding convention used after partner opens with some number of notrump. I bid two clubs, and if partner has four hearts, he's supposed to respond with the cheapest available number of hearts; lacking four hearts, if he has four spades he's supposed to respond in spades; lacking four of either, he's supposed to answer in diamonds. Unless you're playing Puppet Stayman, but that's too much for a simple footnote. In any case, it's the first bidding convention anyone learns when they first take up the game. For Mike to forget Stayman is like someone being asked "What is one plus one?" and not knowing the answer. This is why I always tell people that being a Life Master isn't nearly as impressive as it sounds. ;)
I kind of prefer doing these kinds of things with a real live person, though - that way, if a question is phrased in a way that makes it confusing, I can ask for clarification. Also, I can "talk around" the problem - not avoid the question, but explain my answer more fully than can be done by simply clicking a button on a computer screen.
Well, we'll see.
I recognized someone while I was there, too - I think he was a manager at Sears (though I'm not 100% sure whether it was there or at CDS). I waved as I was taken past his office, and he waved back, though I'm not sure if he recognized me. Then again, as I said to the recruiter, I wasn't blond back then. :) (Not to mention, if it was Sears that I knew him from, I left there over ten years ago; if it was CDS, that was four years ago, and in either case, I haven't seen him since, and I didn't work for him anyway, so I wouldn't be surprised if he had no idea who I was.)
When I got home, I had an email from Mike. It looks like we'll be getting together on February 2 - he said he'd come over after work (which would be around midnight) and then we'll go to the bridge club the following afternoon. I haven't even touched a playing card in over a year. Yikes. Though I'm sure I won't make the same mistake he did the last time we hadn't played in a long time - he opened one notrump, I responded with Stayman1, and he forgot what that was... oops. I think we ended up in some ridiculous number of clubs because he had five of them, and every time I bid some other suit, he couldn't figure out what I was doing and "corrected" back to clubs. So we played it from my side on a 5-1 fit. (I'm pretty sure he won't repeat that mistake either, because when we talked on the phone recently he was the one who brought the incident up. :) )
1 - for non-bridge players reading this, "Stayman" is a bidding convention used after partner opens with some number of notrump. I bid two clubs, and if partner has four hearts, he's supposed to respond with the cheapest available number of hearts; lacking four hearts, if he has four spades he's supposed to respond in spades; lacking four of either, he's supposed to answer in diamonds. Unless you're playing Puppet Stayman, but that's too much for a simple footnote. In any case, it's the first bidding convention anyone learns when they first take up the game. For Mike to forget Stayman is like someone being asked "What is one plus one?" and not knowing the answer. This is why I always tell people that being a Life Master isn't nearly as impressive as it sounds. ;)
