The SF experience

Where to start? It's likely going to be a looong entry folks, so you may want to go get that coffee, that snack, your unfinished knitting project...

As you know we did arrive safe and sound - you could also conclude that we returned home safely Sunday night as well. Friday the 13th, interview day... I'm not going to go into the details of the entire experience. I will tell you that it was a long day, intensive, brain-powered, lotsa talking, exchanging, etc. I only have more respect for Google and their process. They do hire the best - it's quite impressive. The start to the day was a drive to 'HQ'. I was told my ride would show up at 8:15am. I was of course ready and downstairs in the lobby. I was told I would be called on our cell phone. No call... 8:20am. I decide I can't take it and call. The driver answers and says, "Oh sorry I fell asleep, I am already outside your hotel, a few cars up, it's the white one." Ah... awesome start to my day. Turns out he is very kind and we chat all the way to Moutain View. He will pick me up at 3:15 and bring me back to the hotel.

I get there with plenty of time to "relax". I do feel noticeably better now that I am "there". I hand in my paperwork and get a visitor name-tag. I sit and read the paper. I notice an older gentleman, say 50+, also hand in his application paperwork. The mind wanders. People are dropping off art in the lobby to some guy who is maybe organizing a show of employee work? People seem happy (it is friday), friendly and easy going. The people who pass by are all diverse, not easily labeled, though I'm sure there were a few techs I'm right about.

My contact (sounds like I'm a secret agent) comes to meet me and takes me to the interview room where I'll be meeting my 5 interviewers. 3 designers, a user experience researcher and a product manager. I also had lunch with another designer, my phone screener, who graduated from jc's program. The schedule for the day was explained, the process for next steps loosely discussed - commitee feedback will be sent tuesday late afternoon (PST). That's today. Feedback isn't an offer, offers only come after Larry (partner) has reviewed recommendations (if you even get one) and decides to extend an offer at that point. As I'm just excited to be there in the first place, I'm harldy thinking about timeframes. (ironic given my current situation - you will have to continue reading folks.)

The interviews were great, some better than others in terms of how I feel I did. I was myself (for better or worse) and I would give myself about 80%, knowing that I could have done better on some questions, but that's life, right? I was given scenarios to think and sketch out, talk through my process, look at pages and discuss features, how they might change to improve user experience, discuss my experience and design process, I asked similar questions in return and hopefully conveyed my genuine interest in their work and how the place is run. By 3pm I was pretty tired of talking, but was feeling good about the day. My ride picked me up and back up to SF I went. Happy to be back in our hotel and done! exhale.

Jared and I went for a drink in our hotel and discussed the highlights, my concerns... I shared what I could in a very scattered way I'm sure. Thankfully jared knows this about me and can piece together the fragments. He'd had a good day. Very happy to be in a CITY. He found a good coffee shop, a good used book store, wandered around a bit and then hit the library to get some of his work done. He did mention walking into a magazine shop and only noticing that once he was in, he was not where he expected to be. He slowly noticed different types of magazines, ones that weren't displayed in the window, ones about men - lots of men. Then casually he took in the room, the people and decided he might just back out the way he came in. Dude, you're in SF.

After our drink, we met up with mum and dad and found a FANTASTIC vegan restaurant. Wow, it was so good. We were all very happy with our meals. Dad was the only one to order dessert. He got a delicious peanut butter creme brulée thing, with a concord grape sorbet. Divine. Kind of a fancy peanut butter and jelly treat. We discussed everyone's day, felt like we'd all done a lot and headed back to our hotels for sleep.

Saturday was JC's birthday. Our Boston pal Marilyn had given me a few breakfast leads and we wandered a block from the hotel to wait in the line for Dottie's True Blue Diner. Dad and I wandered and grabbed a coffee while Jared and mum held our place. Lots of people watching passes the time. That and mum's genuine interest in Cadillac's target audience. Eventually we were seated at the window. Below is a photo (on the left) of Jared's meal. Look at that fruit - yum! The coffee refills just kept coming - which made Jared very happy. This was an excellent start to the day!


That middle shot is a hotel room instant coffee. Looks impressive, but I wouldn't give it a great rating... still tasted bad. The garlic fries, and yes that's a shitload of fresh garlic minced ALL OVER those fries, was Jared's mid-day snack. He did not finish the plate.


After breakfast we decided that a cable car ride was definitely something we should do in SF, so we wandered our way to Powell street and got in line. (You should note that Jared is wearing a cbc (70s logo) shirt. nice huh? guess you really can't see that much...) It was actually pretty fun, and I'm glad we got to ride it to Fisherman's Wharf AND BACK. The highlight at the Wharf was actually in Ghiradelli square where we got free samples of a dark chocolate filled with caramel! Wow - it was really good. While mum, dad and I were looking at all the chocolate, Jared was listening to a message from his family, with Aaron singing Happy Birthday! He called them back and we had a chance to catch them up. Would have been fun to be meeting for dinner. Another time...


Back downtown, we needed a snack - we found an Irish pub, Jared had been to the day before. Above are some misc meal shots, where mum is learning how to use her digital camera "subtly" i.e. NO FLASH in public. This approach helps with more candid shots. The photo of me and Dad is perfect. it shows you our overall energy levels - well mine anyways. After our refueling, there was shopping to be done so mum and I broke off from the pack, dad went in search of a tasteful SF t-shirt for his "collection" (shockingly came back empty handed, hopefully he found something at the airport), and Jared went back to the hotel, to check in online for his flight. The earlier the check-in with southwest, the better the seats. We met back at the hotel and dragged ourselves out for another meal. We didn't have anyone come over and sing for the birthday boy, no candles... but yesterday I did give him a small birthday present, a dvd, Shaun of the Dead. We'll watch it Halloween. It's one of Jaroo's favourites. I may have to find some candles for him though, it just feels wrong to not use them and sing!

Sunday morning we all parted ways, leaving from different hotels and airports. Travel days suck - there's just no getting around it. Mum and dad had a quick trip home as they only had a 2hr flight. Jared and I were longer and definitely done by the time we got home. Had it not been for the travel back, we agreed that we might have felt "relaxed. It was a great weekend in SF.

The most recent update is that Monday morning I had 2 meetings. The first was with a place I had visited last week. The second is with the first place's sister company. Same building, same floor, different owners. First meeting - job offer. Job offer with signing bonus if I decide NOW. I'm so tired and jet-lagged, I somehow manage to get a 5pm extension. I really, really, really like this company and was surprised by the quick offer and timing. I would say I was unprepared - well played by them! The next meeting is a lunch meeting and it goes well, and I get to hear about what they do, how they are connected to company 1. (I'm being elusive about names, not because I'm so secretive, but because I'm not sure who is reading this blog. Once my choices get made and finalized, I will share names.) Anyhoo, company number 2 asks about what I want and where I am in the process. I mention my offer. He says take it, they're awesome and that we'd likely get to work together. My head is spinning!

On the way home I call my people. Jodi - she's been reading the same negotiating books, I need her wisdom. I call the mothers. Lynn, gives me the professional advice I need and the language, of course there's the caring and nuturing part, but people I have a deadline here! I call my mum to give her the emotional update, get her thoughts on how to get through this without collapse. With everyone's help I get an email off the SF and a 24hr extension on the offer. Today is still a bit of chaos, but there's only so much I can do and tell you about. i might need a bit more of the "good vibes" if you have any left to give. By the end of this week - there will be clarity. I fucking hope so anyways!!