I don’t listen to the radio much anymore, but I was out with my wife, and we were listening to KVET (a local country music station). There was an ad for a career fair at a local hotel, near where the old Meuller Airport used to be. I decided to see what I could do there. At the worst, I would have burned some gas and wasted some time.

Most of the companies there were hiring sales people. Entry-level sales people. Temp workers. Not at all interesting.

However, there was a table with a sign that said “Texas Windstorm Insurance”, and underneath that it had lines for “Java Developers” and “IT Staff”. I got in line.

When the person in front of me asked what they were hiring for, the woman handling the table told him that they were hiring computer programmers and credentialed IT staff with Microsoft Network Certifications.

So, when I got to here, I said, “I’m a computer programmer”, and handed her a copy of my resume. She looked at it, and then put on her reading glasses, which had been hanging on a chain around her neck, and scanned again. She said, “Thank you. I think you will be hearing from us the next couple of days, but I need to consult with my other managers”.

The next day, I got a phone call from her. She told me that they were interested in interviewing me for a release manager position. Not exactly a programming position, but one I was definitely qualified for.

We discussed what release management really is, and then she said that they wanted to bring me in for offsite interviews, and asked me for dates I was available.

The commute would be pretty bad; they were located near the Oak Hill “Y”. a notorious intersection in the middle of a bunch of highways. Pretty far away, as well. But I was starting to really need an income. Really.

The interview went well. I showed that I knew release management, Windows, Jenkins, etc. However, I did get excited and let an F-bomb slip. Oops.

I was not excited about the software. An insurance portal? Run by a state agency? And I was not even coding on it?

But what can you do?

She called me back the next week. She said that they really liked me. But she had a concern.

“My boss was disturbed by your language during the interview. He was concerned that a habit of using that language would not fit with out culture.”

Oops.

I assured her that I could control myself. She asked if that was normal in the places I had worked, including Apple and Red Hat. I told her that it was.

“Well, it’s not tolerated here. Assuming you can keep it under control, let’s talk about an offer.”

She then proceeded to outline an offer. It was not as nice as what I was making at Coverity. But, it was an offer. I told her I would think about it.

Stay tuned…