I Landed a Big One

Many of you know that I have been looking for a post-degree job. If you didn't know... I've been looking for a job since I graduated in June. Four months. WHEW! That's a lot of XBOX.

The skeptic in me doesn’t believe in providence, pre-destination or kismet. I believe Fortuna is beholden to us, not vise versa. I also believe in determinism, but that's another post altogether. Then there's the Forest Gump effect. Others may say its blind luck, or falling ass-over-tea-kettle (whatever that means) into situations of abundance; serendipity.

In August, Mrs. eSquared emailed me a job listing from craigslist. The position was a Technologist/Courseware Designer. It sounded like a dream job to me. Yes, it could be further away from my degree focus, but not much.

I applied via email, thought about how cool it would be to get the job for a few days and promptly forgot about it. When I did remember it, I assumed it met the same end as the other twenty-or-so resumes I pumped out weekly.

Monday, September 25th… they called.

Tuesday, September 26th 1:00pm… phone interview. I thought I totally blew it. I mean the kind of blowing it that is reserved for “what the f*ck was I thinking anyway” responses. The called two hours later for a meeting.

Wednesday, September 27th 4:00pm… In person interview. We went to a little coffee shop in Redmond. Again, I felt I may have only done worse if I didn’t show up… or was naked. They gave me an assignment to complete.

I turned the assignment… late. But I suppose they liked it.

Another assignment… turned in on Saturday, October 14th it was due the 13th. I thought I’d never hear from them again… really, really.

Monday, October 16th 9:00am… they call… owner of the company wants to meet me, 10am tomorrow.

Tuesday, October 17th 9:59am… I run through the office door with a tie on, and a coffee stain on my shirt, arrrrrgh. An hour and a half later I leave.

I start tomorrow.

Somebody pinch me.

Here are the position specs:

Technologist / Courseware Designer

This position involves figuring out how to use specific Microsoft business and developer software (.NET, SharePoint, Visual Studio, BizTalk, etc.) and then working collaboratively with team members to create training courses that show people how to use applications and tools to solve their business problems. Your job will be to create 3-4 “fast track” instructor-led training classes each year. The deliverables include working with a subject matter expert (one of our instructors) in a Program Manager capacity to:

• Define a class outline (spec)
• Create PowerPoint slide decks with text and graphics
• Develop and test hands-on labs
  

Primary Responsibilities:

• Design, develop, and author appropriate training and educational course materials
• Research technical documents and user manuals to leverage training content
• Create PowerPoint slide presentations for instructor-led training
• Install, configure, and test operating systems and business applications
• Carefully document lab steps to meet learning requirements
• Use courseware development tools to create content.