So, I had a job interview yesterday morning. I think I handled myself quite well, but realised (in the final minute) that they had completely unrealistic ideas of my salary expectations and notice period. In retrospect, this was because I'd reactivated an old job site account and updated my CV on it, but not remembered to update the other page which contained these crucial details. Ooops.

Luckily, the job sounded a bit dubious anyway. It would be looking after a bunch of Access databases that don't always work and that no-one in the company understands, which will all be replaced by a big new IT project (out-sourced to India) that is currently due in a year's time, though it was originally due last month.

Pros:

• It might be challenging, even interesting.


• It will probably be entertainingly fucked up.


• It would put in the position of being office expert, which I like.


• 25 days holiday (I'm currently on 23) & an annual bonus scheme.

Cons:

• Despite the interviewer's assurances, I don't rate my chances of having enough interesting work if and when all these databases are replaced.


• I don't want to specialise in Access (who would?) My current job contains enough Access to claim expertise in it should I wish to, but it also keeps my options open by also maintaining my skills in SQL Server, training, support, and so forth. This new job would limit my CV in a direction that I don't like.

Basically, I quite like my current job, but I think I've learned all I'm likely to and I'm not seeing any appealing prospect of expansion or advancement. Though I don't think that yesterday's job was for me, my reaction to the job-hunting process has reinforced my feeling that a change is in order. I certainly feel very energised by the prospect of something new, and I find myself already planning my leaving speech. It currently starts:

I can honestly say that it's been a genuine pleasure working alongside some of you, perfectly pleasant working with most of you, and a tiresome ordeal dealing with the rest.

Believe it or not, this is an improvement on my first (pithier but less fair) attempt which consisted solely of the following:

I think that my feelings can best be expressed in the timeless words of Dr. Dre:

'Fuck y'all,
All y'all.'