Interview time........

In a couple of hours, I'll be doing a phone interview for a contract job in KC. It's a 6 month position. I actually like the short term jobs on contract. It provides two distinct advantages for a worker.

1) The company that is offering this contract position is known for working their salaried employees a lot with little additional compensation to show for it. So while you're getting paid like you're working 40 hours, you actually end up working 55 hours for the same salary. By taking a contract position, if they do decide to work me additional hours, I don't care because I'm paid an hourly rate so I make money based on how much I work. Often, the company doesn't want to pay extra so they make sure you go home after 40-42 hours. It's a good deal either way.

2) If you like the job and the company is satisfied with your work, they will often extend the contract for additional months. If you don't like it, you can simply say 'thanks, but no thanks' and move on to a new contract.

Now, if I was a single parent with 2 or 3 kids, I would obviously want a bit more security that a salary has to offer. But I'm currently in a dual income with no kids household, so maximizing salary is more important at this stage of the game.

I'm now looking over programs and DB2 queries to refresh my memory on how to program. It's a guarantee that these people will ask me a programming question that I don't know the answer to, but they are trying to see how I will react in that situation more than anything. They know it's a difficult question and are just trying to get a feel for how I handle tough situations. Fortunately, I have a lot of interview practice from our move out to Baltimore, so I should be in pretty good shape as far as that goes.

I'm sure this won't be the last interview. Rarely are you able to get a job on the first crack, but we'll see how it goes. It's live interview practice and that's always a good thing.