My husband's bug has evolved into full-blown flu. He's miserable, and today I felt terrible leaving him alone while I went to my interview at the camera company.
But I have to say it was a great interview. The place looked well-run and was buzzing with activity. The facility itself was very nicely appointed, with lots of lovely wood accents and furnishings and great, old 1930's glam photos of old movie stars, mixed in with one-sheets of current films. The HR manager was a doll, and we had a wonderful interview before she turned me over to the VP of marketing for my main meeting.
The VP was a younger (mid-30's?) man with a casual demeanor and he was very personable. He seemed genuinely impressed with my skills and experience, and we traded anecdotes about mutual acquaintances and amusing moments in filmmaking. He reminded me of my old supervisor at the studio, who left for greener pastures a few years ago. I really missed him when he left; the guy they hired to replace him had no visible sense of humor and was not very pleasant to work for. The warehouse guys called him the "little gestapo."
The VP told me right off the bat that I was vastly overqualified for the position that was offered. I hate that -- I prefer to think of myself as "flexibly skilled" or "diversely talented." Overqualified sounds like I'm either trying to get a job that's beneath me, or that they think they can't afford me. After working at the studio for eight years, they'd be surprised how little I will work for. And I'm of the firm belief that no honest work is 'beneath' me -- it's collecting unemployment that's really humbling.
He seemed pretty excited about the prospect of pushing the company's possible plans of creating a lighting division and mentioned that I would be the ideal candidate to head the creation and development of the new department. I'm all for that -- but I did say that in the meantime, it would help me to be hired right away so I could learn the company's processes and learn more about the camera equipment itself. Since I've been working in grip and lighting for the past decade or so, I know little if anything about camera gear and would sincerely benefit from being exposed to something new.
June 24, 2003
I am getting to hate the word "overqualified." The camera company has not gotten back to me about my fantastic interview. I even sent the obligatory "thank you" to the HR manager and the VP guy, but nothing. I did get a call today from a previous interviewer and he said that he was vastly impressed with my qualifications, but they "aren't hiring right now." However, he did ask me out to lunch. What's up with that?
I decided that I would expand my areas of knowledge and have signed up for dimmer board operator training. I start Thursday, the 26th. A gaffer friend of mine mentioned that there is a woeful lack of dimmer board operators in the union, and that if I got my certification, I would become a hot commodity and would have enough work that I'd be turning jobs away. From his mouth to God's ears. I'm actually excited at the prospect of learning a new skill, and especially one that will put me in the thick of things rather than in some office where my only contact with production would be over the phone. I love being on set and dearly missed interacting with the crew and talent. I am hoping that I will catch on quickly and can become a relative expert in short time.
Well, back to the job boards.
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