View from Harbour Bridge

Here's a view of the Opera House from the Harbour Bridge. The picture doesn't do it justice though. I'll have to work on getting a better one...

Where do you want to go today?

I went to yesterday's interview to meet the manager of the team looking for client support developers. That was a bit of a surprise, as I thought I'd convinced the HR person I'd prefer a pure developer role. The manager started talking about that battery of online assessments I did and about how it showed I'd be suitable for this customer-facing role because apparently I have some combination of people skills, communication ability, and problem-solving ability that won't have customers quietly snickering, should they have dealt with their stuttering, pocket-protector wearing developers. F me for being able to carry a conversation and not have to bring up that one time at band camp. Well, not all the time anyway.

After learning more about the client support developer role and finding out that the company uses a very specialized technology that isn't very transferable skill-wise, I realized pretty quickly that this place wasn't for me. I'm pretty sure that if I had to troubleshoot customers' problems every day, I'd rip all my hair out in a couple of months, and I don't think I can pull off the bald look. No matter, because I'm stoked about the positive way things have been moving with the travel software company...

It was neat to learn that this company is so large and established that they have 3 separate teams to do the 2 or 3 roles I juggled at my previous company. It's a good way to structure things, because having to juggle multiple high-priority items at the same time meant I had to switch between tasks sometimes, and you lose a little time everytime you switch.

Uh right, onto the picture. Here's an old-school ticket machine at the train station. See the big grid of buttons? That's its formidable way of asking, "Where do you want to go today?" There are about 330 destination stations to choose from - good thing for alphabetical order. The newer ticket machines have touch screens and scrollable menus, so the poor button-making company must be upon hard times now.

Mind-boggling.

So Tuesday was a busy one. Had an afternoon interview with a second company that went pretty well. I wanted to wander around the city and snap some more pics but that plan got cut short when I got a call from a recruiter asking if I could do a phone interview with his client later in the afternoon. I agreed to interview with the HR coordinator in an hour's time, giving me enough time to make my way home and do a bit of research on company #3.

I'd already had to do four (yes, four) online assessments for this company, one of which was some sort of personality test called the Predictive Index. This was the most intriguing and amusing test of the four because the two-question test was so simple - given a list of about 40 adjectives, without the aid of a dictionary, first check off a list of those that you think others expect you to convey, and then check off a list of those that you think you actually possess. There was a mix of negative traits, neutral ones, and positive ones. I checked off mostly good ones, like "easy-going", "neighbourly", "focused", and "well-liked". I had a laugh about the ones that said "fashionable" and "attractive". I didn't see "humble" or "modest" on the list, but I would have gotten a kick out of being able to check off a combination of those.

The other tests I had to do were pretty obviously testing things like the ability to learn something technical, reading comprehension, and logical reasoning. I can usually rock these kinds of tests, so they were a bit of a chore, but a walk in the park.

When I first get to speaking with the HR coordinator, she immediately tells me that she has me in mind for a couple roles (a test developer, and a client support developer), describes them, and then explains why she's not considering me for a pure developer position. I interject and tell her that although I understand why she might think I'd be good for those roles, the pure development role is the one I feel I have the most passion for... (and doesn't passion count for something??)

She tells me about my test results and that although I scored 100% on the technical tests which indicated to her that I'm a good problem solver, the personality test indicated that I'm not a risk-taker and that I'm not over-confident in myself, which are crucial traits of a person suited for a pure development role at her company. To hear her tell me I was not a risk-taker was news to me! I wouldn't say I was offended, but I was definitely taken aback! I did just move myself halfway across the world to apply for work here?! Oh, but that's a risk in your personal life, and that doesn't necessarily translate to your work. Ohhh, I see, of course. Boggles my mind!!! I should let you know that my astrological sign is Scorpio and that I was born in the Year of the Dog - you may want to use those as additional insight on my personality! (No, I did not actually say those things. Her personality assessment indicated that I'd be too conservative to.)

Well, maybe I really should have checked off the "assertive" box too. All that convincing her that I'd be more suited for the developer role has landed me an in-person interview with them this afternoon. Now to prepare for another technical grilling and ego-squashing...

Anyway, here's one of the many birds loitering around the fish market, hoping for a handout. Hey, for fresh fish, I would too.

The world is my oyster, but all I have is this two-pronged plastic fork.

My local friends, Patrick and Hideki, tipped me off about the place in Sydney to get fresh seafood. Up till then, I'd been wondering where to buy whole fish and other crustaceans, as the supermarkets here don't have seafood departments like they do back home.

So, I wandered over to the Sydney Fish Market and was treated to a visual smorgasbord of freshly caught fish, crab, lobster, and oysters on the half shell. Now, I cannot resist a raw-oyster-eating opportunity, so it had to be done. I selected three Sydney Rock Oysters (on the left) and three Pacific Oysters. The Sydney Rock Oysters were salty and had an aftertaste, but the Pacific Oysters were delectable. Definitely going to be back to sample some more oysters.... and to try the sashimi.

Touristy diversions at Darling Harbour

On the weekend, I happened upon a street performance at Darling Harbour. I stopped to watch, figuring that he must be really good, judging by the huge crowd that he had drawn.

It was a pretty formulaic street performance - pick a few volunteers from the audience, sprinkle in some humour, draw out your finale, feign fear and worry over the dangerous act you're about to perform, remind audience to give money, then spend a few seconds juggling torches on a teetery platform. But a fun diversion nonetheless.

Paddy's Market - spicy!

There's an indoor market in Sydney's Chinatown called Paddy's Market. It's a huge collection of fresh fruit and vegetable stands, all the things you might find at a flea market or at a Chinese night market, and more... This stand selling spices in buckets is one of the many stands in the "and more" category. Seeing these spices in their open containers gives me the urge to bring in a big industrial vacuum cleaner and send a big colourful cloud of spices into the air.

What lurks beneath the bridge

I mentioned that I was standing atop a bridge as I took yesterday's picture. The Pyrmont Bridge connects the two sides of U-shaped Darling Harbour. It caught my attention because it's one of those bridges that can rotate its midsection to let tall boats pass through. To make things interesting, a monorail track (which you can't see in the picture) has been built on top of (ie running across) the bridge, so I suppose the monorail track is designed to be detachable too. Anyway, won't bore you with details - more facts and figures about the bridge here for the curious.

I also spotted a mystical creature that lives underneath Pyrmont Bridge...