The week of Marathon interviews

Gosh!! What a truly emotional and mentally draining week it has been. I had an interview every day this week- as in Monday through Friday. In hindsight, it probably would have been wiser to schedule the interviews farther apart from each other, but oh mehn, I’m thinking of moving out of my hosts house as quickly as possible. Not that they have been mean to me, quite the opposite actually. They have been very warm and accommodating, but I don’t want to wait around long enough for the awkward stage, where it’s like I’m no longer a guest in their house but I’m also not family, so they really wouldn’t be sure how to treat me, and I them.

So Monday saw me interviewing with a recruiter for a role in… Wait for it- Fort St James. Read about Fort St James here. It is almost in the middle of nowhere in British Columbia with about 4500 inhabitants and one traffic light or so the recruiter said. The area is characterized by really snowy winters & short summer months. The role I was speaking to the recruiter about was a new position in HR for a logging company there. The job sure looks like high intensity but na me dey find work, and I have been telling anyone who cares to listen and even those who don’t that I am open to moving anywhere in Canada for a job ?????. The hustle is on baby!

Tuesday had me going to Guelph. Guelph is a beautiful, idyllic University town some 100 kilometers away from the GTA- Greater Toronto Area. I liked everything about the role, the opportunity to build a career, the environment of the office and the people. This is the one in fact that the hiring manager called me the next day to offer me the job. The only issue is with the money ??. Guelph is in the suburbs so the salary in comparison with the GTA is lower, but cost of living in Guelph is way lower compared to Toronto.

On Wednesday I went to visit the sister of my ex colleague in Nigeria. Incredibly sweet, she and her husband run an IT consultancy company in North York, Toronto. They walked me through how they help experienced professionals usually from Africa and Asia settle into similar roles and seniority levels in Canada. A bit pricey, it looks like their services work, and my hosts unknown to me initially, are great friends with them. I took the subway back home on this day and it was super weird being cramped up with people and not being able to stare at their wacko colored hair or piercings. I saw one guy with piercings in at least 20 places on his face. My subconscious self was like ???????? but as per Canada levels my face was like ?????? before persin go allege say I dey make them uncomfortable with my staring.

Thursday was just a stressful and annoying day filled with connection of buses trying to get to the venue of my interview. At some point, i was like screw the conversion from Naira to Canadian dollars; i’ll just take an Uber. For this job I like the potential to earn a lot more than the Guelph role. However, I first need to scale through this first level interview, then move to second level and be successful in order to be offered the role.

Friday had me attending the spookiest of all interviews. No kidding. It was as if I was being interviewed by three female robots. All they did was mechanically read out questions from a sheet of paper and quickly scribble my response down. There was no eye contact of any sort and no follow on questions to clarify my answer. The fascinating thing about this interview and the Guelph one on Tuesday is this. The interviewers will allow you see the interview questions if you arrive 30 minutes before your scheduled interview. As in, the only questions you answer are the ones you’ve had a chance to read and jot down points on how you want to answer it. I’m told that this is a common behavior when candidates apply for jobs in the Canadian public service or with government.

When I got home on Friday evening, i first settled down to chow down hot Eba with Eforiro and goat meat stew ??(thank God my hosts cook Nigerian food) and then I slept at 6pm until daybreak ????.

Fingers crossed?? for next week as I wait to hear back on the interviews. Say a prayer for me if you can?????