It's been a long while since I checked in. This mainly because not a lot has happened lately.

On 2005-10-28 I had an interview at IBM's software development labs in Hursley, near Winchester. The interview was at 9:30am so I had to take the train down the day before and stay overnight. As it turned out, that day was graduation day for Winchester University, which was genius - it meant finding accommodation within the town exceptionally difficult. I wondered if it was part of the aptitude test; in the end I stayed at the King's Head, a pub in Hursley literally across the road from IBM, which worked out quite nicely.

The day itself I was intensely worried about after what had happened at my previous interview, but as it turned out I was fine. This incidentally proved that I was genuinely ill when I was at Data Connection, not simply anxious to the point of nausea. This time around I was confident the whole way through.

Prior to the day, I'd taken an aptitude test online in order to get through to a first interview session. I was there with thirteen other people who'd done the same; the first thing we did was have a brief test to make sure we actually genuinely had that skill. Then there was a graduate tour and a second test. For the second test I was in a group of seven candidates. We were sat around a table and given a wodge of laminated paper, and instructed to spend the next half hour simply "solving it".

The task was to pick a new employee from a list of applicants. There was a large amount of information which we had to cross-reference to rule people out, but we finished (with the right answer!) in enough time to even double-check our work. Equals win!

There were presentations and stuff also. Then five of us including myself got separated off and taken elsewhere. Turned out we were the only five who'd got past the numerical test (the first one - the one supposed to verify us). Which astounded me. I - all of us - had been told by email that events after lunch would be for people who got past that test only. I thought it would be a formality - firstly, how many people could have cheated, and secondly, it'd be evil to bring people down and then send a significant number of them away after only half a day. I assumed everybody would pass; when I was among the five separated off I assumed we were being split up again for the afternoon's test. But no! We were taken to another closed room and waited there while the nine failures (!) discreetly left - humane, I suppose.

After that was a programming test. It was entirely pseudocode, "What's wrong with this program", "Which of these programs is the fastest", "What line should go here", "What output comes next", et cetera. Pretty easy, I thought.

What amazes me is how slow the process is at IBM compared to other companies. They said ten working days until I get a go/no-go for a second interview, and it certainly was that long - and, though I got a "go", I've been waiting over a week for details of the location and time of the second interview. As for my expenses claim: six to eight weeks! It's madness.

In the meantime, last Tuesday (2005-11-15) I got an invitation from Goldman Sachs (to whom I'd applied long ago - I was informed that they'd contact me when their European recruiting season came around, and it now has) curtly inviting me to an 11:35am interview that Friday - no option to change, no lengthy exchange of arrangement-making emails. Startlingly short notice, but, in my opinon, pleasantly efficient (although I'm glad I'm not working full-time as it might have been difficult to arrange time off at such short notice). Goldman Sachs are a billion-dollar investment bank, literally London-Frankfurt-New York-Tokyo stuff, and the interview was at their building in Fleet Street, central London.

Pretty cool. As was the weather - downright freezing, actually, and the train was worse - swelteringly hot, with hot air venting uncontrollably in my face the whole journey. Irritating. I found the amusing portion of the Tube where the Circle line (yellow), Hammersmith & City line (pink) and Metropolitan line (brown) run alongside each other, forming what I instantly recognised from the signs as being the Neapolitan line. I got a nice look along the Victoria Embankment and caught a glimpse of the London Eye. Fleet Street is moderately impressive. The GS building was pretty nice inside - huge, tall ceilings, pleasant running waterfalls, massive reception, concrete, steel, glass, wafting pass cards, all that jazz. I had my photo taken and printed out in low-quality black and white to be stuck on a temporary pass before ascending with six others to floor M2.

First up was a case study. We were given a document explaining how people's banking history can change over time - even old balances can alter in retrospect - when customers do things like tell the bank about a transaction which occurred yesterday, or is due to occur tomorrow. Perhaps I should mention I had applied to their Technology division, so the question I was asked was to address this issue (and its other details) from a programming standpoint. We had 45 minutes, in which I came up with two and a half answers - the half being a significantly improved variant on the second one.

In my interview I flatly explained my answers and the two guys interviewing me were basically - "Most people get one answer. Some people get a second. You're the first person today [they were doing everybody in one day - 55 people in groups of 5-7 apparently] who's essentially explained everything we already have written down, including the third option. We have about fifteen minutes to fill. Any questions?"

Which was nice.

Then there was a basic "tell-us-about-yourself" session which contained disarmingly few direct interview-style "name a time when you worked in a team" questions and felt an awful lot like a relaxed chat. Whether I came across well in it, I couldn't say for sure, as I lost track a little of my interview technique and ended up very much being my regular self. Still, I left the place that afternoon pleased and confident.

I'm supposed to be finding out if I get through to a second interview right now, so I'll see how it goes.