Not the one you'd normally dance with

My interview went well. Not a slam-dunk, but a solid connection. The guys have been fulltimers forever at Microsoft, as have I, off and on.

They would not normally consider me for this job. It is only being contracted out due to budget cuts. In better days, they would have many qualified marketers to choose from, and I would not have applied.

Those days are gone.

Now, we eye each other doubtfully, hopefully, trying to translate unfamiliar signals. Not the one you'd normally dance with, but at least someone who can dance.

"Suppose you were preparing two TV series," asked one interviewer. "One for developers, one for business managers, to train them on Microsoft technologies. How would you approach it?"

I gazed at the ceiling.

"Well," I said, "If I'm a dev guy, I don't want a TV show. I want docs. If I'm a biz guy, I don't want a TV show either; I want a real person standing in my office, talking to me." I paused. "So, I wouldn't do either of these shows. Instead I would make a show that made MS technologies sexy. I'd put a hot biz guy as the leader, and a dev guy who always saved the day. So basically we're headed for... Star Trek."

I dragged my gaze back down. He was leaning back, pleased. "That's good," he said. Overall, though, I didn't have that "aced it" feeling. I just had the "solidly in the running" feeling.