The Web Presence of Brady Alleman

Just some random thoughts I’m posting instead of trying to sleep, or do anything else useful.  These probably aren’t anything new, but I at least think I’ve thought of them independently.

“I’m bad at self-deprecation.”  I actually thought that to myself for awhile before realizing there were some logical issues with that.  Maybe it’s just that I’m bad at non-self-self-deprecation, or external-self-deprecation, or however you might term it.  Drat – by posting that here, it’s also got logical problems.  Regardless, I should try to take myself a bit less seriously… unless I just did.

Consider the interview question “What are your weaknesses?”  Too bad I didn’t think of something like a deadpan “I have difficulty taking silly interview questions seriously.”  Not that it’s a bad interview question from the interviewer’s perspective, but as an interviewee, what are you supposed to say to that?  An uncensored catalog of your self-perceived weaknesses (even if limited in scope to work-related stuff)  seems an ill-advised thing to launch into – and stumbling around the question seems kind of disingenuous itself.  Would anyone not trip on that question?  Tripping on it didn’t cause me anything more than mental grief, luckily.  Personally, I think that if an interview is to consist of a written script of questions, it would be worthwhile to give the interviewee an advance copy.  I’ve found conversational interviews to be far more comfortable, at least as the interviewee.  They’re probably more insightful, but less comparable between candidates for the interviewer, I would guess.

After almost 8 years of working at Ship in one capacity or another, I’m moving on.  My last day will be 8/19.  I’ve taken a position with Tapestry Technologies and start there on 8/24.  I still might be a student at Ship in the future, though.

The process of leaving Ship has made me more aware of how much of my self-concept is currently tied to my job.  I really need to make a more concerted effort to change that.

I’ve updated the resume for 2009, to include all of the new stuff from 2008.  It’s available here, or over on the right column.