The interview process was pleasant, and I enjoyed talking to a future colleague candidly about what the position was like. I learned from this person that she had to "hit the ground running, then felt she had been running ever since". This suggested that I would be expected to put in extra hours beyond the 40 hr week or manage my stress somehow. I was to be a replacement for a person who had left rather suddenly, specifically to finish a long-delayed project. I had hoped the job would allow me to develop professionally in designing e-learning courses, and that was promised, but only after the current project was done. I was hired initially as a contractor through a company called Dataset. Since Cobalt belongs to ADP where internal security is important, there is a long process where your "background is checked". This appears to be basically a verification that you actually held the jobs you listed on your resume and that have named the correct dates of those jobs. On my tour around the office, I was introduced to low-wall cubicle-land, with a sea of faces all looking down, unsmiling, hard at work. No one looked up, even in the department where I was to work. It seemed like they were all stressed out. I've since learned that's not the case, but that's how it felt then. I concluded that in the interview that I didn't want the position, and told my recruiter so. But he called back saying Cobalt wanted me, and that, yes, I probably would move into elearning as soon as my project was done. I should have known that having only a 6 month contract on a long project meant that I'd never get the chance to work on anything else. So, I took the position, and was offered full-time at the end of the 6 months. At that point I was the lead on an unfinished project, and so had earned some job security. On the first day I was to begin the job, my background check had yet to clear. The staffing agency neglected to tell me this, so I rode an hour into downtown Seattle on the bus, only to be sent home, because I wasn't allowed to work yet. This was probably just a basic failure of communication but it was disappointing. In summary, I've been very glad I said "yes", even though I went through some rocky times.

Two phone interviews, a final face-to-face with five stakeholders. The telephone interview was with a corporate recruiter who shared a common employer with me years ago. He was professional enough but dug for gossipy information on the former employer in ways I would not have expected. This was basically a phone screen, apparently I passed. My second interview with the company was with a different corporate recruiter who was more professional and dug deeper into my actual qualifications for the role.