I was going to procrastinate, but I put it off...

Well, the new year started auspiciously. Having been dormant for years more bodyshops resumed recruiting and I could not resist the temptation to pay a visit to them. Curiously enough, technical interviews held by most of the companies are simplistic to the extent of being boring. A couple of books and basic knowledge of the language are sufficient to pass such an interview. It makes me wonder what kind of people those companies are after or, alternatively, what kind of work is to be performed.

Another interesting trend is that the two companies perceived as providing better conditions have outsourcing centers here in Russia. Moreover, their technical interviews are either truly challenging or at least judged harshly. It is hardly a surprise that one of those companies is my current favorite. I was impressed with a stretching interview and the conditions offered are better than I used to hope for. The company proposed also to join the project here in Moscow so that going to the US in October I could be completely up to speed and well known by the client (25 miles to the north of NYC).

One more intriguing detail is the continuation of the ‘non-CS major’ theme. Once again I was told that my M.Sc. in Technical Physics (only the blurred-mind soviets could call a typical EE program in such a way) would probably be insufficient to justify a visa regardless my 7 years in software development. This notion contradicts to what I heard from people with degrees equally, if not further, remote from CS. According to them, the major does not matter as only experience and a college degree are required. That is weird. Anyway, I am hastily collecting letters of reference from my former employers (one of a few things which are ignored locally but seem to be meaningful at least to the USCIS).