Sooooo... today I had my interview for the Quality Manager job that doesn't pay terribly well, but has a relatively decent commute.
I walked into this place and they were kinda joking around. A couple minutes into the interview the general manager mentions he went to the same college as me (I'd had a heads up) and we talked a little bit about what it was like up there, got off track, started making jokes... then got back on track. The whole interview, I just felt so comfortable, and was totally myself, forgetting to try to make a good impression. The people who were interviewing me were the general manager, plant manager, and operations manager (over 5 plants in north america). And the HR lady.
We spend most of the interview joking around and laughing. I thought, as I left, that if nothing else, this was a fun 45 minutes spent, and that at least now I have some recent experience with a live interview. They seemed to like my answers, and really encouraged me. Like when I got the dreaded question, "Where would you like to be in", (i say lightly "i want a job" in a joking way as they laugh) "5 or 10 years?" I gave them the pat answer that my experience and comfort zone is in the technical area but I could see myself in management down the road, or just about anywhere but sales - bottom line is I'm flexible and go where I'm needed. Then I said "I hate answering that question because who knows what's going to be available in 5 or 10 years, or even if the company will be around". The operations manager replied "it's good to have goals, but you really DON'T know what's going to happen - flexibility is what we need". (i think to myself "SCORE!!!")
So - my take on this is they either had their mind made up on who they wanted to hire before I walked in there, or I'm the one they're hiring. I expect an offer very soon. :D