The (Last.fm) Interview

June 17th, 2007

Last week before I left for Belfast, I emailed my CV to Last.fm.

For those of you who are not familiar with Last.fm, they are a social music company that run a web service that tracks what music you listen to , and uses that information to show show who your favorite artists / songs are, as well as similar musical tastes.

Anyway, I saw that they were hiring, and it sounded like a great opportunity seeing as music and web development are to of my passions.

Having yet to be offered an interview for the two career positions I have applied for (Google, and Juniper Networks), I wasn’t counting on a response, at least anytime soon. Imagine my surprise when I returned form Belfast on Friday to find an email from Matt Ogle, the head of development at Last.fm, offering me an interview.

He said they were holding interviews next week and to let him know day would be good for me, and that they would reimburse me for the plane ticket.

Oh yeah, did I mention Last.fm is in London?

I responded right away, although it had been two days since he had emailed me, as I was traveling and without internet access. I told him any day was fine with me. I realized that this was late Friday and that he might not respond until Monday, so I went ahead and booked a flight for Tuesday afternoon, returning on Thursday afternoon. I emailed Matt again and told him when I would be in London.

Now at this point, I expected to receive a response Monday morning at the latest, telling me when they would like me to come in, or at the very least telling me the did not have a spot for me until the following week.

Monday morning passed, no email. Afternoon, no email. When it was time to go to bed so I could get up to catch a bus to the airport, I decided I would call from the airport in the morning if I did not get an email by then.

So Tuesday morning I packed, showered, and dressed and caught the bus to the airport without any idea if I would actually get to interview when I got to London.

Now some of you might think this was foolish. I should have confirmed before I bought the tickets, or at least before I left for the airport. I knew I was taking a risk by buying the tickets and getting on the bus without confirmation. I can say that I felt a little foolish, but I had faith that everything would work out.

When I got to the airport, I decided to call to confirm. To my relief, Matt told me he had just got my emails that morning, as some of his email had been downloaded to his laptop, and he hadn’t been in the office to check it. We agreed Thursday morning would work out well, and that was that.

I felt very relieved, at least I wasn’t headed to London for nothing.

I flew to London, got to spend the rest of Tuesday, and all day Wednesday seeing the sites. I met some cool Australians and an Israeli in the Hostel, and on some cool Canadians on a walking tour I randomly stumbled upon.

Thursday I got up way too early, and had to kill about an hour and a half at various points in the morning.

I arrived at Last.fm about 30 minutes early. The office looked like an amazing place to work. People weren’t separated by cubicals, and the whole place had a really cool vibe to it. Matt welcomed me, I waited for a while, and we started the interview early. I don’t want to say too much here, and give away their interview process, so I’ll keep it general. I thought it went ok, I felt I stumbled a couple times with some technical questions because I was nervous, and one or two of them I simply didn’t know how to answer, but didn’t feel too bad about it as I don’t have any experience in that area, and I’m sure I would have been able to answer them if I did.

I really hope I get this job. I don’t think I could ask for a better fit for me. The PHP development would definitely be within my capabilities, but would challenge me at the same time. I could also benefit from the structure of a company, over the independent web development I have been doing so far. Also, because Last.fm is a company that focuses on music, I will also get the opportunity to help other people share and discover new music, while also getting the opportunity to work with people who share my love of music.

All in all, I didn’t feel great about the interview, but I didn’t feel bad. I definately hope I get the job, but if I don’t at least it was a good learning experience, and I will help me in future interviews.

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