H

So Nerdhaven is hiring.

I've put out feelers to UXers I know - but most of them are placed.

Stimpy's at Candy Land until December, I'm hoping that Candy Land snaps them up - otherwise I want them to come here. They'd be good.
The UX community is not a large place, but in my corner of the world it is positively incestuous. NerdHaven posted two UX positions and suddenly my LinkedIn inbox is lighting up like a Christmas tree.

First comes Gumby - a veteran of CorpWorld who bailed out of Usability when the first round of killings began. They'd moved to a department whose job it was to step in when inter-depatmental disagreements threatened a project. It says a lot about CorpWorld that there was such a group - and that they were busy. Gumby is asking me out of the blue for information about NerdHaven.

They want the UX Director job. It's the first one out of the chute. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Gumby was solid in UX, but as a manager, I'm more than skeptical.
How to respond? You tell  the truth. You wanna know about NerdHaven? I'll tell you. It's awesome.

Next is Apok -  I like Apok, I hope they do well. I think they'd landed at a bank - and I can't see that as being a good slot for anyone interested in innovation.
How to respond? You tell  the truth. You wanna know about NerdHaven? I'll tell you. It's awesome.

Then comes Newf "Hi, I don't remember if we worked together at CorpWorld, but I know two people you do know there, so.."

Newf was a member of CorpWorld's D-Business.

I was in the same room with them twice - I remember them, and what I was asking them to do. They don't remember me at all, but they'd like help in landing a gig at Nerdhaven.
I know exactly zero about their capabilities or interpersonal skills.
How to respond? You tell  the truth. You wanna know about NerdHaven? I'll tell you. It's awesome.

Then there's G-Man.
G-Man ran CorpWorld's D-Business group. I think Apok works for them. Which is awkward. G-Man wants to be UXDirector.
Again, solid design chops - not so sure about their UX-ing - and as a manager, I always thought they were too meek. It might have been CorpWord's moribund process, though. Not really much opportunity to take the reins when every decision needed a dozen sign-offs.
How to respond? You tell  the truth. You wanna know about NerdHaven? I'll tell you. It's awesome.

And then there's H.
I got pinged by them on LinkedIn. They'd mentioned applying at one of NerdHaven's sister offices way off in who-the-hell-knows. They'd asked if there were any jobs in my neck of the woods.
How to respond?

...

I tell the truth, mostly. NerdHaven is hiring a UXer. I didn't mention the UXDir job, though. Because - that would be too terrifying. I don't think H would actually relocate. Last I heard, they were on the west coast. It would be quite a jump for them to come here.

This morning I get an email from a NerdHaven staffer. It's about a phone message left for me.

NerdHaven doesn't have phones at desks - at least, not in project rooms like mine. As, in - you can't call NerdHaven and ask for me, because I don't have an extension.
NerdHaven also doesn't have a receptionist. You get a random external line and takes yer chances.

The phone message is - of course - from H.
This could only mean they are applying at NerdHaven - and the only posted job at the moment is the UX Dir job.

Which means H wants to be my boss again.

And leaving a message for me is them asking me to help them out on that.

Let's tally that up shall we?

Gumby (hmm), Noddy (the Sum of All Fears), Suit (ack), G-Man (hmmm), and now H (The only person not worse than Noddy).

God Almighty, I hope there's a larger pool of senior UX applicants.