For breakfast: three fried egg sandwiches, with cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, fried onions and mayonnaise, followed by three chocolate-chip pancakes; a five-egg omelette; three sugar-coated slices of French toast and a bowl of grits a maize-based porridge, washed down with two cups of coffee.

OMG, I’m surprised Michael Phelps doesn’t sink like a stone! I’m thinking I might have a chance in the 2012 Olympics. I have the appropriate diet but am worried that my arms are too short.

Tonight’s post is inspired by a conversation I had today with Michael, one of our senior Platform developers. Michael joined in response to my post a few months ago (we still have openings available hint hint) and we were talking about the recruitment process. He said a good way to judge a company is by how they interview and hire people. I thought back a bit to some of the interviews I’ve experienced on the past and found myself enthusiastically agreeing.

If you’re going for an interview I think you can tell an awful lot about a company’s attitude towards its staff. Sloppy, disorganised interviews invariably mean the company is a complete mess. Conversely regimented interviews often result in a dose of severe timeboxing.

Companies that use only a single interview clearly aren’t looking to hire a person with any character. Mediocrity is the order of the day. Similarly I suspect that those who insist on grading candidates with 30 question quizzes would be most satisfied with an automaton who never makes mistakes but can mechanise the development process as well as they’ve mechanised the recruitment process.

In short if you have a bad interview experience then you’re probably going to be very unhappy there. And companies that interview poorly end up with the employees they deserve.

(btw my plan failed - I couldn’t complete this post in the 30 minute commute and had to finish it at home!)

I only met Caroline a few times but even in those brief conversations she struck me as an amazingly intelligent and independent woman, with a depth of artistic talent. She was also a real rock for Danny.

Danny is doing ok, but I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet. The myriad dogs and cats that share this house are more than enough to keep him busy and the neighbours are incredibly supportive and helpful. In fact it’s pretty obvious that he and Caroline are much loved. I’m here for a few days and a series of family members are turning up over the next few weeks. However, I’m sure Danny would love to hear from his friends online.