I have gotten a new fulltime job, and I start Wednesday. It's with a search engine and web advertising company. I am going to be designing interfaces for sites, mostly for clients who purchase advertising from us, rather than the sites that are available to the public (that's someone else's job). I'll also be doing print design for marketing. It's a really exciting opportunity that I think will be a challenge, something I haven't had at work for a while!

It's nice to see some money coming back to the web lately- its not the crazy rush of 2000, but a more considered, steady approach. This company has been around since before the big boom, and has survived by adapting to support the market, and I think they're going to be around for a while.

I went through several rounds of interviews: I met with seven different people before the process was through. The people and the environment seem very inviting and seem to really "get it." The people I met with, and will be working with, are all around my age and have been at the company for a long time, which I think is a good sign. At the same time, they are also hiring quite a few people and seem to be benefitting from the new blood. It's also a very relaxed atmostphere with a big common area, and although I didn't count them all, what seemed to be a choice of at least a dozen different kinds of coffee ready to be drinked!

I think I am going to like working there-- the windows even open! It's also pretty convenient to get to, a bus picks up on my corner and lets off 6 blocks from the office in SF. They're located in this really beautiful converted industrial building, which has all exposed brick and wood beams. It's also 2 blocks from the Giants' park, so I will probably catch more than a few games this summer.