I had an interview with the Ordnance Survey in Southampton at their funky new (well new to me) building yesterday. I wouldn't normally talk/blog about such things however, this experience was most interesting.

I've had some interviews where a member of staff from Human Resources has been on the interview panel. Normally the HR person has been a spare wheel and you get the impression they're just there to fulfill a tick boxing exercise. The OS experience was much different. The HR rep was amazing! She'd obviously studied my CV and background, had inferred HR and work related issues to the position in hand and asked incisive questions to confirm assumptions and flesh out gaps. It was quite simply masterful - I have new found respect for HR when it works in these ways.

The position was as a principal scientist in the research division. The interview consisted of a 10 minute presentation on the topic of 'From Map to Model', from myself, followed by a nice chat. The whole thing lasted nearly an hour and was relaxed and enjoyable. I've always rated what the OS do in terms of the quality of what they produce (highly accurate seamless mapping with quality accreditation) and the work that has gone into the Linked Data services within their data platform. Both are world leading. However, the OS has had a reputation for being somewhat aloof in terms of engagement and responding to downstream user needs. I was really happy to see that this is an attitude of the past. The OS view of 'From map to model' covers all the right buzz-words. The OS want to maximise impact, they want to make their products more useful by engaging with industry and communities, they want their data to be re-used and 'mashed-up' with other re-sources. This is primarily what Open Data dot Gov implied and I am very impressed that the OS have embraced the full implications. The Geo sector is being heavily disrupted - the OS is adopting a philosphy that will make it more resilient and relevant. This is a great thing.

I wont publish this until I hear about the success, or not, of my application. I doubt anyone from the OS will read this, but I don't want it to be prejudiced

2014-01-17 I was unsuccesful :-( But they do provide feedback :-)