I have similar habits, but use zz to recenter the cursor (instead of z.), and gg (instead of 1G) to move to the top. Very quick.
Also, with relativenumber set, it's easy to move to the exact line without counting, or to see how many lines you need to yank, etc.
But sometimes I'm just idly moving through a file with j and k, and it feels perfectly natural to do so, the same way I unconsciously move the mouse cursor over text as I read it (outside of vim).
I've been interviewing recently and it does suck just as described here, so I'm glad somebody called out these issues.
One company I talked to was like a caricature of the bad startup interview: we have a billionaire founder, we have wine on tap, a totally disorganized 4-hour series of discussions where the first person just sat down and started quizzing me with hardly an introduction, and I had to ask the second interviewer how many people I'd be talking to, technical questions ranging from the simple to somewhat difficult (using paper and pencil), with less and less time for each because they couldn't follow their own schedule, followed by an interview with an arrogant, hypercaffeinated CTO, consisting of two brain teaser questions and a series of elevator pitches, all in a tiny glass room near the back storage area, devoid of oxygen. And the following week I found out, sorry, they'd cut funding for the position the day before I came in.
I've been on the job market the last few weeks, going mostly through New York recruiters. The quality of the experience has varied wildly, with some obviously doing the minimum work necessary, and just as obviously not knowing or caring about the "acronyms" on my resume. Others seem pretty professional, have apparently done research, and the clients they recruit for would indicate they have a reputation to maintain.
In the end, the gross factor doesn't really matter to me -- the recruiters find me on LinkedIn, and I just say "sure, I'll talk to XYZ Co." unless it's obviously sleazy or a bad fit.
It's a bit grueling to cast such a wide net, and it's obviously a hustle, but for me it's mostly just a way to get an initial phone introduction/screen with companies, and from there it's apparent whether it's worth the trouble to move to the next step.
I might not go this route again, though, having seen how little most recruiters add to the process.
Unsolicited I know but a good friend of mine runs a recruitment firm in NYC. He's a tech guy (I've worked with him for nearly 10 years) and the founder is an ex-Google dev too (I've only Skyped with him but he seems to know his stuff).
They mostly place for contract roles - but I could be wrong on that.
