charlobo-a-go-go

Some of you may know that I’ve been out for a bit on the job search. Not that I’m unhappy. Not that I’ve found myself out of a job (but one never knows). It is a great opportunity that just came up, and it’s something that I would love to do, so I went for it.

Last week I had my interview, make that interviews. 9 interviews. 1 presentation. 1 campus tour. 1 lunch with faculty. 1 dinner with vice provosts and directors. This was a two-day interviewapalooza that had me running in high heels (more on that later).

Most of the interviews were with panels. From a small group of three to a larger group of six. There were some high powered individuals who were decision makers on the larger campus level, and there were administrative assistants who were, for all intents and purposes, on the lower end of the feeding chain, but still important. I hardly ate at any of the meals I was attending (and that was expected because it’s largely them peppering you with questions), and it was easy to get tired during the hot days in a suit.

There were highs, and there were lows. Some meetings were just fabulous. I left feeling good about my time and energy, and the group gave back a good vibe. Some meetings were rough enough that I felt like just hanging up my heels and saying this was fun, thanks. To be honest, there was only one meeting that was like that, and I was a little rattled by it.

I guess you can say that if you ever felt that a candidate just wasn’t what you expected, you would just ride it out and allow them to move through the interview. I got those quick microexpressions that felt like weights being added to my chest. I panicked at parts and then quickly just had to rise above it and hope that I could move through it. I was that candidate that was a waste of a lunch hour. *sigh*

Thankfully afterwards I had a meeting with another group of folks who left me feeling more buoyed. It helped to negotiate that bad feeling, but that feeling of aww crap just sat with me, and it changed how I felt about the position overall. What was interesting was that I sat down with the hiring manager and told her about my feelings and my experience, and she was kind enough to talk me through it when I didn’t expect her to do so. I really expected her to just take note of me as That Candidate and usher me to my next meeting, so it wasn’t that bad. It said a lot about her as a person and as a manager.

I had meetings with people two above my pay grade and those went really well, I feel. The presentation was easy and truthfully this was to my strength, and I got great feedback afterwards so that was nice.

Interestingly enough, a lot of the meetings had questions like, “What would you do if…” and it felt like they were wondering more about my ideas not because it would provide some insight into my suitablility, but because they needed an idea and I was the key. It was a weird feeling. Again, my idea hamster card got renewed a few times.

The fun part is on Monday I plan on telling my supervisor that I need a reference.

In short, how did it go? It went well, but that one blip doesn’t sit with me well. The whole two-day affair was like buttah, really. Am I going to get it? There are two more candidates to be interviewed (I anticipated that I was going to be one of two, maybe three. FOUR? dang). I should know by the end of July.

That being said, the thing about heels…I went on a campus tour. It was HOT as shit, and wearing heels on hot day is never a good idea, but you know what, I LOOKED CUTE.

How I suffer for my art.

Wish me luck.

Char