Monday, May 6, 2013

Wierdest. Interview. Ever.

Ben was offered his current position of teaching/coaching the week before we got married.  That is the last interview that he has been through. 

In the subsequent 8 years (I know, right?) since he's been off the market, I have applied for probably 10-15 various positions in a variety of fields of work, sometimes while employed and sometimes not.  I have been through 9 interviews out of those applications.  Luckily, I was offered positions 6 times, with one still outstanding.  Ben--0 interviews since June 2005.  Amy--far, far too many.  This is not a rant about my perpetual state of interviewing.  No, this is a post about the weirdest interview EVER. 

Though I haven't been pulling a regular salary as of late, I'm still technically employed.  Indeed, I'm still on the adjunct docket at the local community college.  I had already passed on teaching a class this semester when my "real" job fell apart.  And it's driving me a bit nutsy.  I miss people!  What to do, what to do??  Apply for something, of course!

Something that works around me being at home in the day.  Something that doesn't involve me doing anything immoral or embarrassing.  Something like...adjuncting at another local college.  It's not that I'm in a rut, it's that there are pitifully few positions in the area that call for someone with a literature/writing/teaching background.  Oh, except for teaching.  Been there.

But teaching as an adjunct, admittedly this is based off of little overall experience so far as I'm at the front end of this career choice, is refreshingly independent, casual, and enjoyable, at least for me.  And, what do you know, not a lot of people with the creds want to be adjuncts because the pay is lousy and there is little stability.  But someone in my bizarre position thinks of it as a Yes, please! 

Ergo, I applied to a local-ish university.  I went through the whole jumping-through-hoops process.  I secured an initial interview (there are about 4 more steps, no joke).  Ready for a giggle?  Here's a synopsis of that venture.

*It was a Skype interview.
*It was at 9:00 p.m. on a Tuesday night.
*I sat at my kitchen table.
*The person that I was having a conversation with was also pulling double-duty taking over for an understaffed position and was interrupted a couple of times.
*I stared at a black iPad screen because there was no video feed from his end.
*I have no idea if he could see me, so I literally sat there and pretended that I was talking to a person.  but I wasn't.  I was staring at a black screen...for 45 minutes.

Furthermore, what does someone wear to a Skype interview when you're sitting at your own kitchen table?  The whole thing was just odd and chuckle worthy.  I think it went okay?  You'd think that I'd have these question-and-answer sessions down cold by now.  No.  They still make me all scatterbrained and rambly.  I can't imagine why I never went through one of these situational interviews with Career Services before I graduated.  How odd...

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm crying from laughter. OH. How awkward. That sounds like something that would happen to me.

Sally said...

I just happened upon your blog... My daughter Skyped her first/only interview after college for her first teaching job. I told her at least she only had to look good from the waist up!

How awkward to be staring at an empty screen...

Amy said...

So true, Sally! It sounds like your daughter's interview went well if it was her first and only--wonderful! Thanks for the comment. :-)