Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Best interview yet

I'm really happy with the way my campus visit went.  Proud, even.  Despite my enormous fears of sounding like an ill-informed fool who would bring shame and ignominy upon the heads of all who considered hiring him, I think I had a great visit pretty much all the way through.  My job talk went great – way better than I even expected! – and earned me good feedback; I made it through an exhaustive series of interviews over the course of several days; and I felt like I actually made friends among the faculty, especially at the candidate dinner.  It all felt very collegial and pleasant.  I want the job so much that it's hard to remember that I have to chill out and forget that the university exists for a while.  A short-list candidate still only has 1:3 odds.

Naturally, being the person I am, I'm also replaying a few moments of the process where I wish I had answered a few things more promptly, or where I wonder if they understood exactly what I meant when discussing some things of heightened political sensitivity.  I felt like I was on the same wavelength with everyone in the moment, but now my grad-school-honed self-doubt and second-guessing skills have come into play.  But one way or another, what's done is done, and I need to focus on the present and the very near future right now.  That by itself is a lot on my plate.

6 comments:

  1. Of course you rocked it! Now, we'll wait for the good news. (And if the good news doesn't come, don't take that as any indication that you did not indeed rock the visit. 'Cause you did.)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mabrooook! Although I'm not surprised :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm glad to hear it went well! Fingers crossed for you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks, everyone! And welcome, Terminal Degree!

    @Dr. Becca: I'm flattered that you're excited for me. I'm excited for you, and I really want to follow in your footsteps!

    ReplyDelete