Today's interview is brought to you by the letter "S" and the number "3"!

Drive Home
March 2005 Raleigh, NC
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So on my way out of the parking lot after the interview this afternoon I called Bonn.

"How did it go?" she asked.

I explained that it seemed to go pretty well.  I met with the head of the small IT Department for the College of Textiles and his boss.  We seemed to get along well togther and were able to talk easily amongst ourselves.  They both seemed comfortable with me, despite me being dressed in my Interview Costume Monkey Suit.  After the formal talking points the head of the department walked me through the four buildings they have to show me all of the computer labs and setups, spending far more time with me than he needed to if he hadn't liked me.  And, out of 129 people who applied for the job I was one of only 3 people he was interviewing.

"But," I said, "I've thought all of the interviews had gone well, so what do I know?"

I think what I know is this: Nuthin'.  A big, fat nuthin'.  Interviews are a crap shoot where you don't even get to see where and how the dice land.  It's a process I'm bloody well tired of but know I have to keep slugging my way through.

It was also an interview I just couldn't get "up" for.  No matter how much I tried to talk myself into it, I just stayed calm and matter-of-fact about it.  I left work, drove down to the local Barnes & Noble bookstore where I changed clothes (I walked in with a suit on hangers wrapped in plastic and walked out wearing said suit and no one even noticed.  That says something, but I'm not sure what) and drove over to the University's new campus.  All the while I was rehearsing the standard stories and Tales From the Trenches and trying to act enthusiastic.  It wasn't coming.

In the interview it was Show Time and the enthusiasm came.  All of my best Active Listening skills were on display.  We comiserated about user problems, difficult people, being stopped in the hallway, at gatherings and in the bathroom with people asking about their home computer problems...

Would I like the job?  Sure.  It doesn't pay much but the benefits are better than what we have now and there's some real job security there.  (Besides, the weaving machinery would make fascinating photographic subjects)  But I'm not willing to put much energy into wishing and hoping for this one.  I'll hear one way or the other in about 2 weeks.  Meanwhile, I'll keep sending out the resumes into the black hole that is the 'net.

As for the picture, while it was taken on the way home the other night, I "improved" upon nature a bit here and there.  (I mean, you just don't see that shade of blue with the sun setting like that, now, do you?)

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