Interview Day

Today was the day I’ve been waiting for since I started looking for a library position five months ago. Today was interview day. I slept pretty well, was up when the alarm went off at 6:30 a.m. and dressed for the occasion. I wasn’t particularly nervous—what was there to be nervous about? I knew the interview panel, knew what the job was all about, and knew that I was the right person for the job. The only thing left was to get through the interview.

The interview started about 10 minutes late. The atmosphere was pretty relaxed and it was clear that they wanted me to be at ease. The first question was jokingly: If you were a book, what kind of binding would you have? Pat asked me how my previous library experience has helped to prepare me for this position. Armin asked about my knowledge of the computer system and cataloging in general. Doug asked about my understanding of the library’s mission and how my ministry fits with that mission. By the time John asked about my experience as a supervisor and trainer, and I responded with, "Well, I trained you. . ." the mood lightened again. Amidst the laughter, Pat made a comment that I could be snippy, which I thought was a little exaggerated (my tone was more matter-of-fact than snippy). The comment made more sense after Armin told me that during their pre-interview session they discussed asking me about my knowledge of the Methodist tradition only to decide that I would probably just say, "well, I know a lot more about it than any of you." (I don’t think I would have said it quite that way.) All that said, the interview went really well. I had all the right answers and conducted myself in a very professional manner. The rest of the interviews will be conducted this week and I should hear something early next week.

With the interview over, the rest of the day was pretty anticlimactic. I checked-in and shelved all the mail. Since I didn’t have time to do any cataloging yesterday, I spent the rest of the day doing serials cataloging. Most of that was processing title changes. Why publishers and organizations feel the need to change the names of their serial publications is beyond me. Maybe they feel like they’re doing us a service by keeping us employed. Who knows. . . I ate lunch with Armin at the hospital cafeteria and we had a nice visit. And that was pretty much my day at work.

Darryl was a saint and cooked dinner again. This time he made a large pot of beans and chicken enchiladas. I made the Spanish rice and we had our Kennedy-Stephens version of Tex-Mex. This was a big help for me since I didn’t get home until 5:30 and had to leave again at 7:30. Tonight was my monthly circle meeting. I belong to a women’s circle at Druid Hills and we meet on the second Tuesday each month. Tonight we went to North Decatur Presbyterian Church to hear a talk given by a group of Palestinian refugees. I saw several people I knew there, including a woman from the Peachtree Handspinners Guild who turns out to be a Presbyterian minister and a librarian at Woodruff, the main library at Emory. I got home at nearly 9:45. It's been a long and full day!