Friday, January 06, 2006

New lows...Low news...

Ok, long time, no post.

The end of the semester kicked my ass. Then that segued into Christmas, which is always a low season for me despite the obvious delight that my kid takes in the proceedings. I try not to get in the way of the good times of others. Now I'm
in a strange city, sitting in a cold and noisy hotel lobby, trying to survive the experience of my profession's biggest
conference. I have a perfectly good job in a city I don't like, so I thought I'd interview at Longshot U, a huge research
university back in the Midwest. The interview left me feeling inadequate in every way. I wonder how the hell I got
the job I currently have. The committee was palpably uninterested in my research. One of them told me I had sent
the wrong writing sample (how would they know? They hadn't read the rest of the work!) Another, when I described
my next project, said "Well, thanks for sharing that with us." (Clunk.) They tried to be nice, but I
felt like I had interrupted a great conversation that had been taking place shortly before I arrived that they were
eager to resume after I left.

Now I have to go and pick up the pieces of my good enough job, mustering gratitude for having a job even
while struggling with the whole demeaning interview thing.

So if anyone is still out there occasionally checking in, I could stand a little tea and sympathy.

5 comments:

Coffee-Drinking Woman said...

Wow. That's tough. You have my sympathy.
The interview you had at Longshot U? I bet everyone who interviews there has the same reaction.

listie said...

Oh, Bridgett, here's a whole pot of tea and a boatload of sympathy! I thought you were probably off enjoying your break with spouse and kid, not interviewing with those jackasses at Longshot U. If they don't realize they'd be lucky to have you, it's their loss. Hugs to you.

imfunnytoo said...

Peppermit tea, a large blanket and a favorite book :(

Man, what a slammer of an interview :(

Thinking good thoughts at you.

Rob Helpy-Chalk said...

Take comfort: at least you have a job now, and get interviews for other jobs. (More than I can say.)

bridgett said...

True. Having a husband who has been unemployed or under-employed for the past three post-doctoral years has given me a firm grip on the depressing realities of the job market in my field. More than half of my cohort is stuck in the one-year/adjunct spin cycle; I have seen the finest minds of my generation....and so forth.

It's tough all over. I guess I just allowed myself to dream a little and that was my bad. I'm over it.