#jobhunt No. 2

I am quite sure that I have overbooked myself for OPE. How do I know this? Last night I had a horrible nightmare where I couldn’t figure out how to use the stairs to get from the North Tower to the South Tower of the Gruenhagen Center, making me late for my next interview. Scheduling is my jellyfish this week (for those that don’t get the reference, please read #jobhunt No. 1).

Despite all the wonderful advice I received on Twitter from the professionals I’ve connected with, I overscheduled. It was partly not being sure of the whole process, part nervousness that if I didn’t schedule now I’d be behind, and partly that I was overly excited that people were actually responding to the interest letters and resumes that I’d sent out. This all added up to me accepting and scheduling 12 interviews in the course of two days.

Pardon me while I breathe into a brown paper bag for a moment.

I did my best to schedule myself time in between all of them (usually a half hour), but there are two back-to-back interviews that are the source of my nightmares. One worry is not making it to the floor lounge on time for them to call my name. Another is not having any time to review the school and position in between interviews. Another is sounding like a robot from recalling the same situations and traits multiple times in a day. Another is forgetting my notes/coat/bag/etc somewhere and having to run back, taking more time. The list goes on and on.

What I think it boiled down to for me was just a lack of confidence in myself. In my mind, the more interviews I took the more likely it was that at least ONE of them had to turn in to a job offer. Play the odds. I have been told several times that I should be more confident in myself and my experiences, but that is something that I definitely need to work on.

I did schedule an interview with a school about an hour and a half from my hometown, and my mom was thrilled. Her basis for telling me where I should work consists of quoting MapQuest’s driving directions from the school to our front door and asking what their colors are. School colors are very important to my mom, as she has garb from every university I’ve attended or worked at. She’s a fan of green or maroon; I’m trying not to let that influence my decision too much.

Overall though, I’m still very excited about this process. I’ve been spending a lot of time looking over institution websites and specifically those of the Residence Life departments. I’ve been stalking my friend list on Facebook and my followers on Twitter to see what connections I might already have at these schools and be able to ask some questions to beforehand. Despite worries about over booking myself, I am very excited about going to OPE, talking with the search committees, and really getting a feel for the people I might be working with in the not so distant future.

Over the next three weeks I’m hoping that I calm down a little more about this whole process.