Cafe Hitch-hike

2004-11-15

Preparations

Okay, (**clears throat**) Time for my pre-preparation warm-up exercises.

Things to do:

  • Pack suitcase... It is SO going to be a carry-on because with my luck crossed with this occasion, my checked luggage will be misplaced.
  • Get out nice suit (herringbone or the solid black? Methinks herringbone)
  • Make sure pantyhose doesn't have a run; Pack a spare pair just in case.
  • Prepare toiletries... Bring something so my hair won't frizz. (NO need for hairdryer, the chic hotel paid for thanks to the State of Florida will have one).
  • Oh, yeah... Bring my SmellsBeGone spray because I'll be getting a smoking room (yuck)
  • Prepare my 15-minute presentation. I think I'll do it on Census.gov's American Factfinder where all these neat numbers, stats, and figures are available.
  • I fly into the city around 10 am. I'll use that time to look around the city and maybe go see the ocean. Maybe that will be enough to get some sun; if my skin looks glowing and sun-tinted, then maybe it will detract them from my midwestern accent-from-hell.

    At about 5:30, I will meet with some of the library homies for dinner. I discovered, much to my surprise, that the pre-interview dinners are supposed to be business casual. Hooray!! I don't have to back two suits! I'm gonna wear a blue floral dress I found in the Royal Oak Salvation Army.

    Around 7:00, it's back to the hotel where I will look over my attache' of info. about the university, its programs, etc-etc...

    The next day, at 8:30, I will be picked up and taken to the university. The next 3 hours will be spent with tours, meeting folks, and me answering questions:

    Why do you want to work here? What do you like about instruction? What is your prior background before becoming a librarian?

    Answers: I want a new start. I instruct because for some reason, I feel lost without it. Before becoming a librarian, I was a cook, a legal secretary, a clerk in a convenience store, and a stripper (just kidding, I refinished all the hardwood flooring in a house one summer... very dirty work, indeed).

    And then, there's lunch of cold cuts, chips, dill pickles, and Pepsi where a pack of library staff and I get to feel each other out inbetween munching and discreetly wiping off crumbs.

    And then, I get to give a 15-minutue instruction session. This part is strange: they will then spend 40(!?) minutes asking me about my instruction philosophy and experience, and what I would do in worst case scenarios.

    By now, it should be 1:30 p.m. I then get to meet with 3 groups of folks, each armed with prepared questions. I get to volley them, and oh yeah, ask them questions from time-to-time.

    The damn day always concludes with a one-on-one with the dean who likes to pretend this is a one-on-one, personal chat where I can ask anything I want. They also claim to give the real low-down on the university dirt ("we're underfunded... there are huge territorial wars in this college... there has been 3 suicides on the library premises and it has affected our morale slightly..."). Truth of the matter is they are poking at the innards to see how we respond. And then this is game.

    I am shipped to the hotel where one of the library homies and I try to make small-talk or say something about our families (it's hard when everything is glazed still by mental exhaustion). I will dash to get my luggage, and then make my way back to the aeroport, which will ship me back to Atlanta, and then back to Dee-troit.

    My boyfriend will be at the gate, ready with a kiss and hug and will take my luggage. Poor guy will be a bit grouchy. Will the girlfriend get offered the job, 'cause he knows her well enough to know that she will completely bail if she is.

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