Interview Madness

I've been on several interviews over the past few weeks.  You know, when you wonder what can go wrong?  It turns out quite a bit.....

Let's see what all has gone off the rails this week.  Remember, all of these interviews were panel interviews.

"Here's a computer.  You've got ten minutes to create and Excel spread sheet with all of these parameters."
 Here's the rub:  My computer screen is broadcast up onto the wall in the front of the room, and the computer I've been given is a state of the art Windows 10 machine.  The computer that I use at home and at work are both Windows XP machines.  I'm used to a much older version of Excel, and you could see it in my very clumsy attempts to figure out how to work the damn software and make the spread sheets as pretty as they wanted them to be.

"Given this bag of Legos, come up with 3 programs that you could do with a group of kindergarten children.  You have ten minutes."
Okay, so the bag had 20 Lego's, only one set of wheels, and 3 hinged pieces.  I asked if I had to have this EXACT bag of Lego's.  The answer was yes.  Yeah, I came up with 3 programs, my lessons were decent, but I usually have more than 10 minutes, and a library full of books at my fingertips in order to pull together a program.

As I was following the head of HR down the hallway, I brushed up against a table and the entire table - and everything on it - fell down.

"Tell me about your experiences working with electronic resource acquisitions."
As I worked my way through what I thought were my qualifications, the interviewer looks at me and says "So, no real qualifications, then."  As I stammered and attempted to expound upon what I had been doing, she rolled her eyes "That's not really what acquisitions is all about."  Funny, that's what I've been doing for the last couple of years, and my interviewer has never worked in any library. 

And finally, this weird - very weird - encounter from one interview.  I walked into the room, shook hands with the interviewer, and sat down.  She then proceeded to tell me about how hot her last office was - the average temperature in winter, and in summer.  And how she had to wear t-shirts and flip flops even in winter because it was so hot.  She then spoke at length about her current living arrangements, and then stood up, shook my hand, and escorted me back out the door.  No idea what the heck that was all about, but it was definitely right up there with the strangest interviews I have ever had.

I really don't enjoy interviewing for jobs.  I really hate getting out there and having to prove myself over and over again, but not really ever getting a job.  Searching for new jobs is difficult.  Very, very difficult.  It's time to move on to new challenges, but I really don't enjoy the interview process. 

I'd appreciate some positive thoughts sent my way during this very frustrating job search, if you can spare them!

Getting Ready for Graduate School

Oldest child leaves for Grad. School on Wednesday.  His last day of work at his old job, at his undergraduate institution was Friday.  We are frantically attempting to get him together.  He's going to be further away from home now- 5 hours instead of 1 - so there will be no same day runs from us on our way into or out of work to drop stuff by. 

Yesterday, I did the unthinkable. I forced him to clean his room.  He and his brother share a room, and neither of them are great housekeepers, and I've tried to let them have their own space.  However, I fully realize that he's never really going to live at home again full time, and I want him to clean up his space so it will be clean when he does come home.

After 4 hours, we had cleaned out under his bed.  Let me be specific here:  He has a loft bed, so the space under his bed is significant, and it is cluttered.  We found trash.  Good Lord, did we find trash.  We found stuff from high school - old papers, notes from friends, and whatnot.  We even found a one gallon bottle of water that had been put under there when he moved back home for the summer.  The bottle had broken, water had seeped into the carpet, and there was mold and mildew everywhere.  I don't understand where or how all of this stuff got there, because he and I do clean out his room annually before he goes back to school.  I think it just procreates - like bunnies.

We've got him partly packed.  He wanted to put that off until Wednesday morning - right before we leave.  No, no, no, no, no!  We wouldn't get out of here until after noon, and we have a 5 hour drive staring at us, and the rental office closes at 4.  I made him start packing stuff up last night.  We've got a huge pile in the living room, but at least the pile is in one place. 

That's the funny part- I feel a little like a hoarder.  Middle child has his boxes and stuff piled in the hallway.  Daughter has her stuff piled in the kitchen - and the dining room.  Oldest child has his in the living room, and I am winding way my through stacks and stacks of boxes, crates, and bags every single time I try to move anywhere. 

I am really going to miss him when he goes.  In my heart, I know that from now on, he'll just be visiting us.  He's going to be working on his PhD, in a different state, and I know he's going to have great adventures, meet wonderful people, and do fantastic things.  I'm terribly excited for him, and for all of the possibilities laid out before him.  (I'm a little envious, actually.)

But I am going to miss him.  He's my first baby.  I know, he's not a baby anymore, but he is my first child, and he will truly be flying out on his own from now on.  I'll always have his back - but I'm going to have it from much further away now.

This is going to be a very weird fall.  All 3 of the kids, out of the house.