The Great Fishbowl Quest* #1

Really? Already?

What better day to start a blog than the day you hold your first interview?

Before getting into that, though, I’ve been asked to tell you a little bit about myself. This should be a breeze considering that this is the first interview question all of us who are job searching will be asked a countless number of times. The tricky part is answering without a name, an institution, or other identifying labels (mysterious, isn’t it?).

Currently, I am completing my last semester of graduate school studying “Student Affairs” while serving as a “Hall Director” at my institution. The coursework is quite intimidating this semester, and I believe the instructors are looking to make our comprehensive exams a “grand finale” which will leave us with spots in front of our eyes. In addition to graduating, I also hope to be granted a job (that I choose) at an institution in a community that my wife and I will enjoy. That’s right; I’m married, too, which is fantastic for me, because I have a support network 24/7 (although I don’t know how great it is for her, having to be my support network 24/7).

With that said, I’d like to jump right into my experiences up to now. Last week I was contacted by an institution to set up a phone interview. I was very excited to have the opportunity, as this school rates high on my list (Once my list is complete, I will have a ranking I may refer to throughout the blog). We’ll call this school Top Ten Institution. Being excited about the opportunity, though, is not the same as “looking forward” to it.

I have never had a phone interview. I’d like to emphasize that word “never.” I’ll even add “ever” to it. Never ever. Had this not been Top Ten Institution, I wouldn’t be so nervous. I’d much prefer to hold my first phone interview with Far Unlikely Institution.

I combined some survival tactics and did the following: I waited two days to respond and used that time to give myself a crash-course in practicing interview questions and learning everything I could about phone interviews. When I replied, it was that time in the week that the odds were in my favor that we would interview the following week. All went just according to plan.

We had scheduled for this morning. I dressed the part (tie and all) and waited for the phone to ring in my silent apartment. I used my cell phone to call my apartment and make sure the phone was working. I had my friend call so I could find out if the volume was alright. I ended up hiding my cell phone so that I would stop looking at the time. And then I jumped a mile high when the phone rang.

It rang once (Don’t answer; you’ll come off too eager). It rang twice (Hurry and answer the phone before it rings a third time!).

I’d love to say it went perfectly, that I anticipated every question. Not quite.

I made the mistake of anticipating the “tell us a little bit about yourself” question. It’s the question to test the waters; your chance to figure out if this is a formal or informal interview. And with a phone interview, you need any clues you can get when you don’t have any nonverbals for hints.

Here’s how the first fifteen seconds of the phone interview went:

“Good morning, Candidate speaking.”

“Good morning, Candidate. I’m #1. This is #2. Let’s get started. Why Top Ten Institution?”

I wanted to ask for a chance to pick myself up off the ground, but I thought that might make a bad first impression.

After that, though, things quickly took a positive turn. Once those first five minutes were over, the interview went perfectly. I feel very confident that Top Ten Institution will ask me to interview with them again at one of the exchanges.

One down, two to go (with that institution). Only about forty other institutions left.

* I’ve titled my portion of this blog The Great Fishbowl Quest as I currently work in a “fishbowl” and am on a quest to find a new and exciting “fishbowl” to join.