Saturday, January 24, 2009

Oh Wisdom of teh Internets, Don't Fail Me Now

So maybe an hour after I posted that last post on Monday, Absurdist Lover got laid off. Needless to say, this has caused my head to go a-swirl with money problems. I'm going to have to go ask my father if I can borrow money since I don't get paid from the Community College until the 10th -- my father, the same one who said I needed to find someone else to ask. Not good. I'm hoping that because it's a short-term loan, he won't balk. Ugh.

AL's dad has work for him, so he got up early and left the baby and me to sleeping in on this nice gray Saturday. (For a while, it's been obnoxiously hot and sunny, which I find depressing in January, but the last few days it's been raining, so that's better. I don't know why so much sun in the winter makes me depressed -- I think it's that sunny days are these extroverted go-out-and-meet-the-world days that make me want to stay in -- not having the nice gray rainy inward days really knocks me out of whack -- but of course that's this town all over -- a total imbalance of extroversion and do-do-do and by the way, can you get me an agent?) I need to grade. Thursday, I graded seven essays. Then yesterday, I graded three and was totally pooped. (I had spent many hours at the office, so it was hard to do both in one day.) So I have eighteen left -- I should get at least nine done today. I should also get ready for Monday. But instead of grading, I'm possessed with the fact that. . .

I have a campus interview in less than two weeks. I'm thrilled that I have a campus interview, even though it's at a place that seems less than ideal. I'm also waiting for two other schools to get back to me -- one had said they would be getting back to us by now (I realize trolling their website is not going to give me insight into what is going on with them, but when has that ever stopped me -- it's the exact kind of job I want, which means they will never call me), the other still has some time. I should also be sending out apps for the couple of second-season jobs that are out there, but it's hard to screw up the oomph for that. I have to put together a talk, but what I feel more prepared for is a good whine about how much I need a job. Whatever I say, the subliminal message will be: Please, please, please. Hire me! I'll work like a dog. I promise. I'm a go-to kind of person, I swear. I'm a workhorse. Hire me, hire me! I realize this kind of desperation is not the best with which to walk into an interview situation -- a search committee can probably smell fear -- but it's all I've got! This is my first campus interview (Adventure U's process was a bit different) so I'm thinking about all sorts of stupid things like if someone is picking me up at the airport, does that mean I shouldn't wear jeans on the plane? Should I be marginally professional at all times? Ugh. What do you think? What advice can you give me about campus visits?

4 comments:

dr four eyes said...

Re: what to wear on the plane. Unless I was specifically told, "don't worry about dressing up for the flight; wear whatever is comfortable for you," I wore sort of business casual--khakis or slacks and a nice-ish shirt. Sunnyville U's people actually did say to me almost exactly what I wrote above, so I did wear jeans for a cross country flight.

If you have interview stuff soon after you land and you're not sure if you'll have time to change, then def dress up.

Anonymous said...

I'm with 4eyes: Unless you are being taken directly to an interview, then go with business casual -- maybe not khakis unless they are the kind that don't crease badly after sitting for a few hours. You don't want the person picking you up to get the impression that you're too casual, but there's no reason to be in a suit, either. Good luck with the interview, and I'm so sorry to hear about AL's layoff.

Anonymous said...

lurker de-lurking! I have only been on the one campus visit, but since I was (alas) going to a more business-oriented school, I figured I'd better be on the safe side and wear my suit. I was glad I did, as the school was a *lot* more formal than my grad or undergrad, and it helped me blend right in. But that's only because of the type of institution it was. I'd let that help guide your clothing choices--I suspect that business casual would indeed be appropriate for most places.

I was trolling the interwebs for info before the visit, so if you're interested, you can take a look at some of the links I saved here (mostly from the Chronicle forums, IIRC).

Earnest English said...

Thanks for the advice y'all. I arrived at night and was picked up and went to the hotel. Normally I travel in jeans, but instead wore some nicer pants that I teach in.

R, thanks so much for the links. I read, read, read before I left! Some really good stuff in there!