This past winter I was asked by my boss to schedule and conduct interviews of potential interns and volunteers for our Museum. I count this as a particularly important milestone in my slow climb up the rickety ladder of museum success. To me, the act of conducting an interview presupposes a certain amount of authority even if I was really only asked to handle this because my boss is very busy and the volunteer coordinator is out on maternity leave. I bet this is how it happens–incrementally. One day I’m a volunteer then a year and a half later a trusted part of the staff with a desk, and if I play my cards right, maybe a year and a half from now I will be added to the payroll! A girl can dream.
The looming task of interviewing and screening folks was daunting and needless to say, I spent the bulk of my time over-thinking it. What sort of questions should I ask? What am I supposed to wear, a tweed blazer with suede elbow patches? Should I speak with an accent to sound smart? Which country has the smartest sounding accent? There was so much to think about.
I found the cleanest chair in the museum and placed in front of my desk for the interviewees to sit in and then did a Google search for appropriate questions to ask. My first interview was scheduled for Monday, January 24th. She sent a resume and cover letter expressing interest in helping with projects relating to both the Education and Cultural History bureaus. 10:30 came and went with no sign of—let’s call her Julie—and by 11 o’clock I realized I had been stood up. The printout of her resume was left to teeter at the top of the tall scrap paper pile that sits to the left of my computer monitor.
My second interview, three days later on Thursday, January 27th, was with two docents who had already been trained to lead tours of one of our new long-term exhibitions. To better serve the Polish and Hispanic populations of the local community, not to mention foreign language classes, we are developing bilingual exhibition tours, and these two women happen to be fluent in those languages. An important looking manila folder stuffed with copies of their resumes and some scribbled-down information about the envisioned bilingual tour program spent the night sitting on the edge of my desk with the eager anticipation of a child on Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, that night it snowed and due to the inclement weather neither of the docents could make it to the meeting. For those keeping score, my interview record at this point is 0 for 2.
The final interview I had scheduled was with a graduate student working on her Master’s in Education at a local college. She showed up! On time, even!
Without a doubt, this experience has taught me a great deal about interviewing that will come in handy during my own future job searches. Ordinarily, when I go on interviews, I’m so intimidated and nervous that I come across as a sweaty fast-talking nerd, ignorant of all social cues. As a result of this experience, it has become clear to me that the person sitting behind the desk or conference table is just a regular person. Chances are the interviewer has about a hundred other things to do and may not pay full attention to the rambling responses I give because they are lost in thought about needing to get an oil change this weekend or return library books after work. If I can remember to think of interviewers as regular people who are asking questions to get a feel for who I am and what I know rather than to stump or trick me, things could potentially go more smoothly—or at the bare minimum things might turn out to be less sweaty. A girl can dream.