So today I had a job interview at the graduate school of UW for a position as an administrative program specialist, which is basically what I do right now except with more responsibilities and more interaction with students (which is something I've been aiming to do for awhile now.)
I was interviewed by a panel of four people, including the director of the program that the job falls under. I didn't come out of the interview feeling like I "knocked it out of the park," so to speak. In fact, I'm pretty sure I can pinpoint at least one or two times where I made some definite missteps. However, I did come out of the interview feeling like it was one of the most "genuine" interviews I'd ever had; like I really feel like in lieu of me giving the "right" answers all the time, the panel that interviewed me really got the real me and my answers definitely reflected my work ethic and my true character.
I don't know if that in itself is a misstep (especially in a fairly competitive job market), but I do have to say that it felt really good. I felt like I gave those four people a really genuine look into my perspective on the topics they asked about and a taste of what it would be like to actually work and interact with me.
They say that they'll be contacting me in about a week, so I guess I'll see if I did the right thing or not by then.
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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/ukealii50/kylo.jpg - Thanks uke!
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/829/07kyloforce.png - Thanks Diyosa!
I think that's real cool. What'd you say that you're not sure if you should've said? Keep in mind there are a lot of wombos out there and you're not one, so you should be sitting pretty most of the time for work.
They referred to the specified tasks and asked me what parts of the job I thought I was especially well suited for and which parts they saw would be a challenge. I thought it was an interesting twist on the traditional "strengths and weaknesses" question. I gave an answer about how the part about working with and interacting with people would be easier for me because of my background in working with a lot of different people in programs, but a challenge for me (and potential growing point) is that I'm a fairly "new" professional, so I'm still learning and growing in that way and learning the ins and outs of functioning in an office setting, especially one that I'm less familiar with. That part of the answer, I thought I did fairly well on.
The part that tripped me up is that they referred me back to the task list and asked me if there was anything there in particular that I thought would be a challenge for me, and for a moment I decided to be completely honest and tell them that the physical act of sitting at a desk for eight hours a day would be difficult for me. Not that it has ever hindered my ability to do a good job or do good work or do it when it is necessary, but I'm just not the type to sit still for that long. I like to get up, I like to move around a bit, and I basically told them I get restless if I'm just sitting in one place for too long. I didn't use those words, but I think that's what it amounted to.
I thought this was a misstep because I'm fairly certain mentioning this is what stopped me from being hired at a different job a couple years ago. Granted, that job really did require more at-desk focus due to its main tasks, but I think my answer made me come off as fidgety and someone who wouldn't really know how to focus. This time I tried to clarify that it's not that I have any problem with a lack of focus- rather, it's hard for me to 'do' the physical act of sitting at a desk attentively for that long.
I'm probably overfocusing on the statement but again, I'm glad that I was at least honest about it. The interview otherwise went extremely well so I'm not too stressed about it. That, and I do like where I work now (even though I wish the pay was a little better), but that's how it goes. Based on what I hear about some job nightmares some of my friends have, I'm right to value a good boss and good coworkers over slightly higher pay.
Supposedly I'll hear back from them this week, so we'll see how it goes!
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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/ukealii50/kylo.jpg - Thanks uke!
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/829/07kyloforce.png - Thanks Diyosa!