It's taken a day and a half for me to process the results of the interviews. Some highlights:
Damn, I look good in a suit. Sarah Palin's got nuthin' on me. - Whether or not you need them, glasses always look good in an interview, particularly when accompanied by a smile. (Glasses = smart, smile = nonthreatening. Very good combination.)
- If you ask questions about resources for connecting with other female faculty on campus, and the institution likes you at all, they will bend over backwards to assure you that they are "sensitive, inclusive, and respectful of gender issues" at every possible opportunity. Gee, thanks -- you've now completely creeped me out.
- Interviewers can botch an interview even worse than interviewees can. (So yeah, space cadet ADHD dude in my last interview? I'm not impressed. Ask me a question that actually makes sense, if you're going to pull a Rainman for most of the interview.)
- The only way to properly finish a long day of interviews is with a pint of Guinness.
- Thank you notes? To *each* interviewer individually? Seriously, placement director? Do people actually do this?
- I had exactly 5 hours between my last interviews, and placement director's first mention of my job talk. No rest for the weary, eh?
- The interviews were fun. FUN! Yes, I was an overcaffeinated wreck before each of them. Yes, I chattered on like a hyperactive chihuahua for the first five minutes of each one. But once I relaxed, listened to the promptings of the interviewers, and started thinking of this as a unique opportunity to talk about my life's work, it was pretty stimulating. I have a whole lot of fun teaching onanistic thinking, and I like talking about it. It was a pleasant surprise that not only do other people like talking about it, but they like listening to me talk about it, too! (Either that, or they did a damn good job faking it.)
So yes, I will write thank you notes. I will prep my job talk. I will wait neurotically by the phone for my Favorite Beau to call. But even if no one calls me, I'm still pretty happy with the whole thing. It's not every day that you get to sit around with a bunch of really smart people whose entire purpose for conversing with you is to talk about the stuff you've been devoting your life to. So thanks for your time, interviewers. Thanks for not being assholes, and for taking me seriously. Even if you don't pick me, I owe you one.
Skeptinautika signing off.
