Adventures in Denver

Yet another spoke on the job interview wheel....

The day from hell (DFH) started before the actual day of the interview even began. My mind was racing and I just could not go to sleep. It's understandable, but befor all my other interviews, I slept great.

The second part of DFH was getting to the airport in Durango, CO. To say it's in the middle of nowhere is putting a nice spin on it, it's really much more than that, it's in the middle of...... um.... something further than nowhere. I've been there before, the route is poorly signed. I decided to rely on the Tom-Tom, but of course that failed as well. It turned me off the highway three times before the actual turn.

Eventually, I found the airport. But naturally, there decided to be a snowstorm that day in Denver and my flight out was delayed by an hour. There wasn't really a set time for the interview, just whenever I got there, but still, it was just another bullshit hassle. About the time, however, I realized that the delay is actually a good thing (less time at the actual interview), we took off.

The weather in Denver held up for the flight, but, of course, it started snowing when I landed and the car rental place was packed. I've never been to Denver before, so not only did I have to navigate through a huge city I've never been in, but I also had to do it with snow and ice on the ground, in a rental car. Great, right? And of course the interview was nowhere close to the Denver airport and all the way across town.

Then, of course, there is the interview process itself. It was an odd mix of formal questions and informal chit-chat. If I were an interviewer, I'd find the informal stuff much more enlightening. Frankly, the formal stuff is bullshit. It's basically the same questions over and over again and if you do it often enough, it's re-gurgitated and practiced. Not a lot you can learn from that. But overall, I think they had a good process because there was plenty of informal stuff.

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful but I was hella tired by the time I got home.

Masters Oral Exam

One of the most unpleasant things a masters student at NMSU has to look forward to is the Masters Final Examination, or colloquially know as the oral exam. It's a pretty mind bending process. Basically, you stand in front of a group of 4 or 5 professors and answer whatever questions they may have for you.

It's exactly a horrid a process as it sounds and one of the most intimidating situations a student could be in. As a student you do NOT have the tactical advantage. The key, however, to survival of the oral exam is advance planning. You first have to plan which professors you want on your committee and it requires a lot more strategy then you might imagine. Not only do you have to find professors that you've worked with, but you also have to find those that your sure won't be too rigorous. A generally pleasant personality helps too. Because let's face it, a lot of professors are prickly and if they are in asshole in everyday interactions, they will be in the oral exam too. I thought a lot about this and I think I selected the perfect mix. The ideal professor would be one who is familiar with your work, but has never really called you to task on it. This may seem like a wussy way to do it, but sometimes it's about surviving, not thriving.

The second thing is to not be afraid to ask possible subjects. Each time I did, they were very forthcoming, and since I did this about a month in advance, I was able to study the hell out of those subjects before the exam. I pretty much had it all down cold. Professors, in a lot of ways, are like sharks. They can smell fear and panic in the water. Because I clearly knew what I was talking about, they really didn't press me on a lot of issues and kept it very, very simple. Seems counter intuitive, but the better you do, the easier they are.

So, all in all, it was about a good of an experience as it could have been.

Control Freak

Don't you find it difficult when you have to wait on people to do things for you?

I think it's a matter of control. I've been trying lately to not be so bothered by the fact that sometimes, things are just out of my hands. Maybe I'm a control freak who would be the worst kind of micro-manager, but even the very act of delegating allows a certain degree of control.

I mention this because a lot of things that happen (and will happen) between now and the end of the semester are beyond my control.

I can't control when employers call me.

I can't control when Dr. XYZ gets back to me about this or that assignment.

I can't control what XYZ will ask for my orals exam.

I can't control when and what kind of assignments ABC will give me at work and when and how they want them done.

In general, I'm unsure that I even control 90% of the course of my life. I probably don't and I find it extremely unnerving. One of the first things they teach you at church is that you have to give up a certain degree of control to God and trust that he will lead you down the right path. Sounds good conceptually, but I have to tell ya, It's very hard to do.

Patience is a Virtue.... One I Do Not Have

I've discovered what the hardest part of the job search process is, not going insane waiting for people to call. It's hurry up and wait philosophy in the worst possible way. You're excited when you send the application in and you think to yourself "this.... this is the job for me."

Time goes by.....

Nothing.

You finally get an interview and say to yourself "I know I'm close on this one. I just know it"

Time goes by.....

Nothing.

Eventually you realize that a few months have passed and you really aren't in any different a position than when you started. It's not so much the case with me, but with a lot of people who are searching for jobs they have, literally, nothing else to do. All you can do is wait and it's excruciating.

I've gone through periods where I have been driving myself nuts just waiting for the phone to ring. Usually when I stop thinking about it, that's when they call. Go figure, eh?

Well, all you can do is wait sometimes.