Mr. President

Oh, what an experience! This job-search life is such a hoot sometimes!

Today I had my first-ever interview for a campus presidency. There’s no way that I’ll ever be hired into this position, though, so I thought I’d make mention of it (and make fun of it) here.

I’ve only ever applied for three jobs at this level, and this is my first interview. So, in that way it’s kind of a milestone. And, it’s difficult to believe that this campus will actually find someone really desirable with the process that they’ve put in place.

Last week, a woman from that campus’ HR department called and identified herself as Bobbi Jo. She told me where she was from and then said, “we was wonderin’ if you’d want to interview for the campus executive officer position.” Yes, Bobbi Jo (what is this, Petticoat Junction!?) actually said, we was wonderin’ – when calling to set up an interview for a presidential candidate. (She phrased it this way two different times during our conversation.)

Well, I talked this through with her and set up a phone interview for today, scheduled to last (a mere) one-half hour.

So: I got the call today at five minutes past the scheduled time. The person on the phone identified himself (by name, not position), indicated that the interview committee was gathered, that they were going to tape the interview with my permission, and jumped right into the questions. He asked them all himself. Totally without inflection or trace of any personality at all. As soon as I provided one answer, he jumped right in with the next question. I had no sense of the group, only this task-oriented, humorless person on the other end of the line.

This is how you hire a president?

I don’t think so.

Keep Healthy & Keep Going

Life is too short. And, for what there is of it, way too hard. My head, my very being, is bursting, is overloaded, right now, with sensory input. My heart is breaking from all the pain I see, from all the tears shed everywhere I turn.

Things are pretty complicated these days. There just are not enough hours in the day; I have several things that I’m needing to attend to, all of quite-high priority. Number one is my health, of course. So, I have my herbs and supplements supplied by my Traditional Chinese Medicine woman. The routine I engage in everyday is quite structured; I have regular breathing exercises and Yoga and meditation practices. And I have sleep and a healthy diet and other stress-management techniques to pursue. I’m very preoccupied with keeping healthy and keeping going.

The results: so far, so good. I’m in much better shape than I was a couple of months ago.

But then, too, there’s the search for a new job. An incredibly high priority. Made necessary by the fact that the work environment I now inhabit is wholly unsatisfactory: that is to say, very unhealthy. And, when I speak of the tears I observe, they are, of course, shed in that place. There’s hardly a day that goes by without someone in my office breaking down — in one way or another. Given the emotionally-unpredictable, spiritually-bankrupt climate, such frequent outcomes are inevitable. Literally every fiber of my being aches for the pain of those I work with; for this ubiquitous suffering of epic proportions.

So much. So unnecessary. So absolutely critical for the health of my soul that I escape.

Please: No Assholes Allowed

I drove up to Eugene yesterday to do some shopping. What with all these interview invitations coming in, I thought I might treat myself to a slightly-updated wardrobe. I have two suits that I currently consider “interview quality,” but, still, it’s been a little while since I bought a new one. So what did I do? I splurged. The suit I found is just what I need and (ohmygod!) the most expensive item of clothing I’ve ever purchased. But, wow, do I look good! (I guess you’ll need to take my word for it!)

The only place I buy suits, slacks and sport coats these days is Men’s Wearhouse, so the drive north was necessary. Plus, it was a warm and sunny mid-winter day and a great time to get out of the house for a little road trip.

While in “the city,” of course, I couldn’t pass up a visit to the local Borders (why no apostrophe?). When I have one of those 30%-off certificates they regularly email me, it’s always so tempting to drop by and pick something up. This time, I wandered over to the just-released non-fiction section for some reason, and I found a title that immediately caught my eye: The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t. Now, you realize, I’ve just barely poked my nose into this work as of this moment…but, my first impression is that this is an extremely worthwhile book. Despite its rather pedestrian title, it was written by a Stanford University professor (of Management Science and Engineering) and offers up the latest research on workplace assholes.

Now, just what is a “workplace asshole” you ask? Ah, there are two tests (p. 9) to determine whether anybody you know is one:

Test One: After talking to the alleged asshole, does the “target” feel oppressed, humiliated, de-energized, or belittled? In particular, does the target feel worse about him or herself?

Test Two: Does the alleged asshole aim his or her venom at people who are less powerful rather than those people who are more powerful?

I’m anxious to find out what the author (Robert I. Sutton, Ph.D.) has to say about such troublesome individuals, how to cope with them, and how to survive a workplace where one (or more) exists.

Feelin’ Right, Right Now

Sometimes I wonder if I’m Ever gonna make it home again.
It’s so far and out of sight…
I won’t be happy ’til I see
You alone again.
’Til I’m home again and feelin’ right.
I wanna be home again and feelin’ right.

(“Home Again” — Carole King)

It’s not a tremendously large secret that I’m actively engaged in a job search. And have been for quite awhile. After losing a long-time position through a painful institutional reorganization process in 2004, I’ve landed two successive “interim” positions while patiently (or, perhaps, not so) waiting for the “right” and “permanent” job to come along. (Is there such a thing?)

Ahhhh, but there appears to be, as I write this today, reason for optimism (!)…a quality that, I believe, is sometimes conspicuous by its absence in my writings and general life outlook. (Yes, I admit, I’ve often been discouraged.) Here’s the deal: in the last three days, I’ve received one interview invitation per day. This means, counting the recent interview experience I described late last month, that, out-of-the-chute this year, I’m (while mixing metaphors) batting a thousand (four-for-four) in terms of applications leading to interviews. (The other applications I currently have out are for positions that have not reached a closing date yet.) This is an incredible hot streak…and I’m eager to see where this all leads. As the situation stands now, I’m soon traveling to San Francisco (well, actually, San Bruno) and Albany (Oregon), as those interviews have been scheduled. The call I got today was for a position in Sacramento, and I’ve not yet decided whether to accept this trip.

I’m excited! And, while cautious, yes, I’m feelin’ right, right now.

Your Mind is Your Predicament

If I were a believer in the concept of an infinite number of alternate, parallel universes (and there certainly are moments when I do believe), then, in at least one of them, I would be accepting a job at the state’s flagship (as they like to think of themselves, anyway) university this week. However, as it turns out, I live in this version of the world, and I’m still here.

Yep. Roseburg. Still.

Welcome to “reality,” TechnoMonk.

The reason that I’m, at this very moment, preparing for departure for Eugene, in some other universe, is that I had a quite-positive interview experience there last Monday as a finalist for a high-level position in Academic Affairs. Of course, I mentioned this very possibility in an entry here last month, as I marked the beginning of a new job-search season for myself. I had a successful telephone interview three weeks ago, then was subsequently moved along and invited to campus as a finalist.

Ah, but the job-search world is such a quirky and unpredictable one! The process is different at each institution, and the outcome is never to be counted upon. The advice in the job-search game is the same that I got from a wise friend when I was going through my divorce (a lifetime ago it seems!): “expect the unexpected.”

This time, interestingly enough, I didn’t lose out to another candidate. I was told that, after interviewing the three finalists, the decision was to not fill the position at this time. Well, ok, so they didn’t like me; and they didn’t like those other folks as well! This is a truly amazing result, given the storyline that evolved during the interview process about how desperate they were to fill this position. But remember: expect the unexpected. Then it all makes sense. (Well, maybe?)

[The comparisons between this search and the last high-level university position I was a finalist for are striking. In that case as well, the decision was to not hire anyone at that time. What gives here, anyway?]

Life is change. I had developed a version of the world that had me moving back to a university environment and a city I call home. This change, however, existed only in my mind. Yes, my mind is my predicament. I didn’t get what I want.

If you don’t get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don’t want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can’t hold on to it forever. Your mind is your predicament. It wants to be free of change, free of pain, free of obligations of life and death. But change is a law, and no amount of pretending will alter that reality. (p. 51)

(Dan Millman in Way of the Peaceful Warrior)