I had the follow-up interview for the UT job yesterday. I’m not sure how it went. It was all a blur. I feel pretty good, but when I feel pretty good I start to wonder if I’m being overconfident and that makes me start thinking about things I might have done wrong or just not good enough. I suppose I shouldn’t worry about it. The good thing is, I don’t think I betray this type of neurotic thinking during interviews, only after. I’m the sort of person where I need a shove out into the stream and then I’ll start to swim on my own.
I was actually running a little late to get there which is never a good thing, being late to an interview I mean. Then on the way past Zilker Park while I was speeding (55 in a 35) I got pulled over by a traffic police officer on a motorcycle. As soon as I topped the hill and saw him I knew he had me dead to rights. When he approached my car I turned off the radio and rolled down the window and said something like, “I’m very sorry, sir. I was totally speeding. I’m running late for a job interview and I apologize. I was going about 55 when I saw you.” To this he replied, “I had you going about 51. When is your interview?” Then he looked at his watch and at my license and proof of insurance. “Where are you interviewing?” he asked. I told him where and the address and then he looked at my papers again. After a moment, he handed them back to me and said “Slow it down.” I read somewhere that there are a few things that can help you get along well when pulled over by a police officer:
- Tell them if you have any warrants right away. If they pull you up on the computer and you have a warrant, they HAVE to take you in.
- Always address them as sir, maam, officer, or sergeant if they’re a sergeant. Respect goes a long way here.
- Don’t lie or get defensive. Generally speaking, I don’t think the police will pull you over without good reason. In my case, I was speeding and I knew it. Furthermore, traffic police are there for one reason, to give tickets. I’m sure they’ve heard all the angles.
- Keep your car clean. Turn music off. I’ve also stopped putting bumper stickers on my car since I’ve discovered that you’ll be treated differently if you can be lumped under some sort of cliche. Bumper stickers are good ways for other people to make assumptions about you. If you have green party stickers or NORML you’re a hippie who probably smokes pot. I don’t really have anything that would give someone a certain, particular impression about me. It reminds of that admonition that if you want people to think well of you then keep your mouth shut.
- Keep your hands in plain view and don’t make any sudden moves. This one is rather obvious.
Anyway, thanks to officer whatever-your-name-was I don’t have to pay a 150 dollar ticket.
Back to the interview, when I got there I met with two people I had interviewed with previously and they told me there were nine final candidates for five positions then proceeded to ask me the sort of questions you would ask a prospective employee: “what would your coworkers say about you”, “what are some of your biggest accomplishments”, “describe a difficult situation with a coworker and how you handled it”, etc. They were obviously trying to get a handle on the type of personality they might have to deal with. At one point they described the work they had to have done in a year to which I replied “So, what are we going to have left to do after six months?” Cheesy, huh?
After all this I was sent over to visit with some other people I would have to work with and then the Assistant Director of the project. He asked me that famous open-ended question, “Excluding the bible and the dictionary, if you were stranded on a desert island which book would you choose to take with you?” Excuse me, who chooses the dictionary? I answered the complete works of Shakespeare since there are things in there that seem differently to me the older I get. When I’m younger I see one side and then I see something else entirely when I look back again. For example, the relationship between Hamlet and his father takes on a different dimension once you start to see your own relationship with your father from a different perspective. Just things like that. I’ve really only noticed this quality in Shakespeare, but I think all literature and art can function this way. Almost like the layers of the onion peeled off in sequence revealing new things.