by Ashley
Just finished my phone interview and I think it went well! The beginning started off a little awkward. They had me on speaker phone with 4 people interviewing me and it was difficult to hear some of the questions. I had to ask them to repeat things a couple times and we had some talking-over-each-other issues. But by about 5 minutes into the call (which, according to my phone, was 42 minutes long), things felt much more natural, and by the end it was great.
I am certainly no expert-interviewer but I feel like I had a bit of an epiphany on this interview that could really help me with future interviews. I can’t give details because it would require specific content information (I want to share, but I’m trying to maintain some anonymity while on the job market since many places now research prospective employee debt/credit situations before making hiring decisions). But, basically, I realized I have a skill that is really valuable, which I hadn’t even considered before. Though, really, it might be that I realized potential employers have a specific need, which they’re just starting to realize/consider.
Does this even make sense?
Even if not, the point is that the interview went well and I would love this job (though trying not to get hopes up). But even if it doesn’t work out, I think I’ve discovered a great way to market myself to other employers.
In other job news (purposely not linking, though you can go through the work to find the old post if you really care), I still haven’t been paid from a place for 3 months worth of work (from August-October). What was originally going to be paid in October (way too late for August pay, in my opinion), slipped into November, then December, and now I’m being told it will be 30 more days (putting us in January).
No more details. Just saying it sucks.
And in non-job related news, this week is insane! We have something scheduled every single evening this week and both weekend days. Maybe no big deal for many, but we are homebodies so it’s crazy/fun/weird/stressful to have so much going on in one week! No worries, lots of free stuff (holiday parties and such) and I’ll still be around here, too. Talk to you soon!
How did you find your current job? Networking? Do you fill a specific need? Have a specific skill?
Hi, I’m Ashley! Arizonan on paper, Texan at heart. Lover of running, blogging, and all things cheeeeese. Freshly 40, married mother of two, working in academia. Trying to finally (finally!) pay off that ridiculous 6-digit student loan debt!
With academic jobs, it’s almost always either networking or fulfilling a specific need. Even better if you can do both, of course. But most people are hired either because their specialty (research/teaching) fits exactly with what the school/department needs, and/or because their advisor is really influential, and/or because they’re married to someone who already works at the school.
My current job was a networking/specialization combo. It’s an oddball gig that I got because I’ve known the person who was hiring forever, I was available at the right time, and my work was a close enough fit for the place where we work (being purposefully vague) that I was a decent fit for the job that was available, if not a perfect one.
Congratulations! I am glad the interview went well. Glad to hear you’ve figured out how to market your skill to meet their needs. Sorry to hear you haven’t been paid yet; I am sure that is really frustrating especially at this time of year.
Glad your interview went well. You are way more patient than I would be on not getting your money. Something smells fishy there. I would definitely be looking for another avenue of income because that wouldn’t work for me.
To be clear, this is only one stream of revenue. My primary job (where I make more money anyway) has always been very prompt with payment so I’m not entirely 100% without income….just no income from this place. I think it’s a bit fishy too. My guess is that they’re purposely pushing payment into the new year for some type of budgetary reasons. Trying not to rant too much but it certainly is very upsetting for this to happen.
Glad your interview went well! Phone interviews are kind of tough 🙁 I found my current job on Craigslist and I remember my boss calling me to follow up on my resume while I was in the library lol. I was definitely blindsided and pretty unprepared but I tried to stay calm and focused as I gave him the best answers I could to his pre interview screening questions. Confidence is definitely key and I’m glad you’ve realized that you have skills that the company needs. Sometimes as interviewees we freak out and forget that the companies truly NEED us and we have some pretty marketable skills that will add value to a position
Good luck as always! Ashley, it’s time for you to start your own blog. You are working too hard for someone else who is not running this blog in a professional manner. Just sayin’.
lol, I’ve blogged before but I’m really more of a writer than an actual “blogger.” I don’t know anything about html code, web/server issues, marketing, etc., and I really love my work so I wouldn’t want to switch to a full time blogger. I do appreciate the kind words though!
Yay good interview!! Yay for discovering key job skill!! Boo super late payment! And I sympathize with you on being scheduled for every day of the week. I’m also a homebody and I hate it when I get overscheduled, but sometimes it just happens.