Well....back from Saskatoon. The interview was strange. I'm still not really sure how I did. Not so many questions about my job, skills, history, and abilities...and not so much information offered on exactly how the position works. Plus, there was no break from the grilling at any point during the day. The "informal coffee breaks" consisted of sitting in a formal boardroom atmostphere with whatever library staff could come shooting questions at me to answer for the whole room. And I even ended up fielding questions through lunch. At the end of the day, the library director did tell me I'd done a good interview, and did comment in particular on the quality of my presentation's visual aides and delivery, but who knows how much that counts for, or how I stack up in general against the other three candidiates. Overall, I left with the feeling that I'd done an interview for position at a much higher level than this one was described as, and that I hadn't been totally successful at it.

I also began to wish that I'd never brought up virtual reference, because there was so much focus on that, to the point that at times it seemed they wanted me to speak as a representative for the software or a defender of the service itself to the exclusion of other things. That's only part of my experience, and only part of what I can do. And my resume makes clear that I'm involved in providing frontline service rather than resolving technical issues, evaluating competitors' products, etc. Maybe it's just a "hot button" issue there, but ...

And, of course, much of my perception of the day stem from the fact that I learned early on that the person who has temporarily been filling the position is also an applicant for it. The director was adamant that no preference was being shown to her, and that they were giving all interviewees a level playing field, but it's obvious that she would have the advantage over me or any other applicant. She was already chosen as the best candidate once. She has first-hand knowledge of who the students are and how the position works. She already knows the people on the search committee and the librarians on staff. She probably went in having a good idea of what they wanted to hear, points to particularly hit on, and so forth. It's hard not to believe that the search process was really over before it was begun despite the fact that they took the trouble to fly me up for interview.

The search committee reconvenes to make a recommendation for hire on Wednesday. Apparently, if I've heard nothing by the middle of next week, that's an indication I am not the recommended party.

The hardest part of this whole thing is having been in Saskatoon again, going through old stomping grounds with family and new areas with the city tour the librarians gave us, and being able to see how great it would be to be there again. I can see the coffee shops I'd hang out in, the places I could take yoga, the parks I could go to when my brain needs clearing, the river valley walks I could take. And that makes the thought that this whole thing is probably predetermined hurt. These reminders of how much I want to get out of Broward, and into a place that suits me better, get harder to endure with every trip out of the county. Yet if I am job hunting, and no one is biting, what can I do?

I'm telling myself that at the least I will have gained experience with how these types of interviews work, so next time I can prepare differently and do better. And U of S will have other positions opening in the next few years, so it's not even like this is the only opportunity I would ever have to go there. Just going to be waiting on tenterhooks for the next week or so, I guess.