Details, Part 4

The Search Committee Interview
You usually think of the search committee interview as the real meat of the interview, so it was surprising to me that they held it at the end of the day. It really turned out to be more of the same--answering a bunch of questions, this time posed by any of eight people, including the dean, the administrative services librarian, the two managers I already met with, and three non-supervisory librarians from the user services department. This part lasted about an hour. I found out that the distance education librarian, a younger woman whom I really liked, is interested in using wikis in the library and has thought about writing on the same topic I have--faculty authorship. I hope that made me look good. Right in the middle of the interview, the dean blurted out the question, "So, do you like to eat?" I thought that was a bit random, but I answered, "Of course!" Maybe it's a test question he asks to set apart the live prospects from the duds?

The Tour
After the search committee interview, Dean Craig drove me around town on a 20-30 minute tour. R_____ County is, I believe, the third-fastest growing county in the country, and there is a lot of building going on in the town itself, including a new hospital complex, new open-air shopping center, and a new hotel/convention center. The city recently gave the university 5 million dollars to renovate its sports facilities because so many state high school athletic tournaments are held there and it brings money to the city. On the way back to campus, the dean drove past and pointed out the local LDS meetinghouse. I thought that was particularly kind of him (he either guessed my religious affiliation from my alma mater, or he read far enough into my resume to see that I have church organist listed under community service (for lack of anything else to list)).

Wrapping it Up
When we got back to the library after the tour, I still had about 15 minutes before the shuttle was to pick me up. The dean said it was too cold to wait outside, and that I couldn't see the shuttle from inside the building, so we sat in his car and talked until the shuttle van came. I tried to sound intelligent and ask a few informed questions.

The Trip Home
The shuttle driver is also a real estate agent, and she told me all about the town, where to get good Mexican food, which grocery stores are in town, etc. The shuttle was a bit late, and I was worried about getting to the airport in time to change out of my suit and still check luggage for my 7 pm flight, but it all worked out just fine. There were only about 30 people on my flight, and I had the row to myself.

The Wait
I valiantly wrote thank you notes to nearly everyone I met in the interviews, and now I'm just waiting to hear if they liked me enough to have me back permanently.