I did an interview last week. I was part of, ahem, “an extraordinarily competitive applicant pool.” I was thanked for the “considerable amount of time and effort” I took in applying and told to go away. I note that they are not keeping my CV on file.
I was conscious at the time that it didn’t go particularly well. Part of the reason for this was that I googled the board in advance. Well, wouldn’t you? One member of the board had an unusual name so I was pretty sure that it was her poems I found when I googled her name. Poetry is a very personal medium, isn’t it? As I answered her questions, I kept wondering how is she getting over that relationship break up? I also reflected on the undesireability of putting a very detailed account of one’s love life, cloaked in poetry on the internet. This distracted me from the pertinent questions which were being posed.