Interview Ugh!

This past week I ventured into Brooklyn for a job interview. Taking the Staten Island Ferry is always a nice scenic trip and they've really spiffed up the ferry terminals while we were out of the country. The Staten Island side even has a lovely pair of fish tanks full of flashy reminders of the Caribbean reefs. It's not the fastest way into town, but it does provide a nice opportunity to sit down with plenty of sun and space, enjoy a view and gather one's thoughts. There are actually many ferry boats, some variety in the layouts, and I was glad to have one that seemed to be all enclosed because the sunny day was still a bit chilly out there on the water.

I had planned to gather my thoughts a bit for the interview because I had been having trouble focusing throughout the week. Tuesday was Augustine's due date. Dan had stayed home for the day and we all visited her at the cemetery, then went out to lunch. Dan gave me my anniversary present a bit early because well, he likes to give me things and it seemed somehow appropriate. He buys things way in advance, bear in mind. It was a pair of butterfly earrings where there is a string of birthstone butterflies on each ear. He bought them long enough ago that there was a butterfly for him, one for Penny and one for Augustine. I love how much thought he puts into his gifts.

As I rode the ferry, I worked through answers to questions I thought they might ask me. I already had a list of questions to ask them. But it really was such a beautiful day that I had to stop from time to time to take photos of the various vistas. It's the cheapest way to get a good look at the Statue of Liberty (free park, but at least $10 to take the ferry to Liberty Island), you get a nice view along Brooklyn (cranes to the right), and many of those bridges to Manhattan you might have quizzed on earlier in the blog. Needless to say, I didn't make it through all the curveballs that could be thrown at me, but I felt generally good going in.

Once at South Ferry in Manhattan, I got my gameface on - it's important to look like you know where you're going and you're determined to get there. Getting the right face on helps me be more assertive pushing through the crowd and avoiding eye contact like everyone else does. A while ago, I also heard that it is safer to at least look like you know where you're going when you are lost so that criminals have a harder time determining that you are an easy target. I used this technique a fair amount in Washington because I did have to go to some pretty sketchy neighborhoods from time to time and obviously wasn't intimately familiar with them. It has worked for me so far - I haven't gotten lost and nobody has bothered me.

I took the subway from Battery Park over to Prospect Park in Brooklyn. I was actually surprised by how direct and quick the trip was - not a bad daily commute if I had to do it. I purposely got off a little distance from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden because 1) I wanted to snag lunch before heading in and 2) I wanted to get a feel for the neighborhood because the position I applied for would work in a local high school. I found a Wendy's, decided I had made a poor choice in footwear (blisters were starting already) and tried to figure out how I would eat up the hour before my interview. When I got to the garden, the guard was nice enough to let me enjoy the flowers until my interview time, which was mildly relaxing. Without my sunglasses, though, I was starting to get a headache, so I headed into some shade.

The interview got off to a good start - I seemed to have a satisfactory handle on what the job was and the interviewers seemed at least mildly impressed by my questions. Then I really stuck my foot in it. They asked what I thought the biggest challenge would be. I answered that it is likely to be a perception that I am an outsider, which I've dealt with before. Ah, if I'd only left out that last part.

Once upon a time in Prince George's County, I interned at a high school. Being in Prince George's County, the school had something like an 80% African American, 10% Hispanic and 10% white population. I was with an 11th grade American Literature teacher for talented and gifted students. The teacher was a pro, her students were pretty darned good, in general it seemed like a nice placement. My job was to design a field trip for the class and the teacher requested that it relate to slavery. She suggested some locations nearby and I checked them out, but they had little to offer on slavery programming. I knew I'd run across some really nice slavery programs in Virginia, so I contacted folks down there and designed a nice little curriculum on slavery, using primary resources to find out what life was like in colonial times, etc. Then one day my teacher told me not to come into school any more. I called my program director in a panic because I didn't know what was going on. She said the school had contacted her to set up a meeting to discuss me. So I went to this meeting with my director and assistant director to face the teacher, principal, and intern coordinator. I was informed that my teacher thought I was racist - I set up a field trip in white Virginia instead of nearby, I didn't visit other classrooms in the school, I had corrected her in front of the class. I was dumbfounded - which may have been best because if I had spoken at the time it probably would have sounded awfully defensive. Somehow, at the end of the ensuing discussion (I did find my voice eventually, though I am pretty sure I was shaking at the time), I was allowed to return to the classroom, complete the field trip with the kids and generally complete my internship. The kids enjoyed the field trip. The teacher thought it was so informative, she told the kids to put away their worksheets so they could focus better on the tour. She also wrote me a glowing review for the internship as a whole.

So the story has a happy ending and everything, sort of, though it's still a tender spot for me. The next question the interviewers asked may have been along the lines of "What did you learn?" and that's perhaps where I went astray. One of my main lessons I learned was that it is really best when you have a problem with someone to start by talking to that someone directly, no matter how awkward the conversation might be. I never want to make anyone feel as bad and as blind-sided as I felt in that horrible meeting. My response in the interview, however, was the far more tacky "I learned that no matter how I behave, I can still be perceived as being an outsider with nothing in common with my audience." I've been to job interviews where I was rejected "because the kids would eat [me] alive." (Camden, NJ, certainly my favorite reason for rejection) Some people see racism and/or inability to relate even when it's not there. I'm not going to let that keep me away from places, though. As lessons go, this is probably not the best example to use in a job interview. I'm pretty sure my response left those folks wondering what on earth I would do in a classroom or with parents in Brooklyn.

After my lovely crash and burn, I began the long journey home. It was indeed a very poor choice in footwear, but I hardly noticed as I replayed the train wreck of a response over in my head and tried to construct my thank you letter/last chance to recover. I'll be better prepared for next time...I had a few hours/days to review potential better responses. I would be sad to miss this opportunity because it does sound like a really cool partnership and my experience is a good match, but there will be other opportunities. I'm looking at a spiffy job at the Brooklyn Children's Museum - the first ever museum designed expressly for children, a leader in the field and committed to sharing what they learn with the rest of the field. I guess one good thing about New York is that there are going to be more opportunities out there as time goes on. I just have to find the one that matches me best (and not blow the interview).