Monday, September 29, 2003

Well, I'm back.

I arrived home late Sunday after spending the weekend driving all over lower Michigan. It's safe to say that the interview is unlikely to result in a job offer. They're clearly looking for a politician/administrator, rather than a librarian, and I don't have enough talent at manipulation and schmoozing to make an administrator.

On the positive side, I did get to visit a good friend with a beautiful lakefront house (the kind that I'll never be able to afford), and I was able to take a quick look around a downstate university library that has recently advertised for a reference/instruction librarian. Nice library. But I'm growing more than a little bit skeptical than I'll ever get an interview for any position that I'm actually qualified for. It's irritating that, of the four in-person interviews I've had, two were for positions that were essentially political and administrative in nature (for which I'm totally unqualified, as discussed above) and one was for a specialized library position that I would consider myself only marginally qualified for. The one that I was best qualified for -- the one that essentially duplicated exactly what I've been doing for the past two years -- didn't consider me quite good enough to hire at a 70% part-time salary.

No one expects the Inquisition!

Thee University has sent me a cute little "Statement of Current Religious Affiliation and Involvement" form to fill out, with appropriate lines for Name, Denominational Affiliation, Local Religious Affiliation, and "current religious leadership positions".

I wonder. Should I fill it out truthfully, and in all likelihood be immediately struck from the candidate pool for not being a sufficiently loyal member of the One True Denomination, or lie through my teeth, tell them what they want to hear, and state that yessir, I'm a loyal God-fearin' Republican-votin' member of the One True Denomination? That illusion wouldn't survive an in-person interview, but it might last long enough to get them to pay my way to Texas.

What Would Jesus Do?

1 comment:

Felix said...

Carlos @ 12:31PM | 2003-09-30| permalink

You might marry into money someday, so don't completely despair of the lakefront home.

From an article in the latest Texas Monthly: "But upon his selection in 1995, Slaon made it known that he wanted to bring faith and reason back together again; this was a Baptist university, and it was going to start acting like one. Early on he sent a letter to all job candidates saying, among other things, that Baylor sought faculty who felt a 'commitment to the universal lordship of the crucified and risen Jesus Christ.' Candidates had to submit a statement identifying their denomination, the name of their current church, and details about their participation there."

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Fiend @ 11:48PM | 2003-09-30| permalink

Ahem.

What would Jesus Do?

http://ccmlyrics.tripod.com/wwjd.htm

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Yam @ 12:00PM | 2003-10-03| permalink

Perhaps you could remind them that Jesus was a Capricorn

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Fiend @ 1:02AM | 2003-10-05| permalink

Or that Jesus weighs 800 pounds?

http://lyricsheaven.topcities.com/survey_s_z_bestanden/Sawyer_Brown.htm

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Fiend @ 1:03AM | 2003-10-05| permalink

Or that Jesus weighs 800 pounds?

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Felix @ 5:02PM | 2003-10-05| permalink

HAH! The danged Enetation post-repeating trap caught you! But at least you didn't get caught revising your posts.

Unfortunately, I doubt that the good folks at Thee U. will be impressed by Kris Kristofferson or Sawyer Brown allusions. But thanks for reminding me to dredge Kristofferson's CDs out of the rack. Sunday morning comin' down, ya know.

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