Job experience

I’ve been searching for a new job.

Today, I had an appointment to met with the director of a relatively new nonprofit organization.  They have advertised for an open, full-time position as “associate director”.  I spoke with the gentleman on the phone for about twenty minutes, then set up an appointment for an interview today.

My first clue that things might be a little unusual should have been the fact that the interview was scheduled on a Saturday. But I just assumed that he’d be in the office on a Saturday in order to catch up on work.  I’ve done that.

The second clue was that he told me they were seeking office space. Again, I heard the words but made an assumption-thinking that this meant that they were seeking new office space.

I arrived a bit early, as we are often told to do in order to make a good impression for a job interview. This is where the third clue should have hit me. The interview was in a condominium. However, the assumption I made was that it was an office condominium.

The fourth and final clue hit me squarely between the eyes, and I finally got it. A handwritten sign, posted on the hallway door of the condo read “Please remove your boots or shoes and leave them outside the door. Thank you. Have a lovely day”

Okay. I am about to be interviewed while in my stocking feet. Thank goodness I put on a pair of socks without holes.  In fact, ironically, I did consider wearing a different pair of socks with my boots, thinking that they might be more comfortable, and would never be seen in the boots. “It’s not like I will have to take off my boots” is a thought that actually went through my mind as I dressed.

This appointment was scheduled for 2:30 pm. I found that he was still interviewing someone. He was in his stocking feet. This is his condo-where he lives.

It was very awkward. I left my boots and my coat at his place, and fled to the end of the hall to wait at a table and chair in the hallway while he finished his interview of the other person. I sat at a table, looking out over the city sans shoes. As I sat there, I wrote this….one of my first thoughts, of course, was that this will make a good blog post.

The interview itself was mostly him talking. He went on and on about the organization. He went on and on about how much he has put into the organization, having sold his car to use the money toward it, and used his savings.  He told me that he had a large part of his life where he was so dedicated to a project he’d worked on that he had several years that he lived with 2 hours of sleep per night.  He asked me a few questions.  Not many, I listened to him and nodded my head. I inserted a few “Uh huh”‘s where possible. One of my thoughts was that the guy is nuts. Finally, he asked me to come in again next week to meet some others who are working with him. Of course, I am such a sucker that I agreed.

Oh, and did I mention that it turns out that he doesn’t really have funding for this position yet, it is starting out as a volunteer position with the possibility of pay somewhere down the line.

When I finally got out of there and returned to my car, a friend happened to return an earlier call.  This friend is very involved in a group that the interviewer is also involved with. I asked my friend about this guy.  His response was, ” Oh, (interviewer’s name)? He is a nut!”

Okay. I will chalk this one up to experience.

And a blog post.

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