Still Pouring

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that when it rains it pours, at least on the job front. In addition to the campus visit that I have scheduled for the end of this month, and the college that called to schedule an interview later this month, I got a call last week from the chair of another search committee asking if I had time to chat.

We started discussing my dissertation research, which the committee was interested in. From there we went through a history of distance education in Newfoundland and virtual schooling in North America to my instructional technology and social studies education teaching experience to my K-12 teaching experience to my thoughts on teaching online or teaching teachers how to teach online to my thought on standards and standardized testing to my previous career as a professional political organizer.

While I have only completed one other telephone interview, this was not what I expected from any interview. In fact, I'm sill not sure that it was a formal interview - okay, it probably was, but it wasn't that formal.

It was just a conversation, nothing more. In the previous interview, first of all there was more than a single member of the committee participating and you could tell the "interview questions" that they had and that they wanted answered. I'm not sure exactly what were the formal interview questions from this last interview, minus the first question - can you tell me a little more about your dissertation research.

I can honestly say that it was an enjoyable conversation, but a very odd interview.

Tags: graduate student, graduate students, graduate school, higher education, education