{"id":67572,"date":"2014-04-08T08:00:42","date_gmt":"2014-04-08T13:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=67572"},"modified":"2014-04-08T12:08:44","modified_gmt":"2014-04-08T17:08:44","slug":"the-cross-country-on-campus-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=67572","title":{"rendered":"The Cross-Country On-Campus Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Michele Frasier-Robinson, Head Editor,\u00a0INALJ Oklahoma<\/a><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

The Cross-Country On-Campus Interview<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"Michele.Frasier.Robinson\"<\/a>You have successfully navigated the telephone and\/or Skype interviews and you have been invited for\u00a0an on-campus interview\u2014on the other side of the country! Congratulations! This often means you\u00a0are one of two or three other candidates that received the same invitation. The cross-country or long\u00a0distance on-campus interview can be grueling, but knowing what to expect can lessen the anxiety. I have\u00a0had a few cross-country on-campus interviews. Perhaps my experiences will answer a few questions for\u00a0those who are new to the long distance academic interview process.<\/p>\n

Travel<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

No doubt you will most likely fly to your interview (although I have driven to one that was quite a long\u00a0distance). Be prepared to pay for your airline ticket (or gas) and hotel.<\/strong> Make sure your soon-to-be\u00a0employer plans to reimburse you for travel costs. With all of my cross-country interviews, I was told to\u00a0make my own travel arrangements and submit receipts during the interview process. Keep in mind that\u00a0it may take several weeks to receive your reimbursement from the university after you return home.\u00a0The travel requirement of the long distance interview is indeed hard on the wallet, especially for those\u00a0who are barely making ends meet while job hunting. If at all possible, have a travel account put aside\u2014\u00a0or a credit card. You also want to make sure you have extra cash or a credit card with you in case of any\u00a0unexpected expenses or emergencies during your travels.<\/p>\n

What to wear<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

You already know what to wear to your interview, but what about traveling (by air) to and from your\u00a0destination? I suggest you don\u2019t wear your most comfortable jeans, t-shirt and flip-flops upon arrival\u00a0or departure. In most cases, the person who will drive you to and from the airport is a member of the\u00a0search committee. Therefore, you want to look your best. I am not saying that you need to wear your\u00a0interview suit, but you do want to look pulled together and professional. My rule of thumb is to wear\u00a0a nicer version of something that I would normally wear to work. I consider the trip to and from the\u00a0airport to be part of the interview process. And it does not matter if the library staff at XYZ University is\u00a0very laid back.<\/strong> You will have plenty of time to be laid back once you get the job. Plan to look your best\u00a0and be on your best behavior.<\/p>\n

What to expect on the big day<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

If you spend a full day on campus (which is quite common), expect to be physically and mentally\u00a0exhausted by the end of the interview process. All of my on-campus visits have been unique\u00a0experiences, but for the most part, they all entailed being interviewed multiple times throughout the\u00a0day.<\/strong> This, of course, depends on the size of the library. There is no doubt you will be interviewed by\u00a0the search committee, but you may also be interviewed by members of your prospective department,\u00a0the dean of the library, and the person who will be your immediate supervisor. On more than one\u00a0occasion, I have also been interviewed by the Vice President for Academic Affairs. If you are required to\u00a0give a presentation, expect most of the library staff to attend and be ready to answer more questions\u00a0at the end of it. You will most likely be given a tour of the library, a walking tour of campus (wear\u00a0sensible shoes!), and you will probably have lunch and dinner with various members of the library staff.\u00a0Moreover, if you are not familiar with the city\/town, you may get a brief tour of it as well. One on-campus visit stands out for me, because two very nice librarians drove me around town to show me\u00a0different neighborhoods after finding out the type of housing I was interested in. Some schools also give\u00a0the candidate an opportunity to meet with a realtor. All of this makes for a very long day. For two of my\u00a0on-campus visits, I spent all day (from about 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM) with various members of the search\u00a0committee or library staff. These long days are the perfect opportunity for your future employers to see\u00a0you in many settings and situations. Your library expertise is spelled out in your resume and discussed at\u00a0length during your interviews, but how you interact with the library staff and how you conduct yourself\u00a0in social situations is just as important. The search committee isn\u2019t simply looking for a qualified\u00a0librarian\u2014they are looking for someone who fits in with their library culture.<\/p>\n

The long distance travel and unfamiliar surroundings can make the cross-country interview a little\u00a0stressful unless you have some idea of what to expect. My first cross-country academic library interview\u00a0was certainly an eye opener. Since then I\u2019ve encountered last minute cancelled connecting flights, a\u00a0hotel room makeup explosion on a black suit jacket (the night before the interview), and more ripped\u00a0stockings than I care to remember (I always carry extras). The best advice I can give is to prepare as\u00a0much as possible, but also be able to roll with the punches.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Michele Frasier-Robinson, Head Editor,\u00a0INALJ Oklahoma The Cross-Country On-Campus Interview You have successfully navigated the telephone and\/or Skype interviews and you have been invited for\u00a0an on-campus interview\u2014on the other side of the country! Congratulations! This often means you\u00a0are one of two or three other candidates that received the same invitation. The cross-country or long\u00a0distance on-campus…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":67813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[69,3592,6102,3634,4514,5840,4209,6103,111],"class_list":["post-67572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-cross-country-interview","tag-inalj-oklahoma","tag-interview-tips","tag-michele-frasier-robinson","tag-on-campus","tag-on-campus-interview","tag-tips"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/mfr1.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-hzS","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=67572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/67813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=67572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=67572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=67572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}