Hints on Job Interviews

(with thanks to Nancy Scott Hanway, in an article “A Foot in the Door at a Small Liberal-Arts College” at p. A23, in the Dec. 19 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education. I found many of her suggestions, tailored to applicants for faculty positions, to be applicable to general interviewees, and am picking up from her comments here. Folks looking for academic positions should read her article, which is excellent!)

[You should already have applied carefully, tailoring each application to the job posting. Send EXACTLY what the job posting requests, and tailor your cover letter and possibly even the CV/resume for the position. This works much better than blasting a gazillion job through Monster.com type lists. Your CV is much more likely to be selected from the HUGE PILE of applications if it is focused for the position and gives the HR department/committee exactly what they request. At many places, there is a pre-cull by the HR department who just filter by a sort of algorithm, then hand the pile to the committee. The committee then decide which applicants to interview from that pile based on the cover letters, CVs and any other attachments. Also, be sure you have a "clean" online persona -- Google yourself and look at what a hiring committee will see!]

Prepare yourself for the first-round job interview, knowing that this is a second cull. If you are asked to interview, either at a professional conference or by Skype or such, congratulations! Your CV has gotten you through a first-round of sifting. But you already know that you are one among MANY being interviewed in this first-round. So, in the immortal words of the evil lion Scar from the Lion King, BE PREPARED!

Carefully read the job announcement.
* The ad tells you what sorts of questions they might ask at the interview. For instance, if the ad mentions that the position will be expected to teach X or do a particular task, EXPECT a question about how to do this thing!
* Be prepared to discuss your experience with any other requirements or abilities preferred in the job ad.
* The job announcement also tells you what they will expect of you if you are hired – and what you can expect of them:
* Will you be able to fulfill the job?
* Will you enjoy the job?
* It tells you what sort of pay and status the job carries – this can be key because only you know whether you really want another internship or not! Is the primary reimbursement for your time the pleasure of watching seabirds while you camp for six months with no utilities?
* Consider if this is the position you want!

Look carefully at the organization's website.
* Look at the “about us” tab to read about how they characterize their mission and culture. Mission statements are important!
* If they have a vision statement, read that as well. These will tell you what the organization thinks is important!
* Look at the activities the website highlights – be sure you understand what the organization does!

Use Google, and if your institution has job search software, use those, to help you learn more about the institution you are applying to.
* If you can speak intelligently about some recent accomplishment or publication from the organization, you will sound like you did some homework and are more interested and invested in the organization.
* You will also have a better idea about the activities and culture of the organization.

Choose your interview clothes to be unobtrusive, yet correct; you want the interviewers to remember YOU, not your clothes.

Give concrete examples of ways you have improved an organization, or achieved a goal, whatever the task in the job description might be.

If the interviewers ask for examples of what did NOT go well, have some examples ready, BUT
* Tell why, and
* What you learned from it

You are helping the interview team get an idea of your abilities and how you might be as a colleague. Try to project professionalism and enthusiastic confidence.

Think about the interview from the point of view of the hiring folks. They want somebody who will fit into their organization, and make their lives easier, do the work well and (they hope) without too much training.

And yet, you really should not misrepresent yourself in an interview. That is a firing offense. Be honest about your experience and training. But also show willing to learn new things.

Do mock interviews!
* See if the Placement Office at your school offers this great service.
* If it's not available to you for whatever reason, find a friend to help.
* Here is why it is really worthwhile, because you may be tempted to skip this step (I know I would be – it's nerve-wracking, and sort of embarrassing.):

* A mock interview, especially with somebody who is experienced, can give you experience with the sorts of questions you may be asked in your real interview. This gives you a chance to practice your answers and get feedback on them.
* Mock interviews can help you shape your description of your previous work, research, experience.
* The mock interviewer can tell you to stop chewing on that strand of hair or twiddling, fidgeting, etc.
* The mock interview will help you practice answering dull, clichéd questions, which have to be asked – the interviewers KNOW they are dull and clichéd, but still must ask them. (This will prepare you to answer questions like “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” and “Where do you see yourself in 10 years?”
* The best way to answer a question like “Describe your greatest weakness,” is NOT:
** to raise a red flag (“I have trouble finishing anything.”)
** to seem defensive (“I'm a perfectionist.”)
** BUT RATHER, be specific to you, and PUT A POSITIVE SPIN on the matter. (“I want to grow as a teacher, particularly, learning more about the best ways to give students meaningful feedback yet keep them motivated.”).
** Rather than implying that this is something you LACK, you have just focused on future growth!
* Be prepared for the inevitable question, “Why are you interested in X organization?”
** You need to tell them more than that you need a job!
** What specifically about THIS organization speaks to your soul?
** Be ready to give a short and pithy answer!
* Use the mock interviews to develop 4 or 5 questions YOU want to ask the interviewers.
** Feedback from knowledgeable assistants can help you here.
** But these questions can help you clinch a great interview. Some examples:
** “How would you describe your [customers/clients/patrons/students/target audience] in general?”
** Look for one or two questions at least that let the interviewers see you projecting yourself into the job (“I notice that there is a student IP organization. What sort of activities do they engage in?” “Is there release time or support for research and writing?”)

* Work your Network: If you happen to have network friends, former colleagues, etc., who know a hiring decision-maker, do not hesitate to ask them to contact the hirer to sing your praises (assuming you know that they will say great things!). Sometimes, hiring committees do not contact the references you list, so be pre-emptive and be sure they hear from some people you WANT them to hear from, and if it's somebody they KNOW, all the better.

GOOD LUCK!

Who put the damn wind up the doctors' offices?!

Have your doctors' offices gotten on the bandwagon yet? There is this new trend to have Patient Gateways. The gateway keeps increasing its security. Now, it's like trying to get into Fort Knox. 2-factor security, where I have to include not just a password, but also a security question.

And all they use the damned things for is to send reminders that I have a freaking appointment!

I am sorry, folks, but if that's all you are putting on the Patient Gateway, I am here to tell you that it's not HIPAA applicable info. A few, I will say, actually use these gateways to post my medical records and images, for which I am grateful. And those, yes, that stuff, I DO want secure, and HIPAA DOES require it to be kept confidential. But....

Nobody cares what day my appointment is with you! If that's what you are making me jump through 10 hoops to find out, that is stoopud!

If YOU want ME to KNOW when the damned appointment is, YOU had damned sight better set up a better reminder system, bunky!

This is security run amok.

The illustration for this story, another example of security run amok, is from a 2010 Salon essay on airport security at http://www.salon.com/2010/08/06/airport_security_4/.

Google Master Class MOOC

A while ago, Marie posted here about teaching her students better Google searching skills. I was looking at what Google makes available and was thrilled to locate the excellent MOOC they developed on Power Searching and Advanced Power Searching. Visit that one link to enter, and choose either course. There is a nice intro that tells you what they teach in an outline format. I like the course a lot and have used a piece of it in my Advanced Legal Research class.

A student recently sent me another link, from Time online that shows readers 11 Google Tips and Tricks. Similar sites:

BoyGenius http://bgr.com/2014/08/13/top-25-google-search-tips-tricks/.
Distractify http://news.distractify.com/geek/google-tips/
Digital Trends http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/the-35-best-google-search-tips-and-tricks/
Lifehacker Student list http://lifehacker.com/google-tips-and-tricks-every-student-should-know-1508121671 (this one has less overlap; but is brief.)
Lifehacker Top 10 list http://lifehacker.com/top-10-clever-google-search-tricks-1450186165
Techradar http://www.techradar.com/us/news/internet/25-handy-google-search-tips-and-tricks-1260823
Teachhub 100 Tricks for Teachers http://www.teachhub.com/google-teachers-100-tricks

There is a lot of overlap among these various sites. But each of them adds something new and different. All add illustrations to the classic Google Tips and Tricks. From this page, you can also reach a number of other entertaining Google pages such as Google Doodles, and Google Playground.

The decoration for this post came from the Google Doodles collection, and is the Doodle for Loy Krathong Day, which turns out to be a "picturesque" festival in Thailand "...when people gather around lakes, rivers and canals to pay respects to the goddess of water by releasing beautiful lotus shaped rafts, decorated with candles, incense and flowers onto the water." It sort of celebrates the end of the rice harvest, thanking for bountiful water needed for rice and also floating away anger and grudges. (Explanation from http://www.bangkok.com/whats-on-events/loy-krathong.htm) This year, the festival fell on November 6. In case you want to fly to Bangkok for what looks like a perfectly magical celebration, the celebration falls on the night of the first full moon at the end of the rainy season. And between the moonlight and the little candle lotus rafts, it sounds lovely.

Exam Time Stress

Ah, to be a law student in December! (or April)

Not.

This is a terrible time of year for our students, and they need our compassion and kindness. Exam time is stressful for all kinds of students, but law students experience a special kind of stress. Most law school courses, even today, put all or nearly all of the course final grade into one final exam!

This is pedagogical madness, of course. But it's Tradition! (as the Fiddler of the Roof guy sings.) Also, it enables a single professor to teach 100+ students a semester in some schools! This is why law schools have for so many years been profit centers in universities, and made them attractive enough that many for-profit law schools began to open. Of course, that all came to a skidding halt with the 2008 economic crash, and the collapse of the legal job market, that finally trickled into law schools' admissions. But in the meantime, too many law schools have not changed their teaching methods.

However, I see current students handling the stress much better than we did in my law school days (when the most popular methods were to become a slob, stop sleeping and drink to excess or live on caffeine). Many students these days take a much wiser course:

* Eat healthy foods, in moderation, and at regular meals

* Keep exercising -- exercise reduces stress, improves sleep, and helps combat depression, as well as keeping you fit!

* Sleep regularly -- don't pull "all nighters." If you don't have it in your head by now, it's too damned late to try to learn it all now, bubby. You should have been working on this stuff throughout the semester.

* Stress-reducers:
* Yoga
* Tai-chi
* Beating the crap out of a speed-bag (not everybody is a yoga type)
* Laugh a LOT with friends

It's still a terrible time. You will undoubtedly lose sleep and stress out. But maybe you won't wreck yourself entirely, and at least you will have laughed a lot in the meantime.

We are keeping our fingers crossed and hoping the best for you. And remember that law school exams DO NOT measure the quality of you as a human being. The most they do is measure how much you managed to write down that day of what you learned in that class.

The decoration is The Scream, the famous painting by Edward Munch.

Obama and Net Neutrality, not necessarily a total win

I was so happy to see the headline about President Obama speaking out strongly in favor of Net Neutrality! It just made me glad.

But a few days' digestion and articles are trickling out that the FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler had been working hard when I wasn't looking to develop a "hybrid proposal." Wheeler apparently believes his alternative could preserve the free and open nature of the Internet, while addressing the concerns of Internet providers that heavy users will clog the "arteries" and slow down traffic for everybody. Apparently, Wheeler was trying to put together a coalition of major players and convince them that his plan would work. And apparently, he was just starting to get some folks on board, when President Obama opened his big mouth and blew it all apart.

Now, it may not be a bad thing, because I am not convinced that Wheeler's alternative is actually going to preserve those aspects of Net Neutrality that I value. Obama's call to arms moves the parties involved away from compromise, or at least into a holding pattern, according to an in-depth article by the Washington Post.

At the start of this year, AT&T, Verizon and Comcast, among others, announced that they intended to enclose the Internet, and institute "pay to play" and additional fees so that those who were willing to pay more would get faster Internet download and upload speeds. Make no mistake, these large corporations see opportunity and plan to exploit it as far as they are allowed. But there has been a huge push-back, much of it from equally large, well-funded companies like Google, Twitter, Netflix, AOL, but also Bank of America, UPS, Visa and Ford. (Here is an interesting chart listing the largest lobbyers on both sides).

So, I guess it's a good thing that I wasn't spiffy doodle throwing up a congratulatory blog post here about President Obama's speech. I just don't know which way will work out best. But I know I want to preserve a free an open Internet! But it is interesting how some comments to the FCC have more effect than others. As George Orwell wrote in Animal Farm, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

The decoration for this blog post just happens to echo Napoleon the Pig's statement above, though it's about Net Neutrality. The image is signed by Kurt Griffith, 2006. It is featured now on a petition page for Net Neutrality by WatchDog.Net (http://act.watchdog.net/petitions/4565). I believe the petition is active and is in response to FCC Chair Tom Wheeler's negotiations for his hybrid model.

Isaac Asimov on Creativity

A new essay published many years after being written by Isaac Asimov, in this month's MIT Technology Review. Asimov had been invited to participate as part of a government funded effort to imagine the most creative approaches possible for a ballistic missile system (it was 1959). He eventually left the project, but contributed this essay as his only formal input to the effort. His friend, Arthur Obermayer, who had nominated Asimov to participate in the missile project, ran across the essay recently, and contributed it to the journal, with the approval of Asimov's estate. . Entertainingly, and very characteristically, it seems, Asimov's recommendation sounds a lot like taking a small group of scientists out for an evening of drinks and wide-ranging conversation. He suggests a sort of moderator, and avoiding either anybody who might dampen everybody's comfort in brainstorming, or who might overwhelm the group with a forceful personality. Sounds like a very pleasant time, indeed. Interestingly enough, Asimov cautions that scientists will feel very anxious that they might be wasting government funding, or that they might be considered to be doing so. Thus, he recommends giving them reports to write during the day, to ease everybody's conscience.

Considering that the essay was written in 1959, you can only say, that we are continuing to do the same old same old. Asimov was clearly aware that politicians would periodically "make hay" by conducting investigations into how government grants are allocated and then spent. Well, it's all in the news again (or maybe, just still). The Chronicle of Higher Education has a depressing article about a continuing effort by House Republicans who have been scouring NSF grants for suspicious projects, like anything about climate change or anthropology, or anything with a name that sounds funny or odd. (or see in print, p. A4, Oct. 24,2014, by Paul Basken). In this article, Congressman Lamarr Smith of Texas, chair of the House science committee, is sending aides to sift the grants. But when I searched the Internet for the issue, trying to locate the article at first, I located lots of other instances, like Congressman Sensenbrenner and others in similar efforts. (of course all of that is focused on climate change scientists - what a terrible specialty to be in right now! It's so politicized.)

FDA pressuring ICANN over Internet Drug Websites

Oh, my! I don't know what to say. Wall Street Journal reports in depth about the U. S. Food and Drug Administration snarling and grumping (and more foreign regulatory snapping, too), about ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) refusing to clamp down harder on websites that are selling prescription drugs without prescriptions, or knock-off prescription drugs, or prescription drugs that are not pure.

The author, Jeff Elder, reports that this is boiling up at an awkward moment for ICANN. It has been overseen by the United States Commerce Department. But in March, 2014, the Commerce Department declared that it is giving up overseeing ICANN. There has been growing interest in making Internet governance a more international affair. And the author Elder reminds us that the Obama administration has declared that they intend to hand ICANN over to an undetermined international body (see this Washington Post article from March, 2013, tying the decision to international backlash over revelations that the NSA was spying, even on our own allies). Actually, see The Economist report in 2009 on the agreement giving oversight of ICANN in four specific areas to panels staffed from various nations. More recently, in Brazil, NetMundial, achieved some joint agreements.

ICANN would like to remain independent and operate without oversight. Here is a short, accessible essay that may help explain why the FDA and other law enforcement agencies are thinking the wrong way about ICANN. There is no central control for the Internet. It was designed that way. There is no boss of the Internet, with any authority to enforce rules.

EQUALITY - aka RESPECT

Massachusetts is struggling with a problem that keeps popping up in the news. And people keep being stunned and amazed.

Women in this state make 70 cents for every dollar that men make.

And that is in this bastion of education, liberalism, and progressivism. Massachusetts had the first law in the country about equal pay, in 1945, according to several of these articles and posts. Here is a little blurb about the activity that may well have led to that law - concern about the women who stepped into industrial jobs for the WWII effort. At that time, (and still in many minds), jobs were classified as male and female. Some employers cut the pay for welding or other "male" jobs when women took those jobs during the war. The AFL-CIO was concerned that returning veterans would find their pay remained cut after they took back their pre-war positions. When vets came back from the war, Massachusetts passed what has become known as the Massachusetts Equal Pay Act (MEPA), M.G.L. Chapter 149, §105A.

Here are a series of articles and blog posts through the years, starting with the most recent, where the press alert the public to this startling piece of news and call for action:

Wage Gap For Women Persists Despite Some Progress (Boston Globe 9/28/14)

Massachusetts Women and the Wage Gap (Fact sheet 4/2013 from National Partnership for Women and Families)

Mind the Gap (Boston Magazine 2/2013)

The Importance of Fair Pay for Massachusetts Women (Fact Sheet 4/2012 from National Women's Law Center)

It's striking that the 2012 fact sheet mentions the gap as 81 cents to the dollar. The 2013 fact sheet says 77 cents to the dollar. And the 2014 article says 70 cents to the dollar. Women seem to be losing ground, even as these articles, fact sheets and conferences are flailing away at the problem! Just in 2 years, we've dropped from 81 cents to 70 cents, or lost 11 cents to the average man's dollar! Hmmph.

There are a number of federal and state laws in place that are supposed to prevent discrimination or unequal pay on the basis of sex (or race, for that matter). A handy, publicly available pamphlet from the law firm Foley Hoag is one of the links on this state web page about Massachusetts Laws About Wages. (scroll down on the page to "Other Web Sources" to find "Massachusetts Wage and Hour Laws: What Every Employer Needs to Know, Foley Hoag.") According to the pamphlet, employers can justify differences in wages based on

* a merit system
* a system that measures earnings by quantity or quality of production
* a seniority system
* differences in training, education, experience
* any factor other than gender or race

It all sounds so benign. And yet it works like this. A woman may take time off when she has a baby. She may even stay out of the workforce a few years, while her children are little. During those years, the cadre of men or childless women who entered her profession at the same time she did, move along, gaining experience, and moving up the professional ladder. This can work just the same for a woman who takes time off to care for aging parents or in-laws, too, of course. The individual who dropped out to take care of child or parents is falling behind their cohort.

The mother, later, comes back to the workforce, as if she had been in stasis, professionally. She may not have been able to keep up with new developments, and new technology. The mother has been quite busy doing other things that are very important, not just to her and her family, actually, but also to society as a whole. We should value and recognize the importance of parenting and care-taking, no matter which gender is taking time to focus on this task. Perhaps as more men become stay-at-home fathers, this might start to change.

But the return to work, unless the individual can buff up skills with some courses, is tough at best. The worker has fallen behind on developments and skill sets. Even if she/he can make up through training courses, those years of wage growth and professional networking, ladder-climbing have been missed. While the entry cohort has advanced 5 years, the mother has remained at the professional level where she stepped out of the workforce to parent. One more way in which women, on average, fall behind in pay levels.

There are lots of others ways. Just a week ago, the CEO of Microsoft explained how women should allow karma to help them get pay raises, rather than being so bitchy as to actually ask!

Can you be a librarian without a library?

So, I have been teaching and nothing else for a while, and working on identity issues.

Am I still a librarian?

Hell, yeah.

Always and forever, baby.

I can't stop. I can't drop it.

My students are my patrons now, I guess.

Don't get me wrong. I am enjoying very much being able to focus on my teaching. I am also liking the lower stress -- I don't have to worry about budget or cutting materials that I love, or telling a faculty member NO, or disciplinary matters, or problem patrons....

Plus there are the perks of being a faculty member. What's not to like?

Well, how do I fit my librarian suit under my law professor uniform? Can I still wear a bun in class?

Maybe I need to get a librarian tattoo.

The image decorating this blog post is the cover of an intriguing-sounding book, http://books.infotoday.com/books/YouDontLookLikeALibrarian.shtml from the SLA, You Don't Look Like a Librarian.

FCC says Conference Centers & Hotels May Not Block Visitors' Wi-Fi Hotspots

The FCC has reached an agreement with Marriott to pay a $60,000 penalty to resolve their investigation into a complaint that employees of a Marriott-managed conference center were sending de-authentication packets to prevent exhibitors and attendees from using their personal Wi-Fi hotspots. Marriott was then charging them $250 - $1,000 per device to connect to the conference center's Internet!

“Consumers who purchase cellular data plans should be able to use them without fear that their personal Internet connection will be blocked by their hotel or conference center,” said Enforcement Bureau Chief Travis LeBlanc. “It is unacceptable for any hotel to intentionally disable personal hotspots while also charging consumers and small businesses high fees to use the hotel’s own Wi-Fi network. This practice puts consumers in the untenable position of either paying twice for the same service or forgoing Internet access altogether,” he added.

(from the FCC press release dated Oct. 3, 2014.) The press release has a handy link directly to the Consent Decree, but I am including it here, in case the press release vanishes.

Remember this next time a hotel or conference center blocks your Wi-Fi hotspot. Now you know what to do.
Superman image credited to Flickr.