Ten Days

Since accepting an offer for an on-campus interview, I've been busy finding connections, researching the school and programs, and preparing to make the best impression possible.

One thing that I've found to be particularly useful during the job search is simply asking those around me if they have any advice about the process. That usually leads to questions such as "Where have you applied?" or "What schools are you considering?" More often than not, the person has known someone or used to know someone at the school and has offered to contact them on my behalf. Holler! So far, I've been very fortunate to have made a number of excellent connections with people around LSU and Auburn as well as other institutions through them that have greatly increased my level of confidence for my upcoming interview.

One of the more challenging parts of the interview preparation process is researching programs, departmental structures, key administrators and the campus culture of the institution. Most of this is carried out over the internet though I have been able to gather some information from the people I've connected with for references and advice.

Finally, I'm hoping to make a great impression over the course of the interview. Earlier this week, I received a copy of the itinerary for the interview. To be very honest, it was a bit intimidating. One component is a presentation with campus partners. I'm not worried so much about presenting, but there hasn't been a great deal of time to prepare and practice and there probably won't be much this week either. Regardless, I will be amazing because of some great input and motivation from friends.

And if nothing else, I'm going to look good! Since I wasn't sure of what to wear, I asked a few friends for their input. Below are the general ideas of what I'll have on:

Sunday
Dinner with administrators

Monday
All day interview on campus with professionals, students and administrators