BAM!

Dear Natalie,

It was great meeting you the other day. After careful assessment and consideration, you have been nominated to the following program:

Program: English Teaching
Region: Sub Saharan Africa
Program Info: Post requires that trainees have English degree or Secondary Education degrees or certified in any subject at the secondary level.
Stage Range: September, 2008

Post Interview Musings

Right, so I talked up the interview quite a bit, I figured I owed you all (you one or two) an explanation of what went down.


My recruiter was quite friendly and down to earth, which greatly put me at ease. I always sound a little like a stuttering robot in job interviews, though, and hopefully she just chalked that up to nerves. It was a little weird that it was less like a discussion and more like an interrogation because she would just ask me a question, then type everything I said onto her computer. The silence that ensued between the end of my answer and the beginning of her next question was painful! The questions were what I was told to expect, such as what my motivations for joining PC are, what worries or concerns I have, my experience with leadership, education, inter personal skills, learning a new language. yadda yadda, yadda yadda. I'm sure that's what you all expected, too.


She told me at the end of the interview that by today, Thursday, she should be getting in touch with me about whether / where / what program she is going to nominate me for. I am in F-E-A-R, as this is an essential element to the PC experience. Things on my mind:

• She said that sometimes if a candidate isn't really qualified for anything, PC suggests that they spend a few months volunteering here and there to beef that up. She mentioned that twice. In my mind, that's her feeling like she's grasping at straws to nominate me for anything.


• The second thing is also concerning. However, I think / hope that it's just the "canned" speech we've discussed before. She was super super insistant about my having to be flexible about my placement. I told her "Sub-Saharan Africa, PLEASE!" and while she understood my desire for Africa, she insisted that I could be asked to go anywhere. This is when I mentioned that my departure date is flexible - a couple months in either direction - if that would help to get me into a program I'd be most effective in and excited about.

Argh. I'm hoping she is going to follow through with what she said. Today could be such a great day, or I could spiral into oblivion if I'm not nominated.

Anyways kiddies that's the good word for now. I will, of course, post again once I receive word from my recruiter and react accordingly.

nothing much

There's not really anything new to report. Just that I'm about two weeks away from my interview and I'm totally clueless as to how to repair. I've been through just about every nook and cranny of the PC website and believe that I'm familiar with the application / hiring process. I know from reading PCV blogs and from the PC website what to reasonably expect once I get over there, wherever there is.

As a side note, if any of my readers are in the Albany area, please come to the uptown SUNY campus this Friday, 10/12 at 6pm for a screening I've organized with Invisible Children. You know who they are! They were even on Oprah! We're going to watch the short (45 min) film then discuss the issues and what we can all do to help. There's going to be some really cool merch there too, which I know because they had it all shipped to me at work. So come on out! Business Administration Building, Room #130. It's free, fun, and fabulous and your presence will make me happy!

Interview!!!

Well, this is happening more quickly than I ever anticipated! My recruiter called me this afternoon to schedule an interview. Apparently despite my screw ups I mentioned in the last post, she's all set with my paperwork. Phew! It's 3 weeks away, on October 23rd. Luckily she is coming to Guilderland, which is a suburb of Albany, so I don't need to travel to the city just for the interview. It would be cool to have another excuse to get down to see Rick and Daisy, but they'll just have to come up here! (hint, hint!) Alright so that's the news. Nobody leaves me comment love anymore, do I still have readers?! Also if by chance some PCVs or RPCVs happen to be reading this blog, please let me know what your experience of the interview was. I like to be prepared :) peace out.