Interviews: On the other side of the table!

Daily Hours: 2+5.5
Total Hours: 38

For the past ten years or so, the Goodman Branch has received "soft" money in the form of grant funding from first the Town of Madison, and now the City of Madison, that allows them to hire two teen interns each summer to help with the Summer Reading Program and various activities for children.  The appointment is nine weeks long, and the teens (ages 15-17) work 20 hours a week, making a bit more than minimum wage.  This year, I was able to sit in on the interview process for all 11 teens Michael and Chris interviewed, even getting to ask some of the questions.

First of all, it was a really interesting experience to be a part of the interview process from the other side of things, writing a constant stream of notes as the teens answered situational questions about disruptive behavior in the library, and their experience with volunteering, technology, and working with children.  And of course there was the ubiquitous question about a situation when you dealt with a difficult person.  It was often their first job interview, so that alone was great experience for each of them.  One of the things that Michael was clear about when we discussed what we were looking for in each candidate was the fact that he always wants to give someone from the South side neighborhood a chance with the positions, often a person who wouldn't have as many opportunities to build their resume in the same way otherwise.  This led to a lengthy discussion about how MPL is trying to increase their cultural competency by diversifying their employee-base, an effort that is often hampered by the bureaucracy of the city HR department, which has a huge hand in the hiring process.  But managers from MPL, including Michael, have been meeting with HR and Affirmative Action representatives to better the situation in recent times.

After 11 interviews, we are faced with a difficult choice.  Of course Michael and Chris are keeping my participation in the process at the appropriate professional level.  It is really interesting to see how difficult this decision is for Chris each year, as she has known many of interviewees for years as library regulars and/or volunteers and this makes it hard for her to select only two for the positions.  We talked about the fact that in the past she has advocated for someone to be hired based on the fact that they had volunteered with her for so long, but in the end, it ended up being a poor fit and led to a bit of disastrous summer.  We managed to chose one candidate for sure this afternoon and narrow the remaining contenders down to six, but we will reconvene first thing Monday morning to make our final decision.

Overall, the whole experience has gotten me thinking about all the interviews I'll be doing in a few short months, when I'll be back on the other side of the table... soon enough!