Job Interview #13 - Post Mortem

Do people even wear suits to job interviews anymore? Because, my experience today would tell me in no uncertain terms - NO. As mentioned in an earlier post - this job would be the highest paid of my professional career. It's a pretty standard office job working for *the* post-secondary arts school in Ontario. So...maybe a fancy track suit would be a good idea?!? I'm not kidding. The setting for this interview was highly amusing as the interviews were being held in a cavernous boardroom and the interviewer doing most of the talking had quite a booming voice and the waiting area was literally outside the door. As a result I got an eyeful of my competition. The woman before me had her hair slung into a messy topknot [like when I get frustrated with my Chewbacca hair and put it up in a crazy Britney Spears ponytail - I do this without the aid of a mirror or hairbrush and I think this woman did too] and was seriously wearing a track suit. Mind you, it was a fancy track suit in a bright lilac colour, but make no mistake...this outfit would not be out of place in a gym. On my way out eye-spied another candidate in the waiting area - she was slightly better dressed, but very casual in a peasant-style shirt and flip flops. Nevertheless, I still feel like I'm in the right. I wear suits to each and every job interview and always have - even volunteer positions. The only exception is if I am going to a retail/waitress/barista type interview - but even then, I still dress up. Am I a walking anachronism or what?

The interview itself went okay. It's a big organization so I'm assuming they have a lot of protocol and experience in interviewing people. As a result it was the standard "read dry questions off the paper" in order to ilicit traditional dull answers type of situation. I think I could handle an interview like this in my sleep. The role seems to be one that is sort of executive assistant and sort of event planning [the event planning part wasn't really mentioned in the original role description]. The pay is still quite high for this type of role and a not-for-profit organization, but I'm certain there is union involvement so that explains a lot. A main drawback would be the start time - which is daily @ 7:30am. Eeep. Don't get me wrong, I haven't been snoozing it up as an unemployed chick - but requiring me to be somewhere and functioning @ that hour on a daily basis is just...just say no. I worked for seven months starting @ 8am. I never ever got used to it - I tried going to bed early, adjusting my diet - everything...no dice. I didn't feel human everyday until around 10:30am, no exception. I do wish I could force myself into being a morning person, but I really feel like it's a biological impossibility. Also, I think that offices should just open @ 9am...I mean, seriously - it's not a factory or a farm - what's the hurry?