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kareinaElnaz has had her visa to come to Sweden in hand for a while now, but since she had an emergency root canal shortly before the visa was approved, and it was a serious enough one to require several follow up visits before the canals were all cleaned and properly filled she wasn't able to travel yet. Her student visa in the UK was one which came with NHS, so they are paying for the dental care, but, were she to come to Sweden before the procedure is complete she would have to pay for it out of pocket, and that money would be useful for so many other things. The dentist who has been helping her has a very full schedule, but he agreed to move up the dates so that she will be able to fly on the ticket she currently has booked, so will arrive on the morning of the 26th of October.
I am so looking forward to her arrival!
In other news, I don't think I have posted here about the weird job interview I had the week before last. The Geochemistry department here at LTU had advertised this summer for a researcher position, with requirements like "at least five years experience characterising ore minerals" (check), use of LA-ICP-MS (check) and a variety of other points, all of which looked like a good match for my CV, so, since my current job ends at the start of December, and I want to stay here, of course I applied. And, of course, I got an interview. However, it wasn't the typical academic interview--where one spends perhaps 30 minutes talking to a panel of people about one's experience and strengths and weaknesses. Instead it was me and T., whom I, of course, already know, talking for Two Hours, but the format of the conversation felt like an oral exam that I hadn't studied for, and wasn't having much luck giving him the key words he was obviously looking for. Every time he asked a question I started to reply, and before I got even part way through what I was saying he interrupted me with another question. Eventually I called him on it, saying that it is really hard to give a complete answer if he interrupts me before I have even gotten to the point with a new question, and should I take that as a sign that my answers aren't going the direction that he wants them to? At which point he apologised, and tried to give me more space to answer.
But as we spoke it became clear that the job that I had envisioned from the job description--doing research using their set of labs, was not what they are hiring for. Instead they want someone who will be responsible for bringing in paying customers to the lab--so they need someone to do sales, but who will be able to explain exactly which of the many diverse pieces of equipment will be perfect for the needs of the potential clients. Oh, and to take on some of the teaching load. And to do research, too. I left the interview thinking that the job sounded a bit much for full time, and I am really not interested in the sales aspect of the duties.
Needless to say, I was quite relieved when he called me yesterday saying that while it was a difficult decision, they went with one of the other candidates. I told him the truth, that I had been thinking that I wasn't interested in the sales aspect of the job, so was just as happy not to have an offer. However, if they wanted to discuss a research-oriented job in the future, I would be happy to, and would be delighted to work on a grant proposal for one with them. I followed up with an email repeating the interest in applying for grant proposals and hoping that they person they hired is a perfect fit for the job, and he wrote back thanking me for being so understanding and saying that he thinks they will have more jobs opening up and will keep me posted.
Of course, in the meantime I should probably start looking for something else. The problem is that I really crave time off. I would love not to have a job for a while, so I can focus on everything else. Like my second PhD I haven't worked on for a few weeks due to feeling stressed about work, and if Elnaz would be able to come, and, and, and...
I am so looking forward to her arrival!
In other news, I don't think I have posted here about the weird job interview I had the week before last. The Geochemistry department here at LTU had advertised this summer for a researcher position, with requirements like "at least five years experience characterising ore minerals" (check), use of LA-ICP-MS (check) and a variety of other points, all of which looked like a good match for my CV, so, since my current job ends at the start of December, and I want to stay here, of course I applied. And, of course, I got an interview. However, it wasn't the typical academic interview--where one spends perhaps 30 minutes talking to a panel of people about one's experience and strengths and weaknesses. Instead it was me and T., whom I, of course, already know, talking for Two Hours, but the format of the conversation felt like an oral exam that I hadn't studied for, and wasn't having much luck giving him the key words he was obviously looking for. Every time he asked a question I started to reply, and before I got even part way through what I was saying he interrupted me with another question. Eventually I called him on it, saying that it is really hard to give a complete answer if he interrupts me before I have even gotten to the point with a new question, and should I take that as a sign that my answers aren't going the direction that he wants them to? At which point he apologised, and tried to give me more space to answer.
But as we spoke it became clear that the job that I had envisioned from the job description--doing research using their set of labs, was not what they are hiring for. Instead they want someone who will be responsible for bringing in paying customers to the lab--so they need someone to do sales, but who will be able to explain exactly which of the many diverse pieces of equipment will be perfect for the needs of the potential clients. Oh, and to take on some of the teaching load. And to do research, too. I left the interview thinking that the job sounded a bit much for full time, and I am really not interested in the sales aspect of the duties.
Needless to say, I was quite relieved when he called me yesterday saying that while it was a difficult decision, they went with one of the other candidates. I told him the truth, that I had been thinking that I wasn't interested in the sales aspect of the job, so was just as happy not to have an offer. However, if they wanted to discuss a research-oriented job in the future, I would be happy to, and would be delighted to work on a grant proposal for one with them. I followed up with an email repeating the interest in applying for grant proposals and hoping that they person they hired is a perfect fit for the job, and he wrote back thanking me for being so understanding and saying that he thinks they will have more jobs opening up and will keep me posted.
Of course, in the meantime I should probably start looking for something else. The problem is that I really crave time off. I would love not to have a job for a while, so I can focus on everything else. Like my second PhD I haven't worked on for a few weeks due to feeling stressed about work, and if Elnaz would be able to come, and, and, and...