I have an interview at a museum in Portland!  I was in the middle of assembling ingredients for Vegan Cupcakes when I got a call from an unfamiliar Portland-area number.  I thought it might be the pub from the 5C Happy Hour I organized calling to ask more questions (they were very good at follow-up), but it was someone from Human Resources at the Museum telling me they wanted to interview me to be the Development Assistant.

I applied right before I left for my latest excursion to the east coast (it was an awesome trip.  I love my friends on the east coast, and I spent time with the best baby in the world).   I fumbled a little in the call because I was so excited when scheduling the interview, but what I learned while working for Phonathon came in handy in keeping me on subject and friendly-sounding.  Beyond remembering to speak at a pace people can actually understand, remember to smile when you’re talking.  It sounds super cheesy, but it works.

Anyhow, I’m headed into work a little early on Monday, leaving at lunch to catch a bus to the museum, having my interview (the person who called me said I should plan on an hour!) and walking back to my internship and finishing the afternoon in the office.  I know they know I’m looking for a paying job, but I think I’ll feel a little bad if they only get a few weeks of work out of me.  I’d probably end up volunteering more to feel better about it, especially since my friend, G, works there.

The museum requested no calls, and their website says that “Candidates whose backgrounds most closely match the requirements of each position will be contacted by Human Resources,”  which is something of an ego boost: this means that they thought my qualifications were actually good, and not being superficially polite in a rejection email.

In any case, I’m preparing for the interview by researching the museum in more depth than I did for my cover letter.

Valinda advised me to put together a “story bank,” which are stories that demonstrate all the skills they want.  Luckily for me, that’s basically what I do when I’m writing cover letters already, so I already have a story bank.  I’ll report back on the interview, and how my meeting with the alum went, later on.