An Interesting Job Interview

Last Wednesday I had a "first" in job interviews. I met via Skype with a search committee at a church in southern California. In the past few months I have had several telephone interviews, some of those were on a speaker phone. The farther away a person was sitting from the speaker phone source, the harder it was to hear questions or comments. The Skype interview was great because I could see each committee member and hear them all well. The hour flew by... Now we'll wait and see if the process continues.

Today I had an in-person interview at a large St. Louis compassion ministry. Obviously, those are the best. I had already spent 90 on the phone with someone from this ministry a couple of weeks ago. This interview came as a result of that phone interview that went very well. Again, the hour flew by. I think it was a very good interview. I guess I'll know for sure if it was in a few days.

As I was driving home from today's interview, I was reminded of the most unusual job interview I ever had. Kathy and I had been invited to First Assembly in Grand Junction, Colorado to visit for a few days. I spent some rehearsal time with the choir, prepared music for the Sunday services, and met with various groups and people. On one of those evenings we were invited to the home of one of the board members. This couple had built a gorgeous home right next to the National Monument. The Colorado National Monument preserves one of the grand landscapes of the American West. It has towering monoliths that exist within a vast plateau-and-canyon panorama. It has sheer-walled, red rock canyons that were visible from the back yard of the house we were at. Two other deacons and their wives came over and we had dinner together. After dinner, the three deacons and I put on swimming suits, I had to borrow one, and we all jumped in the outdoor hot tub while the ladies visited inside the house. The landscape was spectacular and the stars were amazing. For about an hour I was asked all kinds of questions, and I was able to ask questions as well. When we were done, (both done talking and shriveled as prunes), one of the deacons said, "well, as far as I'm concerned, you are hired." Two of these deacons told Kathy and I that if we would come to be the ministers of music, they would bring us coffee shop coffee every Sunday morning. (for 4 1/2 years, almost every Sunday morning we had hot coffee from a local coffee shop) While it was the pastor who extended the invitation to join the staff after Sunday services were done, I think the "deal was sealed" in the hot tub.

Even though I haven't had any hot tub interviews this time around, it has been a real adventure as I've met so many nice people, answered a lot of questions, and told my story many times. Maybe the next interview will be in a hot air balloon... :)