Holding Pattern

I am one of two final candidates for the executive director position. I had my first interview on November 4th with three board members, including the president and vice president, the program manager, and the outgoing director. I thought it went reasonably well and my feelings were confirmed when they called me later in the afternoon for a second interview last Tuesday.

The second interview was with the same group of people and again it seemed to go well. I think my greatest hurdles are convincing them that even though I'm an outsider in their community that I am capable of understanding its history and being a convincing public face for their organization. Oh, and the fact that I developed a cold sore between interview one and two can only hurt my chances. That's what stress can do to me.

My greatest concern was when the vice president asked me how I handle looking "so young" in situations where I have to introduce myself as an authority figure. The more I think about this question the more annoyed I get. I'm the same age as the outgoing director and she was hired over three years ago. I handled the question without letting her know that it seemed more than a little insulting. I told her how I always act maturely in professional situations, and that I do dress in a manner that befits my professional position and that I felt that the title of executive director of a respected institution ought to carry a certain amount of currency from the get go. But apparently my baby face may prove to be too much to overcome, we shall see (sadly, I chose to shave off my beard for the interview. In retrospect it may have helped me look older and disguised my cold sore). I hate to overstate it, but what if she asked me how I handle being so fat, or so Chinese?

One of the board members really seemed to like me, but I think my greatest source of support will come from the program manager. She has confided to a mutual colleague that she really wants them to hire me. She has a lot of influence in the organization as she has been there for something like twenty years and has no reason to stay if she doesn't want to. She's only there twenty hours a week and doesn't need the job. The board would like to keep her happy, and that just may include hiring the director she prefers.

Anyway, the hiring committee wanted to make their recommendation to the board of directors on Thursday evening. My inside source tells me that they debated until midnight and adjourned the meeting without making a decision. Jesus. That sounds really weird. Whoever they hire it appears that they may be walking into a situation where some people on the board really wanted to hire the other person. I should find out in the next day or two.