Holy crap, where did these nerves come from?!

OK, gang; I'm off to my interview in TWENTY MINUTES.

I've got a few notes on common questions, as well as a list of good questions of my own to ask. I've had three people check it all and make sure it's all good stuff. I've got a fresh copy of my resume in a folder, along with a clean sheet of paper with my references printed on it. I'm dressed professionally and I have the all-important heels on (because seriously, they absolutely add a metric shit-ton of class to any outfit I'm wearing simply by being on my feet). I did my makeup at lunchtime (I generally don't bother) so it's fresh and looks good and I haven't had the chance to stick my fingers in my eyes and muss it up yet. I just dumped three Altoids into my mouth for that minty-fresh breath thing. I do not have perfume on. None of my fingernails are broken or look awful. My hair is as tamed as it is going to get. I am not bringing my purse or my cell phone, only the folder and my small pad of paper and a pen.

TEN MINUTES. I sincerely hope I'm not forgetting anything.

WISH ME LUCK. ♥

My head hurts.

SO GLAD THAT'S OVER WITH.

It only took 45 minutes, all told, to do this interview. It was a panel interview, with EIGHT people (ZOMG) taking turns asking questions. I have never been very good with the whole public-speaking thing, which made this really difficult.

I think they were all really impressed with the questions I had for them. The department is HUGE (about 200 people compared to my department's 60), and part of the job would be scheduling all their work hours, doing all the payroll for all 200 of them, and dealing with a continual turnover of employees. There's a lot of ongoing employee education to be worked around, and all that on top of dealing with people who can be shy, be outspoken, be demanding or accepting, etc. I was kind of amused to note that they were all as vague in their answers, too, as I was in mine.

If I failed this interview on an epic scale, that'll be the reason; I realized halfway back to my own office that each of the times I was asked for a specific "time this happened" or "thing that resulted," I ended up giving generalizations. I'm also looking back on the interview now and going, "SHIT ON A BISCUIT, WHY DID I SAY THAT?" Or "Dammit, I should have explained that better." That, and the whole doesn't-actually-know-the-programs-used thing, although I pointed out several times that I'm a very fast learner and that getting in there and playing with it is the only way to really find out what the system can and can't do.

And too, now that I have a better idea of just what this job might entail, I'm worried about it. I think that with training and an open mind, I'll be able to do it. I'm worried, though, about the fact that it's just me. I don't know what kind of mess would result if I wanted to, say, take a week off. It seems like an awful lot of balls might be dropped if I'm not there to juggle them every day, and that's kind of how I feel already.

Any adrenaline I had is draining away now, and I'm left with a massive headache. And I'm hungry, which is only contributing to the problem. I think I'm going to head home and eat, and then crash for a while; just wanted to update y'all. ♥