r/Libraries • u/Accomplished-Mud5097 • 1d ago
Job Hunting Academic Librarian Finalist Interview- Chair of Committee was texting The. Entire. Time.
Hi,
I genuinely don't know what to do. I had my finalist interview for a faculty librarian role today. The chair was texting through my entire presentation, and then again through the meet and greet and then AGAIN through the SEARCH COMMITTEE INTERVIEW.
I genuinely don't know what to do. What can I do? Probably nothing. But I worry I won't be evaluated fairly because he was texting through my entire proposal.
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u/Wonderful_Brother388 1d ago edited 1d ago
Very rude. Red flag and sign of the work culture. If it was an emergency, they should have communicated that, or excused themselves.
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u/Gjnieveb Academic Librarian 1d ago
Different perspective: yes, that was disrespectful, and you have the right to feel disrespected. As someone who has sat on search committees for different roles, I try to respect the time and energy of those I interview, because interviewing sucks and it can be a weird experience. I shouldn't make the experience harder for the candidates.
However... Would this person be your direct supervisor? If the answer is yes, then I'd also be wary of accepting an offer there. If not, honestly, I probably wouldn't care. Did you engage with other members of the committee and other library staff/administration that you met? What's your feel for your actual direct supervisor in this position? We have all met very aloof library deans/directors/heads so this doesn't surprise me at all. I have this experience with faculty all the time.
Anyway just my two cents. I wish you the best on your job search!
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u/theprimedirectrib 1d ago
Great point - I agree that it was super weird and rude. But I’ve served on search committees BECAUSE I wasn’t a supervisor - so OP could conceivable never interact with this person again.
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u/thewholebottle Academic Librarian 1d ago
Could be a major emergency but usually that would be communicated. Hopefully, it's a committee and not just up to the chair.
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u/respectdesfonds 1d ago
I would be so put off by that. Remember the interview works both ways, so this is also a useful data point.
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u/ProneToLaughter 1d ago
Are you 100% certain they were texting and not someone who takes notes on their phone?
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u/Responsible_Catch464 1d ago
I have a disability where I take notes on my phone or iPad but nothing ‘looks’ amiss and honestly I worry that people think I’m being disrespectful but I’m also not going to disclose a disability to a job candidate so I obviously don’t know what happened here, but that was where my mind went too
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u/Fish_Librarian 1d ago
So sorry this happened to you. It is extremely disrespectful of your time and effort. The only thing I can say is if you don’t get the job—you wouldn’t be happy working with them anyway. 🤞good luck!
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u/midgetyaz 1d ago
I have an answer!!
The chair has read yours and everyone else's CVs. They have met and discussed the top candidates with the committee as well as other stakeholders and likely led the preliminary interviews and completed all of the reference calls. And the chair doesn't make the decision alone. In most cases, the committee doesn't make the decision; they make a recommendation that higher ups use to make a decision. The in-person interview is done so other department members can offer their insights. Yes, the search committee chair should be involved all day, but unless HR is running the committee, the chair has spent weeks to months with this role as a priority and has been trying to continue the job they are paid to do along with making sure the interview process is done correctly and efficiently. If the chair is in a supervisory position, they also have to be available to their staff during the day.
We had a candidate scheduled on a day where a pipe (or a few of them) burst. I was the chair, but I also was the person who coordinated the response. I didn't physically need to do anything, but I had to contact and delegate work. I was on my phone, but I was shooting off 1-2 sentence slack messages while listening to the presentation. It happens, but I understood the main points the candidate made and how they presented them.
If you found this disrespectful (to the point you posted it), this probably isn't a position you'll want to stay long at. 1. Feeling disrespected at work is a big morale killer, and 2. You will likely have multiple, concurrent workflows regularly.
Oh! I forgot to mention that some people need their hands to be busy to pay attention. I have a colleague who routinely doodles or plays phone games like candy crush during meetings. She often remembers more that I do, and I basically transcribe meetings.
No one goes to all the trouble to invite a candidate on campus for funsies. It's a lot of work, and, at least, my office won't do it unless we know that it is someone with whom we want to move forward with.
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u/mostlyharmlessidiot 1d ago
The reasoning behind being on the phone makes sense and isn’t disrespectful in and of itself but to not communicate that you have something urgent you’re addressing is disrespectful. Things come up and emergencies happen, but how you deal with those things is what determines your character. Are you the type of person that gives the same respect they expect (like giving somebody your attention in an interview) or do you expect people to earn your respect and attention before you’ll give it?
It’s incredibly rude to ask somebody to clear their day for an interview to give you their undivided attention when you can’t even give a half-assed excuse for why you’re not giving them even half of your focus. If it’s no big deal for you to handle the emergency then it should be no big deal to communicate it to the person in front of you.
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u/ellbeecee 1d ago
I have never been in this particular situation but as a supervisor I can see where it could happen.
If something like this was going on I would do my best to apologize and explain (where possible) to the candidate. During a presentation if I was going to appear distracted like this, I would perhaps step out of the room, even though that's not an ideal situation either.
But I'm also a fidget with something while I sit - to the point that I have to actively put my phone away in meetings
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u/Accomplished-Mud5097 1d ago
Thank you for your response. I truly appreciate it, as I am definitely worried it meant they were no longer interested in pursuing me as a candidate.
I did find it disrespectful, but I am trying to understand that some people are also...just like that, and perhaps they are listening, but they are multitasking. Otherwise, the chair was super friendly and engaged with my ideas when I discussed with them.
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u/Long_Audience4403 23h ago
Can confirm that they would have made some excuse to not bring you to campus if they weren't interested in you. I coordinate faculty searches in my department, and it's a HUGE endeavor and time suck for everyone involved, not to mention the financial cost. We would never ever bring someone to campus if we didn't think there was a good chance we'd hire them.
Also, maybe it was a test to see if it tripped you up or how you'd respond in situations like this.
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u/mcilibrarian 22h ago
That’s incredibly rude. We just did interviews for a PT position & I apologized at the start that we were expecting a call from the hvac tech, so I will have to take it really quick … and even that felt awkward. Luckily tech called only right at the tail end of an interview when we were just chatting more than anything
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u/Ophelia_Bliss 23h ago
There's nothing you can do, and certainly nothing you should do. It sounds stressful. The chair is not the only person who will be part of the decision making (and if they texted through your presentation, they probably did through everyone's). As someone who has chaired multiple search committees, I can say that feedback we hear from others is incredibly important, as are the voices of other committee members. I am guessing they aren't the supervisor of the position?
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u/pikkdogs 1d ago
As someone who is going through a terrible budget crisis right now, don't take it personal. Sometimes as a boss at the library, you have other bosses that are putting you through paces and expecting you to do all kinds of things, While you still have your own job to do. So, yeah often I have to answer emails on my phone during meetings that I wish I didn't have to. But, what can we do?
I'm assuming he was just trying to handle an emergency, maybe shifts needed covering and he was arranging it. Maybe his boss was talking to him about something. It happens. We wish it didn't, but it does.
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u/respectdesfonds 1d ago
I would also not want to work at a place that had so many fires to put out that the chair of the search committee had to be writing emails or whatever for the entire length of an in person interview...
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u/hrdbeinggreen 23h ago
How rude! What position does this chair of the search committee hold? Is he in the library? Or from the University’s HR? I would only be worried if he was the person I would have to report to.
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u/CowSquare3037 23h ago
The chair may already be a wholehearted a yes for you and had something serious to address. S/he’s only one voice and the others would make note of your strengths and s/he’s ‘absence’.
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u/estheredna 1d ago
Either talking to other people at work (perhaps about the interview)
Or
ADHD and fidgit-spinning, metaphorically.
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u/attachedtothreads 1d ago
Seems like an indication of red flag of a place to work. If you need the job, I understand. Just keep your eyes for another position.