Worry

[badseed1980]

No one from MIT has contacted j4yx0r yet about a reference for me. She was supposed to do that last Tuesday! WTF???

I'm concerned about this. But...why would she even bother e-mailing me to tell me she was going to check my references, unless she intended to check them? Ack.

Comments

[witchyspyce.livejournal.com]

Is he a personal reference?

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Nope, he was my supervisor for a while. :)

[witchyspyce.livejournal.com]

Then...WTF!?!?!?!

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

I know, right?

[witchyspyce.livejournal.com]

You know...it might be a school thing. Emerson left me hanging FOREVER when I applied for a job there (before I started going there).

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I just wish they'd stop saying, "We're going to do this by that date, and then contact you with the next steps by THAT date." It's frustrating. Even more so than if they didn't tell me anyhting.

[roaming.livejournal.com]

Hey there. Rob (daurdabla) just called me because I used to work at MIT (18 years until last December), and wondered if I could find out anything for you from my contacts there. Doubtful. . . unless someone knows exactly this person who isn't calling your references, but I can try. you can email me details at bryonyk@gmail.com and I can ask around.

Other than that, I can say with certainty that NOT calling is NOT a reflection on how interested they are or aren't in you. My last supervisor took forever to do these things, even when she had a deadline in mind for getting it done. AND there were times she didn't bother to check references when she really liked someone: she'd check if she was on the fence. So it's hard to know just what's in their minds. Also depends on what's going on in the department: if there's tons of other deadline stuff, believe it or not finding a new person to help out gets punted to the end of the priority list. They just kind of deal with what's blowing up in their faces.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

You know Rob?? Holy small world, Batman! :P

Basically, the reason why I'm a little miffed is that when I was going on vacation (8/1 - 8/7), I was told that they'd be contacting my references while I was gone and would call me with the next step on the 8th when I got back from vacation.

On the 8th, I got an e-mail saying, "Hey, if you're still interested, I'm going to call your references today. I'm going on vacation from the 10th to the 14th, and I'll contact you on the 15th or 16th with the next step.." So she hadn't done it yet. I said, "Sure, go ahead!"

Yesterday, I found out she has not yet checked my references. Or at least not all of them. I wouldn't mind the waiting so much if she didn't KEEP TELLING ME exactly when she was going to do these things, and then not following through. If she said, "I'll call your references sometime in the next couple weeks or so, and get back to you once I've done that," I'd understand. Oy. :)

Where in MIT did you work? I'm applying in Resource Development.

[roaming.livejournal.com]

She just got back from vacation? Well, you'd be surprised what she got hit with, it's doubtful she's getting out for lunch these past two days. And if she's not following through with all (but did check some?), that's a good indication that she's not perfect. No one wants to work with a perfect person who expects perfection. (Or worse, with my ex supervisor, who was very imperfect and hid it, expecting others to be even more perfect to make up for her mistakes.)

I really would email her with something new to add if you can, to let her know you're very interested still. Adding something rather than just saying "I'm still interested" feels more helpful and less pressuring. Don't want to make her feel guilty she's dropped the ball: you wanna let her know you'll help carry it. Maybe come up with another reference? Hmmmm, maybe lensman would pretend he knows you very well and can vouch for you, so you'd have an MIT ref? (He tends to be honest, and not a very good liar, so don't count on this but I'll ask him.)

I spent 18 years (eeeeeek!) being the Undergraduate Academic Administrator for the Literature Department, School of Humanities, bldg 14 (Humanities Library Building). Basically a glorified secretary with a title that means not much. I made sure our Course 21 majors took the classes they needed to for their degrees; harrassed the faculty into getting their book orders etc., in to me on time (never worked); answered phones, enquiries, etc as needed. It was a pretty cushy job, I spent a lot of time on LJ and the internet so I could look busy. :-) Before that I worked for the Chemical Engineering Dept head for a few years. Before that I worked at Harvard doing the same thing (secretary/admin ass't) for 12 years. Before that I lived in NYC where I was born and my last job was doing A*R for Elektra Records. Those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end. . . .

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm not surprised that I haven't heard from her yet. I'm just surprised she said, "I'm calling your references today" two days BEFORE she left, and didn't do it.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Oh, and my current boss is in the same department, but a different office, so she's being a reference for me.

[roaming.livejournal.com]

SO they know eachother, even if only by name/rank? I'd ask your current boss to ping her with a simple "You really should grab Laura."

So you work at MIT now? The world is getting so small I'd better go on a diet or none of us will fit!

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

I'm temping, currently, and my boss has totally been pimping me to the possible future boss! Current boss is leaving for another college on September 1, and really wants me to get a permanent job here in MIT's RD department because she likes me. She rocks.

[roaming.livejournal.com]

That may be why the RD person isn't checking: she's got all she needs to know from current boss, and checking other refs is just proforma, she may be too busy to go through the motions.

If this person the one you'd work directly for? Or for someone else you haven't met yet that she would set up an interview with?

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

She's the one I'd be working directly for. I had an informal interview with her, then a second interview with her, an interview with her boss, and an interview with the head of that office. Hey, maybe you're right. I know not everyone is as rabid about checking references as my old boss was. Then again, he was just rabid in general. Hence the quitting. :)

[roaming.livejournal.com]

You had ALL those interviews? Oh, baby, you are IN. They do NOT bother to do all that unless they are very serious. I bet on it.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

See my recent post. :)

Rob

[roaming.livejournal.com]

P.S. Yeh, when Rob lived here I considered him one of my best friends. (OMG! I can't remember how we met! CRS disease! Though I do vividly remember walking along Memorial Drive while he read his latest poem.) We've unfortunately lost personal touch: he moved, got a wife and kid and new life; I got a future husband. Of all the people I've let slip out of my life I miss him most.

Re: Rob

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Aww. I've only met him in person once, at the wedding of some mutual friends.

[roaming.livejournal.com]

btw, I've always really like the colors and readability of your LJ. I've just been too lazy to try and find out how to change colors in mine so I've left it at the usual LJ default. Besides, other colors I've seen make it hard to read, especially black letters on dark backgrounds. But this one of yours is really good looking, and very easy on the eyes :-)

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Oh, thanks. I find it easier most of the time to read light text on a dark background when it's on a computer screen, so I do that. By the way, mind if I add you to my friends list?

[roaming.livejournal.com]

You're very welcome to, I'll probably do the same. Seems we also know tisana, deadwinter in common, though I don't know them well enough to have 'em on my friends' list, like lensman does.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Cool! :)