the post-job-interview mental acrobatics

Remember that job I mentioned I applied for a while back, the general assignment reporting gig with a daily newspaper?

Clearly I'm going to need to be more specific.

Today I interviewed with The Kentucky New Era, a Monday through Saturday daily in Hopkinsville, Ky., with a circulation of about 10,000. The position is general assignment reporting, but will focus largely on the education beat. I spent most of the weekend up to my ears in testing results and education legislation to prepare, and I feel like the work paid off.

Of course I don't know anything for sure at this stage -- and actually, the editor is still trying to pull some strings to get me down to Hopkinsville for a face-to-face -- but the excitement has nonetheless set in. I think I nailed the interview, though it's always hard to get a full grasp on the kind of impression you make by phone. We had a great conversation and in the end I feel even more passionate about landing this job than I did when I first answered my phone this afternoon. It sounds like The New Era is a place where I will really be able to grow as a reporter. Not only by doing something I've never done before in covering education, but in allowing me to explore different projects and leads and create a diverse set of clips that will be the foundation for the rest of my career.

I actually talked a lot about blogging during the interview, because creating a blog presence is one of my biggest ideas for how to revitalize the paper's education coverage. Talking about the blogosphere made me realize just how passionate I've become about this little medium, and just how much I believe in its ability to make newspapers stronger, not drive them into the ground.

After we got off the phone of course my mind went into a logistical tail spin, trying to think of everything that would need to be done before the job starts, how I'd get it done, moving, cars, apartments, boxes, BLERG. And then I slapped myself and stuck my face in a bucket of ice and said GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF, MAN. I tend to try to race across bridges before they actually appear in front of me. It's a good way to drown. Theoretically speaking, of course.

So, Internet, keep your fingers crossed. I'm confident and optimistic and looking forward to being a Southern girl again very soon -- here's hoping that this will be the job that allows me to do that.

cheers y'all,
elizabeth