Tuesday 5th July

Interview - Day 2

The only item on the agenda is my 2.15pm interview.

I spend the morning practising my 5 minute presentation on how I will sustain the Christian presence in the community.

Travelling the 50 miles to the interview, I allow plenty of time for delays and duly arrive half an hour before.
Knowing the area well, I find a lay-by where I can just sit and close my eyes for a moment or two. It's not possible to relax completely because I imagine having gone to the trouble to arrive in a timely fashion, waking up and discovering that I am already 5 minutes into my interview slot.

The moment arrives. I park the car and walk in the rain to the Parish Hall. Why is it raining I wonder? Is it raining just for me, or did everyone else have to arrive with wet hair too?

After a short wait, I am led into the torture cham - I mean Interview Room and am asked to begin with my presentation. My presentation uses a bowl of fruit that double as 'the Fruits of the Spirit' and a list of the attributes I bring and the gifts that will be stirred under my possible tenure. Having been a Primary school Teacher, I begin with the words, 'Well, I have been doing some shopping!' and produce two plastic bags filled with my props. The look of horror on the faces of the Panel suggest that no one else has taken this approach. Suddenly, I stumble and begin to flounder as I make heavy work of what had been a crisp presentation.

Then the questions. None too taxing as I had found a suggested list of 'Questions to ask Candidates' in a pile of papers that a former churchwarden , who had interviewed me previously, had given me.

I begin to regain my confidence , but it is a false dawn, as I look round and notice that one of the interviewers is drifting in and out of consciousness. He is clearly not listening to anything I have to say. If the assembled worthies had known how one's confidence is knocked when you are both booted out of a job and unemployed , they would have been more attentive. What was most disturbing was that the Chairman did nothing to wake up the offender , the many hours I had spent planning and rehearsing came to nothing.

The interview draws to a halt . I did my best, but I am not sure of the outcome