Job in Chicago

So I've had a whirlwind week sort of, starting with last Friday when I had a phone interview at a trade association in Chicago. That was actually my second phone interview there. It went pretty well and they called late Friday afternoon to set up a time for me to come there in person. Well, to tell me when to come, because it honestly didn't seem like I had much say in the matter. After setting up a time, though, I soon realized that to go there Thursday like they wanted was going to be a lot more expensive and likely a lot more hassle for me than if I could reschedule it for earlier in the week or the following week. Finally, late Monday afternoon they gave me the go-ahead to come in Wednesday instead. So I got up at about 4:30am Weds. to fly to Chicago for a 9am interview and then flew directly home again afterwards!

In Chicago, the interview went okay. I met with the two people with whom I had already phone interviewed plus a new person (some VP) and also got a tour of the office, a tour of the library, and was taken out to breakfast at the apparently extremely famous Lou Mitchell's. It seemed to go well, at least for the first three hours. I was pretty exhausted and had a splitting headache by the time noon rolled around and I finally met with the VP. I found her kind of annoying in ways I can't really describe. Also, she seemed to want me to jump on the table and scream with excitement, "I LOVE it here! This is exactly what I want!!" which I wasn't about to do. For one thing, I'm not that kind of person and also, I just don't feel that way about this job.

I think the job would be okay and it's better than half of the other things I've interviewed for, but I couldn't say I would be excited to work there, no. It would be more me just biding time until I could find something better. I do think I would be picking up some good skills for my resume for the next job I might want to find, so it could be useful. And, I do think I would get along well with the other librarian so that's a plus. However, the prospect of moving to Chicago is less than desirable to me. While there are definitely worse places to live, there are also a few places I would be a lot more excited about. If the job was really cool, I think Chicago would look more desirable to me but the combination of the two has me less than enthused. Chicago is a lot more expensive than I thought and while I know their public transportation system is pretty exhaustive, it's also difficult to understand and find your way around. It took me a long time to get any useful information from their outdated, unfriendly Web sites and the few people I conversed with while there - lifelong Chicagoans! - seemed equally perplexed by it all. So, if it doesn't even become clearer once you live there, how encouraging is that to me?

Overall, I think they really liked me. They called yesterday while I was out to possibly make an offer. Although I do think they sensed my reluctance and that might mean they chose to go with someone else. I have yet to hear back from them today so I'm just waiting. I have no idea what I'd do if they did indeed make an offer but it would probably depend a LOT on the offer that was made and their explanation of the benefits. The brief explanation of benefits I got makes me think they are really less than ideal.