Being interviewed is hard. Interviewing is even harder.

A person being interviewed must create the right image in such a short time. Is the outfit right? Is the body language right? Are the answers right? Even those who exude confidence either have a few self-doubts or are missing something.

Interviewing, however, has even more pitfalls. Sure, it�s easy enough to ask the questions. In modern governmental interviews, thinking up the questions is no problem at all. They are pre-selected and printed up and the interviewers use the same questions for each interview on the theory that it is the only way to assess all candidates against a similar yardstick. Never mind that it means that sometimes the really important questions do not get asked.

No, the hard part is not the questions. The hard part is the decision making, particularly if hiring is by committee or by school board. The �absolutely nots� are easy to distinguish. They often can be distinguished within the first five or ten minutes, leaving staying awake and appearing interested the most difficult task for the other thirty minutes or so of the interview. The �only if I have no other choices� also are not particularly difficult to sort out. It�s the top two or three candidates that are tricky to sort out.

In one sense, having several qualified candidates who can do the job is comforting. If a school board is really lucky, all the members can feel that whoever is chosen will work out. In another sense, it makes the decision longer and more fraught with political pitfalls. When the question shifts from a good fit to the best fit, visions are involved. Much as people on a relatively harmonious school board like to think that they share a vision, shared visions are more easily imagined in broad pictures than in small details such as style.

As a former teacher, I know that a good principal leads a school and sets a tone. A mediocre principal doesn�t interfere with the good things or help rid the system of the bad things much. Only a relatively good school can afford a mediocre principal. A bad principal....well, what happens when a bad principal is in charge is not pretty.

So, please, a little prayer for the interviewers.

LAST YEAR: The Circus Parade

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Copyright 2006 by Ellen