Only a few people know this, but over the last 6 weeks I\u2019ve been undergoing a very intensive job interview process with the New Yorker Magazine. It was for the position of Fiction Editor and over the course of this time I\u2019ve had a total of 6 different interviews. Each one was scary, funny, overwhelming, thrilling and surreal. The very last one took place on Tuesday, the same day that Rachelle and our dog Heidi, both had surgery. I was incredibly stressed-out and exhausted, and completely thrown by the format, which was a kind of a showdown with myself and the other final candidate sitting before a panel of 4 senior staff members. The woman I was up against, Cressida Leyshon, has served as the magazine\u2019s Deputy Fiction Editor for the last 5 years and seemed to know everybody on the panel really well.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n What follows is a partial transcript of our final interview:<\/p>\n Pointy Headed man wearing a bowtie: Cressida, that\u2019s a beautiful blouse you\u2019re wearing!<\/p>\n Pale woman with small teeth: I love it, too! It brings out that beautiful auburn in your hair, Cressie!<\/p>\n Cressida: Oh, thank you both, that\u2019s so sweet, but I have to say I can\u2019t take any credit for it.\u00a0 It was a gift from Roger Federer for that feature I wrote on him that won the National Magazine Award!<\/p>\n