Historiological Notes

Job and identity

I have got a job.

Yes, really.

A proper one. Working with historical archives.

I started today and it is wonderful. I was quite tired of temp working, although it was interesting getting to know different places and people.

Being new, I got a tour of the place and was introduced to so many that I only remember half of the names. However, what has stuck to me for the whole day, was a comment I received early in the day. I had to have my picture taken for an ID-card and the man asked if I thought the picture was alright. It could have been worse, so I smiled and said it was fine, but my hair looks a bit messy. And without any irony he just says: "Well, you look just like an archivist, don't you?"

So finally I am no longer a student, no longer unemployed, no longer a temp worker, but have been identified as an archivist...

Would you like to visit?

As I have neglected to blog, I have also neglected to tell my readers off my great fortune. In February I spotted an ad for a job at the Palace here in Oslo. And I though, would it not be lovely to work in such a place? I applied, and I got an interview (only staff,no royals...). And about a month a go I got the job. I was extremely delighted.

The position is in the museum department and as the Palace is open to visitors only in the summer, the job is only for two months. A large part of the work will be guiding and many have told me they would love to come and visit me at work and attend my tour. If you will not be in Oslo this summer, you can take the virtual tour at the Palace homepage.

They were looking for historians and art historians for this job. I have been asked to read to rather large books and I will be given even more on Monday when I am going there for a meeting. As I have not opened books for a while, I have quite a lot of reading to do in a few days. But at least the books have got many pictures in them...

I have thought a bit on the topic of the historiography of books on the Palace. So far I have one book from 1973 and one from 1998. They look quite different. As I have not read them yet, only browsed through the picture pages I can only write about my first impression. The 1998 book is rather glossy and divided into chapters on changes done under each monarch. I am afraid it might be rather shallow in its approach, but at least that means a quick read. The 1973 one is a massive book, as in coffee-table-book -size, and looks as heavy in contents as it is in weight. It has a lot of architectural maps and seems to be primarily on the building, but I believe it also includes information on art works. The 1998 book seems to have been written for the general public, but I am not sure about the 1973 one. At first glance it looks academic, but reflecting on the price, the marked can only be libraries and people who are very, very interested. I will write more on this when I have read the books.

Letting a deadline go

My ambition the last years have been to get a PhD-scholarship at the University of Oslo. This years deadline is approaching with tremendous speed. By the 7th of April one has to find a supervisor, filling out the eight pages application and finish writing the ten page research proposal. That is, if one is to submit an application.

In some ways I made the decision not to apply two months ago, when I found out I did not have the time and energy to write a new research proposal. But somehow I suppose I have had a hope that a stroke of genius might appear. I have been given the advice to submit last year's application again, but during the last week I have been informed that it is the same committee as last year, so this strengthen my decision  not to stress bother about this deadline.

Making this decision, is not the same as giving up the idea of a PhD scholarship, just postponing it. It is a season for everything, and perhaps I need some time to find some fresh, exciting ideas to look at. Perhaps I will find somewhere else I really want to go, someone else I really want to work with or something completely different to work on.

I feel a certain calmness about letting this deadline go, and it has been a while since I have felt a harmony coming out of my decisions. It is lovely, for once, not being stressed by a deadline.

Good luck or bad luck?

I have just made a phone call to ask about the job I was interviewed for a month ago and it has been confirmed - as I suspected - that the job have been offered to someone else.

From inside information I know that this is a well qualified person, so I feel the decision is fair. However, I do not think it is fair that I had to make the phone call (I have tried for some days without getting through) when they told me that they were going to contact me about the decision one week after the interview. From my insider I have also hear of other problems in the administration, so if I had another job to go to this might not have been my first choice. Thus, good luck to the other candidate.

By the end of the week

In the interview last week I was told that they were going to make a decision by the end of this week. When I am I supposed to get an answer?

Through a friend I know that they have been doing interviews this week as well as they are looking for people for many positions, and that they are seldom on schedule for making a decision. As my advice from the career service office told me, I sent them an email on Monday thanking them for the interview and asking some further questions (I was asked in the interview have further contact with them on email rather than call them) and I have not received an answer to this email.

I'll just have to wait.

Well...

Everything is an experience, and can be taken as a good one. I do not feel I did my best at the interview today. I was taken by the name your strong and week sides question, even though I expected it. Neither was I able to say something in my favour when I understood that the interviewer was hoping I had more experience than offered in my CV. Well...

Interview

I got a nice email today telling me I have an interview for a job next Wednesday. I first god worried as the time collided with a class I am teaching and I neither wanted to turn my interview down nor let my class down. A fried of mine suggested I should go to the career service office to ask them what to do - to learn what is comme il faux when it comes to job interviews.

This turned out to be a good idea. I was told to reply that the time was a bit problematic as it collided with my teaching obligations, but if they were not able to find another suitable time I would rearrange my teaching. I learned that you should never turn an interview down, you should be humble and value their time.The man at the career service said that if I were lucky they would value my loyalty to my present employer.

I wrote an email as nice as possible and when they suggested postponing the interview a few hours, I thanked them. Fingers crossed for Wednesday.

Maybe a job

I saw a notice on the University's Career Service notice board today that a primary teacher not too far from my flat needed a teacher for the last two months of the semester. I gave them a call and I am up for an interview tomorrow morning. The possitisin is for someone who can teach English to fourteen and fifteen year olds (and help some students in Maths). I have never done English or Maths at university level and I have not done any teacher training, but I am quite optimistic as they seemed quite desperate to fill the possition.

So, why should I want this job? From job adverticements I understand that I need relevant experience, and I suppose working as a teacher is more relevant for the kind of job that I would eventually want, than working as a shop assistant. Secondly, I have two months to fill before I will get the papers that I am allowed to graduate (I suppose those papers will help me when applying for work) and I feel it would be interesting to try teaching. And thirdly, It would be nice to earn some money.

One of the first thought I had when I understood that I am off to an interview, I had some ideas of a romantic teacher experience inspired by L. M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables character (a childhood favourite of mine). However, it soon occured to me that a large secondary school in suburban Oslo might not be the same as a village school in 1890s rural Canada... I will see what the school is like tomorrow and whether they want me or not.

More PhD funding

Because Norway only has six universities I have always assumed that there are few PhD research positions. It would just be too amazing if each university had loads of money to give away to PhD research.

However, today I find that Forum for Contemporary History at the University of Oslo has been given much funding and now can advertise 5 PhD grants. Each of the five positions have a very narrow field of research - all are within the project Norway as a peace nation - so I suppose there is limited how many that can be interested in applying. Still I am pleased to find PhD positions being advertised as it must mean that there are money for research and that there might be a project worthy my interest in the near future.

I wonder if I can turn my interest to any of these projects. The application deadline is 10th May.

Unemployment

I have registered as an unemployed person today. Not because I believe that the government will find me the perfect job, but because it gives advantages to my student loan.

It feels strange as I do not want to belong to the category or unemployed. Most people at the registry office seemed to have been there many times before and few of them seemed to have any higher education - quite a few of them were not able to fill in an on-line form. And many seemed more interested in getting money from the government than getting a job. I do want to have something interesting to do and I have problems accepting that attitude.

I hope my period as unemplyed will be a short one.