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Maxson
remembers CSULB job interview
By Terran C.
Odell
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer
For President Robert C. Maxson the application process for the position of president
at Cal State Long Beach was no walk in the park.
According to Colleen Bentley-Adler, director of public affairs for the California
State Univesity system, typically and historically within the system, the search
for a president starts with more than 80 applicants and nominees.
A search committee is chosen to narrow the number down to about eight or 10 applicants,
and three to five will be announced publicly to visit the university to meet
with faculty and students. The six-month process finally ends with an interview
with the Board of Trustees and the CSU chancellor.
When CSULB needed a new president in 1994, Maxson was in search of a job after
leaving University of Nevada, Las Vegas. At the time, he was also considering
positions at the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas at Dallas.
But after visiting CSULB, Maxson chose Long Beach.
“
I told my wife that this is where I wanted to be. I loved the feel of
the place,” he said. “But I took a chance here. I pulled out of those
other two before I knew what was going to happen here.”
Maxson had a two-hour interview at the airport with the search committee after
which he was invited to come to the campus. But the biggest part of the process
was the final interview with the CSU chancellor and Board of Trustees.
“
I had two hours to convince them that I was the right person for the job,” Maxson
said.
During the interview, he was asked everything from his thoughts on athletics
to his philosophies of being president. They wanted to know what type of president
he would be.
Maxson said the one question that stood out during the interview was when he
was asked what his priorities would be. Maxson said his priority would be the
students.
“
I think they liked that philosophy, the philosophy that students would be first
in everything that we did,” Maxson said.
Maxson said he was not nervous during the interview, but instead was excited.
“
It was nervous energy. I had a lot at stake; there was a lot riding on
that interview,” he said.
Bentley-Adler who sat in on the presidential searches, said, “I remember
being impressed and the committee was too. He was well composed and well prepared,” she
said.
After the interview Maxson said he felt all had gone well.
“
I felt good, and an hour after the interview they offered me the job,” he
said.
Maxson accepted the job on the spot. For the past 11 years, Maxson has followed
the priorities he set during his presidential interview and has consequently
come to be admired by many students.
Maxson’s success with interviews in the past can be attributed to his ideas
on what one should do during an interview.
“
Do your homework and know so much about that company or organization,” he
said. “Know everything about it so you don’t unintentionally mess
up.”
Maxson’s final word of advice regarding interviews is to be oneself, be
honest and not to talk too much.
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