By now, you've probably visited the various job-search Web sites, and you may have found useful leads there. The World Wide Web and e-mail are making significant changes in the search process for senior administrators, both for candidates and for search committees. Some changes simply make various tasks easier, while others add new opportunities and new threats. Here's what you need to know:
Web sites provide easier access to more information that candidates need.
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Candidates who checked an institution's Web site before an interview used to earn special credit in the eyes of the search committee for showing real creativity and initiative. Now, a Web-site review is expected. Candidates should consider the campus Web site a basic institutional document and required reading before even submitting a résumé.
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Special Web pages for searches are increasingly common and may contain everything from a list of search-committee members to the minutes of committee meetings. Again, this is required reading for a candidate. Finding these sites may take extra effort since some committees prefer not to have students or other visitors to the site come upon this insider information by accident, even though technically the information may all be public.
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Candidates who subscribe to The Chronicle have access to its job ads even before the print version is delivered, and the ads are organized better for those interested in particular types of positions.
Web sites provide easier access to more information that search committees need.
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Although search committees don't all draw upon it, the Web holds a great deal of information for them, too. Searching for a candidate's name on the Web can yield unexpected information -- for better or worse! If most members of the committee are not electronically sophisticated, there may be student members eager to do the sleuthing, or a search consultant can help with this.
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Lexis-Nexis searches of newspapers yield information about a candidate's public life as it appears in newspapers, although small-town and campus newspapers are rarely included.
Electronic submission of candidate materials can vastly simplify the process by which candidates apply, and by which search committees respond to them, but it has risks.
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Candidates who would otherwise have to struggle to pack, weigh, stamp, and get their materials to the post office or express-mail service now can submit them with a few clicks. However, there are risks in this approach. Formatting is often disrupted in e-mail versions, and this can make your résumé less visually attractive. Your letterhead may not be able to be transmitted. Attachments may be difficult for some recipients to open. Viruses can delay or disrupt transmission. But on balance, electronic submission is a boon, and more searches are encouraging it.
The internal work of the search committee can be improved and made much easier.
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Search committees that can establish an electronic mailing list or other form of discussion group can help their members communicate with each other much more easily between meetings. The mailing list can be used for debating difficult issues (are we looking for a president whose primary role will be to strengthen fund raising and community relations, or to raise the level of academic excellence within the institution?) or for circulating last-minute information (three new files have been received in the search office and should be reviewed before tomorrow's meeting).
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If committees are comfortable with security issues, candidate files may be circulated electronically. Most committees that I have worked with, however, are not comfortable with this, since maintaining the confidentiality of their candidates is a very high priority.
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As committees seek to keep their campuses informed about the search process, a regular update posted on the Web site or sent by e-mail can simplify communication. These electronic approaches also make it easier to notify everyone at once, reducing the concern about who was the first to learn the names of the finalists and other prized pieces of information.
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When candidates are brought to campus, full C.V.'s or summary bios can be put on the Web site. Responses from faculty and staff members, students, and others can be sent via e-mail and circulated easily to the full committee.
Some references can be reached more easily by e-mail, especially when they are traveling.
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Most committees would rather receive references verbally, but if that isn't possible, it's good to have e-mail as a backup. References who are traveling and unable to provide a telephone number may still be checking their e-mail.
Once the news is public, it's very public!
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Candidates and committees need to be aware that, once search information has appeared on the Web, it will be out of their control. This means that once the campus-visit schedule is announced, people on the candidate's home campus will know about it almost immediately. Thus, candidates are well advised to notify key people (supervisor, close colleagues) before they permit the search committee to announce that they are candidates.
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Search committees need to remember that the candidates who are not being pursued at the final stage of a search should not learn about this by seeing that their names aren't on the interview list on the Web site. It's very easy to overlook this step at the last minute in the rush to announce the interviews, but every effort should be made to protect those who were willing to allow themselves to be considered, but were ultimately unsuccessful.
In our searches at A.T. Kearney, we are always looking for ways to take fullest advantage of electronic resources while not losing the personal connection of conversation. I'm sure there are many other strategies that will emerge in the months ahead, and I'd be interested in effective approaches that others have discovered. You can send your comments to movingup@chronicle.com
