Earlier this year (it seems long ago), I promised to provide updates on this year’s searches. That promise has proved more difficult to keep than I’d anticipated, as I’ve found it very difficult to discuss searches in a productive way while they are going on. We’ve now concluded three of our five projected searches, and restructured one of the others, so I have a little more latitude.
The three searches we’ve finished are in management, economics, and composition. The composition search was continued from last year, so it’s probably the most instructive with regard to what’s happening on the market in the current economic situation. As I’ve mentioned numerous times, we don’t always get pools as large as institutions in more obviously compelling locations. Last year in the composition search that was definitely true—we received around 40 applications. They were distributed as applications generally are: around half or more were between very good and outstanding. We brought three candidates to the campus, made one offer, and lost the other two candidates while waiting for our first choice, ultimately, to decline.
This year the search had over 90 applications by the time the committee started to evaluate them. They narrowed the field to around a dozen for phone interviews (they interviewed eight last year), and brought three to the campus. All three of the candidates were truly outstanding—we would, frankly, have been glad to hire any of them, and probably several more in the phone group as well. The conversation the search committee held about their work was inspiring and helped to clarify what appeared to us to be the best way to proceed. This year, our first offer was accepted.
In economics, the pool was much bigger—over 150 candidates. I was surprised by its size and quality. The committee spent considerable time evaluating this very large group of applications, and interviewed quite a few candidates by phone. However, we had much more trouble arranging for candidates to visit the campus in this search than we did in composition; I suspect that we were pursuing a number of the same candidates a lot of other institutions were interviewing, and when it came to a decision, rural northwest Iowa didn’t make the cut. Nevertheless, we brought two wonderful candidates to the campus, and were able to hire one of them.
Management was a different process, and one that I will discuss in the future.
So far this year, our faculty searches have, from an institutional standpoint, been much easier than they generally were last year. It was clear in my conversations with candidates that the market is significantly tighter, and has led candidates who might not otherwise think of coming to a university like ours in an out-of-the-way rural location to take a second look. While we almost always are able to hire outstanding potential colleagues, this year we were able to do so faster and with fewer obstacles.
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6 Responses to Recent Searches
raza_khan - March 10, 2010 at 8:55 pm
I am not sure as to the point of this article. This seems to be a standard at various colleges. Is there any value to this article that it is informing us of?The number of candidates for any position is always in flux. I would be more interested in hearing about innovative ideas of hiring process and changes in recruitment process such as advertising.
drpud - March 11, 2010 at 2:23 am
The point is that the current job market has made things easier and better for university administrators, or those responsible for attracting and hiring new faculty, and a great deal more difficult for applicants. Because of limited options, those who make into the pool of top-choice canidates invited to campus are now seriously considering and accepting positions they might have turned down in previous years due to location and other factors.
kimpt - March 11, 2010 at 11:26 am
drpud, I think you’ve hit it right on the money! Being in the pool of applicants for a lot of different colleges right now has been rough. A few friends of mine are also in the pool, and they are having a hard time, too. It might be easier for the institutions, but it is not easier for the applicants. I am thankful to the institutions that send out the “thanks, but no thanks” letters, because at least you know where you stand. I’ve tried calling some of the places that I’ve applied to, but no one returns my calls. I am frustrated, but remain optimistic. Although it would be nice to have several colleges fighting over you, all you need is 1 offer! :) To all those out there searching… keep your head up!
11161452 - March 11, 2010 at 9:43 pm
I have some questions for the author: with so few jobs for so many applicants, and many candidates applying for positions they don’t really want, are those applicants easy to spot during the screening process? Has anyone like that made it all the way to campus interview stage? Would you rule out an otherwise stellar candidate who seemed lukewarm about the position or institution?
map50210 - March 12, 2010 at 12:29 pm
More questions. I’m in the corporate world so-to-speak and in my world we are taught that after an interview we need to send thank you notes, call to see what the status is of a job decision. We’re supposed to call to see if you recieved our resume, etc. What is the etiquette in the academic world for job seekers? Do job seekers just send their resume’s in and wait or is it okay for applicants to call? Should an applicant send thank you notes after interviews? Thank you for responses.
tuxthepenguin - March 12, 2010 at 4:26 pm
@11161452: I’m not the author but can tell you my views, having been involved with many searches, with the disclaimer that this is only one person’s experience. I don’t see how an applicant with common sense has any difficulty hiding his preferences in the early stages. Once they’re on campus, they usually make mistakes. You ask what they think about living in the town, and they don’t answer. They ask questions about living in a town two hours away or talk about how often they could visit other places for the culture. They make dumb comments about how they view the job as a stepping stone. It’s usually easy to determine who actually wants the job.@map: It seems these days that everyone sends thank you notes, but I don’t think it has any influence at all, beyond indicating that you really do want the job.I don’t think you want to call, but it’s fine to send an email to check that everything has been receieved. I’ve done that. Some places even contact you if your application is incomplete. I would not bother the search committee but I have received inquiries myself about applications and was happy to respond.