Too Good to Be True?

Spring break is gone and the semester is starting to wind down toward graduation. A few unexpected positions are popping loose for rushed searches.

Last-minute searches often produce very strong hires, but sometimes an interesting phenomenon occurs with these searches: the applicant whose CV looks too good to be true. Ph.D. in hand. Strong start to the research agenda. Good teaching experiences. Somehow, however, the candidate has made it through the heart of the hiring season without landing a position. Some search committees all but refuse to interview such an applicant because they assumed that the person was weird or anti-social. Then again, I’ve heard of many last-minute hires who really were as good as they looked on paper.

How can we figure out if a person is too good to be true or is just plain good?