Why It Pays to Cast a Wide Net

Thanks to Chad Orzel for pointing out Abel Pharmboy’s excellent post at Terra Sigillata on why job seekers should cast as wide a net as possible, even if …

1. they don’t feel they meet the job description in the ad

2. the job is at a “lesser” institution or department

3. the job is in a place (they think) they’d never want to live

4. they’d feel bad about turning down a position at a place they know they’d never want to be.

Here are some highlights.

You can’t say you dislike a place if you’ve never been there:

The beauty of this business is that it can take you to places you never thought you’d be and expand your mind and life experiences. I’ve lived in several places I never thought I’d consider, but that’s where the job offers were.

If you end up not liking the place, it’s OK to say “Thanks, but no thanks,” he concludes.

Any department where I’ve been would certainly not want to make the investment in an assistant professor who wasn’t happy when we could bring in someone else who was passionate and driven about being offered the opportunity.

Read the whole post.