next »

[Newbie interviewee]

I have had a number of phone conversations with faculty and department chair at a R-1 institution.  There is a temporary job open, one that is due to be a tenure-track next year. I've been offered the job and told that when the t-t search is started in the fall, I'd be welcome to apply.

AFter offering me the job verbally, it was decided that a face-to-face was necessary before making everything official.  Thus, I am off tomorrow morning for 7 hour visit.

My question is (yes, there IS a point to all of this!), when I'm there and asking questions, should I presume to ask questions about the future of the department, program, university, etc.? Or should I stick to assuming it's a one year job? I don't want it to seem that I'm assuming I'd be there for the long-haul, but on the other hand, I don't want to give the impression that I don't want to be there long term.

Any thoughts or ideas would be welcomed (ps. I'm in education, if that makes any difference...)

Newbie

[Untenured]

Hello newbie,

Good luck with the interview.  I would begin the interview day getting a feel for the interviewers.  Are they friendly?  How to they treat you... as a definite visitor or with someone who has potential?  They will probably tell you, directly or through non-verbal cues, whether or not you are a stopgap or a viable candidate.

Even so, I think its reasonable for ask about the long-term position and politely express your interest.  Respect that they have the discretion to choose someoone else, but you can still ask about the postion and its possibilites long-term.  You may want to ask what they are looking for in the long-term position and then in the future do your best to meet that goal.

Good luck!

Untenured

[careful]

Don't assume that just because they tell you there will be a tt next year, that there will actually be one, or that it will be in your area. It seems departments regularly use such pieces of "information" to get you to take a low-salary temporary job. Just about every place where I have been used some kind of promises and they were all VERY nice when they were interviewing me. Let's just say in one case the last person hired had been hired 12 years ago and they were in no position to make a hire any time soon. In another case I was told there would be a tt position and surely it would be easy for me to be hired - turned out it was not even in my field, not even close. Hard to believe that the department didn't know that when they talked to me. Internal politics may also make it impossible for you to switch to perm once you are in the department.

[helpful]

Find out, on your own, whether there is a faculty contract and if there is whether you will automatically get an interview for the t track position.

[similar]

My spouse had the identical situation. He asked questions about why they were hiring the position as a visiting one (someone is leaving to care for ailing family member), whether there was possibility for extension of the temporary position (only if they didn't hire a tt next year, which they planned on doing). He also asked if there had been precedent of a visiting being offered tt (there was a case). He was also invited to apply but given no guarentees, which makes sense, given they will want to open it up and have the flexibility of not interviewing him if it is not a good fit.

They were very forthright and understanding of all of his questions, knowing that he was also weighing his chances for success in the following year. Only one person reacted by saying but this is only a temporary position, and that was when he asked about what they considered for giving tenure. I still think that is a valid question because it tells you about what the department values. Maybe a better way to phrase it is how much emphasis they put on research versus teaching for successful profs or something like that.


Good luck!

[%sig%]

[Ugh]

This digresses somewhat from Newbie's question, but 2 things about this statement really bug me:

"I've been offered the job and told that when the t-t search is started in the fall, I'd be welcome to apply. "

1. As it's been mentioned before on previous posts, it is so sanctimonious for academics to tell others that they're "welcome to apply."  What bs.  Of course they are.  My grandma is welcome to apply as is my mail carrier, so?  That phrase irritates me so because it states the obvious.

2. From this statement, it sounds like a sham search might be in the works.  Well, that's good for you Newbie & I wish you well.  But that sucks for all of the other applicants who are going to apply for this position.  Sham searches are just a disgrace to the academy.  They really should be outlawed, but I don't know if that's possible.  Any thoughts or recommendations?

[naive]

Can anyone tell me if they knew that there was supposed to be a "vengeance factor" at work when you apply for a position at a university you once left of your own free will? I'm currently adjuncting at the first university I taught at in the 90s. I thought I was cool and could get any job I wanted, so I moved to another university, then another, and then another. Things have not gone well --to make a long story short-- and I wanted my first job back. Okay! I realized it would not be easy and I did not expect it to be. But after applying for two positions unsuccessfully (the first a full-time, tenure-track position and the second a full-time, temporary position to fill in for one year) I called & had a conversation with the Dean. She informed me that she would never hire me back (not in so many words, but her meaning was clear) because I had left, and NOW I WANTED TO COME BACK!! Is that a felony? Is it a capital sin? Was I naive in even thinking it could be otherwise? My sister who works in the business world tells me that she rehires people all the time that have left and gone elsewhere, seeking greener pastures, only to realize they were happy in their first job in the first place, and reapplied for their old position. She says she is usually happy to get them back. Should I have known that there is some sort of "vengeance factor" at work in academia and that it was ridiculous of me to even entertain the idea of getting my old job back?

[Dr. Zarkov]

Some people are into the loyalty game, which is rather childish, IMHO.

But some businesses do indeed hire people back all the time, and even tell people leaving to come back if things don't work out.  The logic is that it is much easier for the re-hires to get up to speed.

[Search Committee Member]

Is your c.v. markedly better than it was when you left? Have you added publications? Teaching areas? Won awards? If not -- and regardless of why you left, and whether people are being childish -- it's unlikely that any college will hire a full-time faculty member who is 10+ years beyond terminal degree and is still not any more accomplished than someone who is fresh out of grad school.

The other question, of course, is: would you even have been rehired at the point when you left? Did you leave suddenly? Leave after telling people you were fed up with the school and the students? Leave saying how happy you were to be going to a better place? All of these things would weigh heavily against wanting you back, even as an adjunct, much less as a full-time faculty member.