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[Doug E Fresh]

http://chronicle.com/jobs/2006/01/2006010501c.htm

Today’s First Person column had more resonance for me than I care to admit.  I suppose we have all been there.  Is there a solution?  As near as I can tell there is no incentive to end these phony searches.  

• Young faculty members will always participate in these searches for the experience it provides; they can add this “service” to their tenure/promotion files; they get the benefit of going to dinner on the school’s dime; and generally learn a little bit about the workings of higher ed and their own campus in particular.

•  Mid-level administrators will always participate in these searches in part because they have to; doing so makes them look like good campus citizens; it makes a favorable impression on the boss; it allows them to network with other people on campus; they get to dine on the school’s dime; and most importantly it provides experience for their own future job searches (“So, THAT’S  what my resume should look like!”)

•  Senior administrators will always participate in these searches because they, most often, participate in name only; the heavy lifting is performed by the search consultant and/or other committee members; they can claim the title of good campus citizen; they get to dine on the school’s dime at their favorite eatery; people suck up to them and otherwise feed their ego; if it proves to be a good hire they can claim credit, if it proves to be a bad hire they can blame the search consultant.

I’m sure I speak for all job seekers when I say, I would rather have a small pool of real jobs to apply for than a large pool diluted with phony jobs that usually have a preordained outcome.  Alas, I see no end to faux searches.

[Been there, done that]

I was amazed and depressed by the article on faux searches, because it mirrored several incidents I had in my own interview experiences. Although I was applying for entry-level TT jobs, the general lack of regard for candidates is eerily similar. It just goes to show that poor behavior from search committees and administrators happen on seaches of all levels. Here are a few examples of my experiences:
1) At one school (in a tiny southern town), I was told that a student group would meet me outside building X for lunch in the student union. They never showed up, so I was forced to navigate my way to a local fast food joint to scarf down a greasy lunch in 10 minutes before my teaching demo, research talk, and meeting with the search committee (the fast food joint was the only restaurant close by). The place did not have a non-smoking section, so I had to give my demo and attend the meeting reeking of cigarettes and greasy fries.
2) At another school (in the Midwest), I was told that a rental car would await me and that I should drive myself from the airport to the campus; this by itself is incredibly rude, especially for someone who does not know the area and is as prone to getting lost as I am. Once there, I was instructed to go to the campus police for a key to the university-owned B & B where I would be staying. Despite what I had been told prior to the interview, the police were gone for the day, so I spent hours trying to find someone to help me. Keep in mind that it was Sunday, and no one was on campus, and I had never been to the town, or even the state, before. I did finally manage to locate an officer with a key, but by that point I almost drove the car back to the airport and took the next flight home.
3) At a third school (in the South), the basic interview was over by 4 pm, and the chair of the committee obviously wanted to get home. So s/he took me to a terrible restaurant at 4:15 pm, and we were the only two people there. The food came quickly and s/he had me back at the hotel by 5 pm where I spent the rest of the evening doing nothing. It was very obvious that s/he did not really care whether I would be the right person for the job, because all s/he wated to do was to get the interview over with and get home. I was actually offered the job there and did accept, but only because it was a highly competitive year and I was desperate. After two years, I managed to escape!
 These are only a few examples. Now that I am a frequent member of search committees, I try to be as hospitable as possible, at least with those things that are within my control. The little things make a huge difference in how the candidate views the institution.

[elsie]

I have sat on a few search committees very recently and i was surpirsed by one cover etter that outrightly said, "if there is an internal candidate, I do not wish to apply. These types of searches always end badly..."

I was impressed by the letter's candor and even though the person was a bit less experienced than sme of the other applicants, we invited the person on campus for an interview. We figured the person had a good sense of administrative culture and might be worth interviewing (and gutsy too!)