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[newbie]

Hi everyone,

I have been navigating this forum for about a year, but this is my first posting as I have never had any experiences or immediate questions I  felt were worthy of posting.

However, I received a phone call last week inviting me to a campus interview!  At first I was excited, but now only feel anxiety about the process.

Could you please give me advice on what to expect during the interview.  What type questions should I prepare for.  Also, should I prepare for a teaching demo?  I know I should have asked, but I am green and have made rookie mistakes!

Thanks in advance for your advice!!!

[been there]

You might want to email the search committee member who called you and ask for an agenda, especially if it's an all day or two day interview.  If they want you to give a seminar/teaching demo/teaching talk, they'll tell you then.

If you've only recently graduated or are still in school, you might be able to set up a practice interview with your uni's career service.  I did this and they were actually far better than I was expecting.  Your supervisor or other members of your dept might also be willing to conduct a practice interview with you.

In terms of preparing for questions, someone suggested the following exercise to me, which was really useful:

1) Write down all of the difficult interview questions you can think of.  If you're thinking 'I hope they don't ask me XX', XX needs to be on the list.  Get friends or advisors to contribute to the list.  

2)  Figure out what you would say to each of them, and write it down.  If you've got a pseudo-canned set of responses to a wide variety of tough questions, chances are won't get caught completely flat footed.  This also helps in figuring out what overall 'message' you're trying to get across.

Finally, if you're to give a job talk, start preparing it right now - the more time you spend on it the better.   Practice it as many times and in front of as many different people as possible and get their input.   Make sure to ask for and use any constructive negative feedback people may have.

Good luck.

[Thundering Marshmallow]

If you have been navigating these boards for a year, you know how to use the 'search' function so you can find many many helpful responses to similar questions. However, it is a fresh concern, and your context is a bit different. This is kind of late in the year, and for whatever reason they are getting around to inviting you to campus. Congratulations making it this far!

They will be sending you an agenda, and it will typically include, in no strict order depending on the time available for each, time spent with each stakeholder group, i.e.,  informal meal times with administrative individuals and small groups of faculty and/orstudents. These meetings will range in formality from a casual chatfest to a structured interview with printed questions.

In descending order of decision-making power:
* the dean or somebody higher ranking than the department (who will technically be the one to offer a position based on the recommendation of the search committee), typically a half hour to an hour of faux informality in his or her office. You'll be asked personal decision-making questions regarding why you want to leave your present place, why you want to come TO that place, and what your concerns might be. This is a reality check to see what kind of heart beats behind the CV, which the dean will already have read. It's a time to float service possibilities that are of interest to an administrator, i.e., experience on committees or developing programs. It's a time to show that you have done your homework, finding out what is going on at the school level. You will be asked if you have any questions and you should, i.e., what the dean's vision is for the future of the department. You may be asked if you would seriously accept an offer if it were extended. This does not imply that they are going to make you an offer. They are sjust trying to be efficient and they know people sometimes decide against a place once visited.

*the chair of the department within the school to which the position is assigned. This is often when you will be mostly listening to what the chair's idea of the position is. It's your opportunity to pick up cues about what the chair is trying to fix by hiring you. Its also the time to show you did your homework regarding the programs so you can suggest which courses you are already qualified to teach and how you see yourself contributing to the staffing of the department.

*The search committee will probably see you in various combinations, i.e., picking you up from the hotel (or on campus center/dorm) for breakfast, taking you on a tour of the campus, meeting you for dinner, but also as a formal group meeting, typically around a conference center. Often they have a list of a dozen questions that they take turns asking so that all the candidates have a similar opportunity to respond. They will touch on the big three areas of an academic job: your teaching experience and philosophy, your scholarship experience and agenda, and your service experience and interests. IT will probably include a few scenarios that are teaching-related, i.e., how to handle typical problems such as poor writing quality. They will often ask questions related to the innovation du jour, i.e., online teaching or performance assessment. In hard sciences they will probably be knowledgeable about your publications and expect you to have researched theirs as well. IT's your chance to show you did your homework on the faculty and their current projects.

*There are sometimes open forum sessions for faculty and/or students to stop by and chat; these are typically not well-attended although they are enticed by refreshments. This is your opportunity to demonstrate a confident and pleasantly outgoing manner that will welcome collaboration because you show such interest and curiosity in your surroundings. This is your opportunity to observe how busy they are and take an interest in what makes them so busy. Don't expect to drink or snack much as you field questions.

*There is usually a teaching demonstration and/or a research presentation. The teaching demonstration is typically a matter of visiting an existing class session and holding forth for half an hour to an hour on a topic suggested by the instructor. It will often be a course aligned with the position open. It is reasonable to ask the administrative assistant for a copy of the syllabus so you can understand the context of the session and you can prepare to disuss the elements of it knowledgeably when asked about your own syllabus development. It is reasonable to ask how many students and what the configuration of the room is, i.e., desks, tables, theatre auditorium. IT is reasonable to ask what technology is available in the room, i.e., computer and projector, so you can decide whther to inflice some PowerPoint abuse.

*The research demonstration is like a presentation at a conference. They may allow half an hour or an hour. Either way, a 20-25 min. presentation is more than enough, allowing questions afterwards. This is usually been promoted to all faculty but rarerly6 are many more than the search committee present. You can expect questions on the methodoology of your research, the number of presentations and publicaitns you have drawn from the study, and the continuing agenda. You can expect to be asked how your research ties into your teaching. You can also expect questions on any topic somewhat related to the postion, not just the research you presented. In some fields it is conventional to prpovide handouts, others tend to have just the abstract or a full paper, and still hothers have nothing but their talking points projected. This is your opportunity to demonstrate that you are qualified and motivated to be productive and independent.

*Finally, you can expect to be on good speaking terms with the administrative assistant who arranged your travel and lodging. First name basis, even. Be thoughtful, prompt, courteous, and before sending any messages, reread all correspondence, every word of it, to avoid appearing impulsive or needy. Your goal is to be independent, reliable, productive, collegial. Be very clear about the reimbursement procedure, and when in doubt, let them make the arrangements and send you tickets rather than hassling with reimbursements.

*The search committee and anyone interested who was unable to attend the research presentation will usually go out to dinner with you. You'll be asked what you want to eat, and you will off course choose something moderately priced and you will decline all alcohol. If every single other person is having wine, you can indulge but leave half the glass empty. Don't order coffee or dessert unless others do first. Ths is your opportunity to be primarily a fun cheap date but ultimately an inoffensive neighbor.

Good luck, carry breath mints and a nailfile, and remember the cardinal rule of interviewing: there are only reasons to be drawn to the new place, never any negative reasons to leave the old place, however hellish. You don't want to seem like a malcontent nor to abuse their attention.

This may not be what you were asking, Newbie but it's what occurs to me off the top of my head regarding the day of interviews, given that every single institution is slightly different, as is each field. Sorry to sound so cautionary, but again, that's what occurs to me today.

[Oh boy]

Oh yes, When I think "high maintenance," I immediately think of people who want a 50 to 75 cent coffee after a meal. And when I think of how to best to get people to relax, I tell them to worry to a near-anal extreme about such questions as, "Everyone else is drinking wine, and I'm an adult, should I have any?"

Waiting until others order wine I can understand, and not overdoing it with the alcohol is *of course* a good idea. But coffee? What the hell's the matter with ordering coffee, especially after an exhausting day of interviews? It's not something especially extravagant anyway.

[anon]

> coffee? What the hell's the matter with ordering coffee,
> especially after an exhausting day of interviews? It's not
> something especially extravagant anyway.

The point here, as I see it, is not to be the only one who holds up dinner for another 15-20 minutes by being the sole person to order coffee or dessert.  That could be an awkward situation, especially if everyone else is finishing up and is ready to leave.  It's the presumption that everyone else wants to stay to wait for you to finish the coffee, not the price of the coffee, that is high maintenance.  I think that it is good advice.

[%sig%]

[Oh boy]

>It's the presumption that everyone else wants to stay to wait for you to >finish the coffee, not the price of the coffee, that is high maintenance. I think >that it is good advice.

In that case, you take the temperature of the room. A cup of coffee does not take long to drink. If others are still nursing a glass of wine and chatting on endlessly or eating dessert or whatever, go ahead. The advice sounds ridiculous and needlessly anxiety-inducing on its own.

[White Knight]

Actually, the advice about holding up everyone else is quite reasonable. One should respond to the host (the SCMs) and not act like a prima donna. If others are having dessert or coffee, go ahead. But to cause 5-6 potential future colleagues to hang around while you savor your coffee is asinine. SCMs put in lots of work, too; it's not like the candidate is the only one who is under stress and time pressure during the process.

[Oh boy]

Well, White Knight, that was not the way I read it originally. My bad, I guess. It does depend on the situation, however, more so than just "if everyone else is drinking it." It's common sense, really, just basic social judgment. The wine thing, meanwhile, I notice no one has defended. One glass of wine is not going to get one smackered, at least in most cases, and I don't see why it would be offensive to finish a glass off when others are drinking it and the school is picking up the tab. I guess the note came off as a little too severe to me when the main idea should be to prepare yourself, but still be relaxed and yourself, as  no_name suggested.

[Experienced]

Having just returned from a campus interview I can tell you to expect the unexpected and be prepared for a tight schedule.  When I arrived for dinner I was asked to respond to the school's mission, values and goals statements in written form (in about 10 minutes) and email the results to the provost's office.  The next day after breakfast at 7 and a tour of campus I presented two 50 minute presentations back to back, one scholarly talk and one classroom lesson.  Immediately after these talks I had a private lunch with the dean in her office and then a meeting with the entire faculty of the department, before another campus tour and a ride to the airport.  Good luck with your interview.  Be sure to get the schedule ahead of time.

[On Searches]

I can't stand it when the someone orders coffee when nobody else is. During searches we are going to dinners all the time and would much rather not take all evening with it.

[anonanon]

Advice:
Don't drink alcohol to excess.
Don't interupt.
Don't confuse the school with another school or one peron's work with another's.
Do be on time.
Do be prepared to be "on" for the entire time. Realize that you are on interview for the whole time, including car rides, dinners, and walks down the hall. Be professional for all these times.

[newbie]

Thank you for all the great suggestions.  I found the responses helpful and appreciate your time!

[Thundering Marshmallow]

Have you gone on the interview yet, and how did it go?

[gladrags]

as someone fairly seasoned and have interviewed (and gotten jobs) at big research univs, i wanted to also say, that in addition to all the above suggestions, in my experience, what is also  important is whether there are folks at the dept. taht you know, or who know your advisor well, etc..and they already want you, or see you as a potential ally etc....

i've never much been comfortable with trying to0 hard to be "right" all the time at interviews--and the first inteview in my career, i did try to mentally carry a rule book, but didn't work...i usually try to be myself--and that paid off more in my experience as my energy then flows naturally and does not seem put on...

my advice--based on experiences of many including some of mine-- is--be yourself (of course as long as you are not obnoxious, rude, unprofessinoal etc).  and if there is someone already in "your corner" in the dept. you want to interview--adn there usually is, someone on the search committee, or someone there you already know, try to just perform in ways that assures this person that her/his 'choice' where you are concerned is/was right.  then you know that they will go to bat for you...

from 'interview' to 'who do we give the job to?" is often a matter of such contacts...(including word of mouth reputations)

i know this is not as powerful when one is starting out, but i fyou have a powerful advisor, who has a 'friend' or a colleague,  or someone like that in that dept, those things really push the card, so to speak.

i am not saying that this should be the case, but too oftne it is almost always "who knows who" taht plays out.

for my case, i have been lucky to have gotten good jobs even though i did not have a powerful advisor but i was networked enough into my field, early on....

in other words, some degree of 'knowability" helps--unfortunately!!!
but that cannot, does not replace "poor" interviews or lack of credentials.....

[length of talk]

I know this thread is over, but I just wanted to make one addition and correction/disagreement.  Based on my experience at several different institutions, all R1 (so this may be specific to R1 kind of places), if an hour is allotted for the talk they will expect you to speak for at least 30-35 minutes.  Most people would do 40-45 and I actually think 35 is ideal, but I am absolutely certain that in the contexts I've been in, a 20 minute talk would be received as unacceptable.   Also, in all of these institutions the talks would often be VERY well attended by many more people than were on the search committee, including lots of graduate students.

I'm not doubting that these sometimes run the way Thundering Marshmellow described, but I do think it could be a big mistake to plan a conference-paper length talk for such an occasion.


Thundering Marshmallow wrote:
 
>
> *The research demonstration is like a presentation at a
> conference. They may allow half an hour or an hour. Either way,
> a 20-25 min. presentation is more than enough, allowing
> questions afterwards. This is usually been promoted to all
> faculty but rarerly6 are many more than the search committee
> present. You can expect questions on the methodoology of your
> research, the number of presentations and publicaitns you have
> drawn from the study, and the continuing agenda. You can expect
> to be asked how your research ties into your teaching. You can
> also expect questions on any topic somewhat related to the
> postion, not just the research you presented. In some fields it
> is conventional to prpovide handouts, others tend to have just
> the abstract or a full paper, and still hothers have nothing
> but their talking points projected. This is your opportunity to
> demonstrate that you are qualified and motivated to be
> productive and independent.
>
>