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[bacardiandlime]

Sing it, Canadia!

I think it's an element of human nature, that once people's job search is over, they leave the wiki behind, and don't go back to update 'offer made' or whatever. Also, by the time the field is that small (campus visits, final two, etc), people are concerned it will be quite obvious that they are the one posting. Anonymity is a real concern for a lot of people on the wikis.

Not for the PoliSci folks though:
http://bluwiki.com/go/Polisci0809

They name candidates at interview and appointment stage. If they're so fearless, I wonder why the rest of us are so cowed?

[canadia]

Sing it, Canadia!

I think it's an element of human nature, that once people's job search is over, they leave the wiki behind, and don't go back to update 'offer made' or whatever.

But at the pre-conference stage?

That's just selfishness. "I'll take the wiki for me me me, but who cares if the info I have can help somebody else."

I understand being shy about campus visits and offers. But if the 5 ppl that I've turned onto an MLA page were to put their ***^%$** info down, there'd be around 15 more jobs updated.

Which means that it's MORE anonymous and MORE ppl would update a job or 2 that they don't wish to divulge b/c of the anonymity becomes greater.

Which means that MORE ppl will post once the campus interviews pick up and job offers are extended and accepted.

[square]

I have noticed that not a lot of people in my field are updating the wiki. It was one of those deleted off of the 'old' wiki and I just found the new listing. In any case, I've just updated the 'new' wiki in my field and am really hoping that it takes off like in years past.

[rodentmind]

Update the wiki, y'all.

[grasshopper]

The link to the scratchpad wiki, so we don't have to search the back pages of the thread:

http://scratchpad.wikia.com/wiki/AcademicJobSearch

[bacardiandlime]

Disturbing how many jobs are stagnating on the wiki - I hope this is due to people not updating rather than that this many jobs have failed to move forward (in the current climate, anything that hasn't been heard from in over 2 months I tend to think: cancelled search.....)

And yes, update the wiki if you have news.

[rodentmind]

Disturbing how many jobs are stagnating on the wiki - I hope this is due to people not updating rather than that this many jobs have failed to move forward (in the current climate, anything that hasn't been heard from in over 2 months I tend to think: cancelled search.....)

Yet another thing to worry about. I can't take it!

[jacaranda_]

Disturbing how many jobs are stagnating on the wiki - I hope this is due to people not updating rather than that this many jobs have failed to move forward (in the current climate, anything that hasn't been heard from in over 2 months I tend to think: cancelled search.....)

Yet another thing to worry about. I can't take it!

This is something that happens to some degree every year after MLA and AHA, so I don't think it's necessarily about jobs being cancelled.  I think it's much more likely that candidates at this point have learned to be more cautious about posting updates once schools are down to only 3 candidates for campus visits.  Those who were invited probably don't want to disclose, and those who were not invited probably haven't been formally rejected, since SCs wait until they've got a new hire before sending out rejections. 

In fact, if I were a DGS, I would specifically advise students on the market not to update at this point about where they've been invited for campus visits.  There are just too many SC members who do NOT like that information about their search might be made public, and no one would want to risk not getting a job offer for disclosing information in that way.  It would be nice if MLA could make a recommendation about this and encourage SCCs simply to post that information themselves (plenty of departments make that information publicly available on their own websites anyhow to advertise job talks).  I know, it's tough to have to wait, but I think the fall off in info is a pretty normal part of the process in Jan.  Hang in there!

[rodentmind]

In fact, if I were a DGS, I would specifically advise students on the market not to update at this point about where they've been invited for campus visits.  There are just too many SC members who do NOT like that information about their search might be made public, and no one would want to risk not getting a job offer for disclosing information in that way.  It would be nice if MLA could make a recommendation about this and encourage SCCs simply to post that information themselves (plenty of departments make that information publicly available on their own websites anyhow to advertise job talks). 

MLA isn't going to police this. And there are no requirements about confidentiality on an interviewee's part--none whatsoever. Regardless of the existence of a wiki. Hence, no one is going to lose the chance at a job over posting that an interview has been requested--especially since anyone who knows of the interview could have posted the info (again, you seem to assume there's some expectation of confidentiality, when in reality there's none).

Keep in mind, too, that SC members routinely tell candidates how many people they're interviewing, how many they're bringing to campus, and what their timeline is. None of that is confidential. And, when they bring people to campus, that's not confidential, either. SC members routinely chat with others in their field, or even outside of their field, casually mentioning that they're bringing "so and so from your campus to our campus for an interview." So, posting information that simply confirms what is already public knowledge isn't likely to upset anyone. Now, posting something libelous, that's a different story.

Anyway, I'd suggest that the assumption that SCs are concerned about transparency can be set aside. Many SC members actually do post information on the various MLA wikis, and many self-identify in doing so.

[jacaranda_]

Rodentmind, I agree with nearly everything you've said above.  And if I were a SCC, I would post regularly to the wiki about where things were with the job search.  I was very grateful to have some of that information when I was on the market myself. 

However, this sentiment is not a universal one among faculty members, even ones who are my generation and much more accustomed to the fact that previously private information might be much more publicly accessible.  You are correct about issues of confidentiality about the job search -- in a formal sense.  And yes, there have always been gossip channels within the profession, but that's very different from information that is available to anyone in the profession at large on the wiki.

The problem is that, for better or worse, the wiki may have a very negative aura for some SC members -- simply because it IS a place where candidates can gripe or expose bad behavior on the part of departments (and rightly so, I should add).  If you are someone posting to that community, especially if you are posting information that a more traditional SC member feels should be their "property" in some sense, you run the risk of acquiring that negative taint.  It is not outside the realm of possibility that you could piss off a SC member, if that's their view of such posting activity.

And just to emphasize:  I am all in favor of the wiki and the openness that it encourages about the hiring process.  I think its overall impact is generally positive and needed.  But not everyone agrees with me.  And those people are more likely to be senior faculty on search committees with a lot of clout in making hiring decisions.

[mended_drum]

Well, I'm pretty sure that no one else in my department has ever seen the wiki; a couple know of its existence, mostly because I've told them.  Candidates are updating the status of our job search, and I check the wiki to make sure the information they're posting is accurate.  So far, it is.  I also check to make sure that we don't make the "fear" list; you can be sure that if we do, I'll copy the post and forward it to everyone at my institution (from the scc to the dean) if I think that the complaints could be remotely accurate.  [I do have tenure, by the way, so I'm not concerned about any "kill the messenger" responses].   

[rodentmind]

Note: anyone can look up your IP address and see where you're posting from (and you can look up theirs). Solution: create a login. Then the IP doesn't show.

Any SC member who's put out by a benign posting that says something like "1/5: campus visit requested" needs to devote their time to other things...like learning about the miracles of email, the internet, the Great Shift from the ditto machine to the xerox copier...IMO.

[watermarkup]

If you're concerned about anonymity, post your on-campus invite as if it were second-hand information, and from your home ISP instead of on campus.

[thisisme]

Sure, SCs do not want to have negative things listed.

But why should the status of the search not be known, from anyone's perspective?

[bacardiandlime]

If you're really nervous, PM me the update and I'll post it. I'm not in your field so I don't care.