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[manicpanic]

Should one present one's sample or a different piece? I would have thought different piece but since the SC seemed floored by this one AND this parts fits best with job desc, should I just go with this? Do people prepare slides/ppt or handouts to help, especially if students will be present?

Also, on clothes, what's best for lunches and dinners for women? Finally, how casual, in conversation, can one be, when being shown the area/city? I'd find it hard to keep a very formal front in all these very informal situations.

[helpful]

Question isn't clear. Is it a research presentation? If so, you should present your research and research plans. Thus, it might have something to do with what you sent in, but a 'sample' implies a writing sample, which might not involve research.

Is it a teaching presentation?

Please clarify and we will try and help.  And let us know what the discipline is as that would affect our answers!

And congrats on the interview!

[manicpanic]

thanks, helpful. yes, a research presentation for english. and my sample was from my diss.

[helpful]

So it is a sample of your research? Then present that and then draw from that to talk about your research plans.

I hope you are not going to read from the sample? (But maybe so.... I just remembered that in English it is OK to read a paper as part of a job talk! You wouldn't be able to do that in my discipline in the social sciences!).

I will defer to those in English to help you with the questions you have....

[manicpanic]

i would rather not read much but i'm not that great of a public speaker. i think, actually, i am a good public speaker when it comes to students etc. but not when there's soo much performance anxiety. i'm glad i'm not in social sciences BUT i do think even in English, a candidate who can give a TALK and not lose content (consult notes, sure, but not READ) is preferable. but, i'm nervous on that score.

[cactus]

Hi manicpanic,

Congrats on the fly back!!

I'm in Literature.  This is the advice that I followed to get my current position (and it is the practice that I noticed seemed to work best when I was a grad student in a department that made several hires during my time there):  your writing sample and your job talk should be VERY distinct.

Of course, they are similar in that they are drawn from the same project.  However, you want to avoid repeating sentences from your writing sample.  Repeat key ideas, yes.  Not everyone who attends your job talk will have read your sample.  However, you should use different texts for illustration and elaboration since some of the people (maybe even most, depending on the department) will have read the sample beforehand.

This is particularly true if you are ABD.  Why?  Because if your job talk is based on the same chapter as your writing sample, then the SC might think that you only have one chapter that is presentable to the public.  Or, they might think that you only have one interesting chapter.  Does that make sense?  This advice even holds if your writing sample was one sections 1 - 3 of your chapter and the job talk is based on sections 4 - 6.  However, if your writing sample chapter covers multiple texts, then you *might* be able to get away with presenting from it.  I wouldn't risk it, if I were you.

Finally, I was told that it is better to pick a chapter based on a text that most faculty are likely to have read (e.g., Doctor Faustus) than it is to pick something more obscure (e.g., Two Noble Kinsmen) –– even if you think your Two Noble Kinsmen chapter is better than your Doctor Faustus chapter.  (Thankfully, I didn't have to worry about this since my favorite chapter is on a widely-read text.)

Good luck with the talk!!  I'm sure it will be fabulous!

ABOUT CLOTHES:  Can't wait to hear what people say.  I've been obsessing over this lately.  I'm in the midst of a "hate all my clothes, especially my suits" spell.  Not a good space to be during interview season!

[trabb]

I think cactus hit the nail on the head.  In the two RIs where I've earned degrees, presenting one's writing sample as a job talk would be the kiss of death for a candidacy.  The only thing I might say different relates to the following:

Finally, I was told that it is better to pick a chapter based on a text that most faculty are likely to have read (e.g., Doctor Faustus) than it is to pick something more obscure (e.g., Two Noble Kinsmen) –– even if you think your Two Noble Kinsmen chapter is better than your Doctor Faustus chapter.  (Thankfully, I didn't have to worry about this since my favorite chapter is on a widely-read text.)

It's possible to give a very good job talk on texts that no-one in the audience has read provided that you're not focusing on a single text.  I remember one job talk I attended on regional ghost stories.  No-one had in the audience had read any of them.  Perhaps more important, no-one should have read any of them.  The speaker did a fabulous job of summarizing the tales and choosing relevant quotes to illustrate points, and we all walked out feeling that we'd learned something new.  What you probably want to avoid is focusing on a single text that people will feel like they should have read but haven't.  cactus's example of Two Noble Kinsmen is a good one.  Audience members likely will not have read it in recent memory but probably will feel like they should be familiar with it - a very awkward rhetorical situation.

As far as the level of formality in different situations, I think I'd advise you to be yourself.  How would you approach an academic dean at your current institution?  I'd keep that level of formality when you meet your dean.  How would you talk/act when riding around in a car with faculty at your current place?  That's probably a good guide for you on your city/campus tour.