next »

[midwest_abd]

litdawg:  the wiki is very active.  But beware!  it can fuel jobsearch paranoia.

My history subfield search is going pretty well so far.  I had a phone interview and have an on-campus scheduled.

[august]

Hi Everyone,

I am an advanced assistant professor looking to move up to a R1, or the like.

8 applications
1 conference interview
1 request for more materials
2 rejections

I am also too pregnant to travel (according to my doctor), so I cannot make the conference interview.  I am hoping that the sc will allow me to phone interview, but I haven't heard from them after my initial cancellation and explanation.  We will see.

Good luck!

[rochcom]

I am applying only for part-time online jobs. I have had everything from schools that do not even ask for transcripts to one that put people through a lengthy online application process and then asked for a resume and cover letter anyway, followed by official transcripts for every school ever attended before they would even consider an application.  If the application were to be accepted, I would then have to undergo months of online training with no pay, and then, they would  decide whether I could teach a course. I did not complete the application. But obviously, people do or they would not have any faculty.

One particularly frustrating situation occurred with a school that asked initially for an informal letter of interest.  A year later, they sent an e-mail asking for a resume and cover letter. A month after that, I was asked for a revised resume/CV and to fill out some forms, including a teaching preferences form that asked how many courses I would be willing to teach per term and many other questions.

A month after that, I was asked to send an official transcript that I was to have sent to me in a sealed envelope and then forward to the contact person. After that, I heard nothing for 6 weeks. I then e-mailed the contact person (an administrative assistant) and was told that my application had been sent for faculty review and that it could take some time because they were busy.  Two months later, I have still not heard from them. I think it will be a record -- waiting two years to be rejected.

This is a job I really want because it pays better than  most and it is my alma mater (which I pointed out in the letter of application). But it has become extremely frustrating.

At least it was not like a job I applied for at an institution where I am already teaching as an adjunct. I applied online through a lengthy process, finishing at 10:45 PM. A few days later, I found out that my application had been rejected only about an hour later, at exactly midnight. This seemed silly, so I called and they confirmed that it had indeed been rejected with no reason given.

[psychoactive]

Well, tonight I got an offer for a t-t position that I plan to accept!  Of the two places I interviewed, this was the place that really excited me.  For what it's worth, when I went there I was expecting to be a bit disappointed and was actually thinking of it as a practice interview -- just goes to show you that you shouldn't judge a place before visiting.

Anyway, this is a huge load off of my shoulders.  Now, I just have the *minor* task of finishing the dissertation. :)

Best of luck to all of you! 

[nanoo]

Psychoactive, you are living the dream! Nicely done :)

Congratulations and many wishes for success in the new job!

[hollow_man]

Yeah, congrats, p-active. Wow, that seems early.

My story so far:

15 jobs
11 deadlines past
4 conference interviews
1 odd invitation to chat at a conference cocktail party
1 out-of-the-running
1 pipe dream still alive

--DJ

[epistephiliac]

Yay, psychoactive! That's great news.

For the Bridget Jones-esque, here's an adapted ditty you can sing in your living room, drunk and in your underwear:

Back in grad school
My dissertation seemed totally cool
Who wouldn't hire such a jewel?
What a naive fool.

Sending out apps
I think of all those chronic VAPs
And as I lick the envelope flaps
I know I'm playing craps.

(chorus)
The wiki blues
Don't wanna have
the wiki blues, anymore
The wiki blues
Please save me from
the wiki blues, ever more

Perusing the ads
I notice all the hiring fads
And I realize the bads
Of too many grads.

A new PhD
I worked so hard for my degree
Now it's down to the search committee
Will it ever be me?

(chorus)
The wiki blues
Don't wanna have
the wiki blues, anymore
The wiki blues
Please save me from
the wiki blues, ever more
(Repeat and, quite likely, fade)

(It's the middle of the night, so chalk this one up to stress and insomnia. And forgive some of the less-than-perfect scans: I'm no poet.)

[dr_dre]

Congrats, psychoactive!

[dundee]

Congrats Psychoactive! Hopefully we can all follow in your footsteps.

[nanoo]

love the lyrics, epistephiliac! drunk underwear rendition to follow asap.

[onion]

How did I not see this thread until now?

Targeted search this year--AHA field.

5 apps out.
3 of the jobs are long shots--open rank searches, fancy schools, etc.
Nothing happening with any of them, according to the wiki.

And I'm a nervous wreck.

Thank goddess that beer time is just a couple hours away.  ;D

[chakide]

So many rejections coming out right now!

Isn't this fun.

Good luck to all of you.

[imogen]

2nd year tt asst. professor, only one app out for a dream job in an MLA field.

Already nervous as a cat, although they asked for every imaginable document up front and so won't tell anyone anything until early December.   

Why do schools ask for so much material up front?  Besides involving a heckuva lot of work for one li'l application, they'll probably get 300+ applications for this position, and so couldn't possibly get through the thousands of pages they receive in dossiers, writing samples, research and teaching statements, CVs, etc...

Argh.

[apablo]

Received my first rejection letter today from a SC whose job posting read as if it were written by someone who used my dissertation and cv as a model for the specialization and qualifications of their ideal candidate. This sure is a funny process.

There are eight more applications floating around out there. We'll see what happens in the coming weeks.



 

[apablo]

2nd year tt asst. professor, only one app out for a dream job in an MLA field.

Already nervous as a cat, although they asked for every imaginable document up front and so won't tell anyone anything until early December.   

Why do schools ask for so much material up front?  Besides involving a heckuva lot of work for one li'l application, they'll probably get 300+ applications for this position, and so couldn't possibly get through the thousands of pages they receive in dossiers, writing samples, research and teaching statements, CVs, etc...

Argh.

I don't know why they do that either, especially when two-thirds of the applications will get tossed after members of the SC read through the first two paragraphs of the job letters, or even just the cvs if they choose to start with them. It's a colossal waste of paper. I've heard from SC members that having everything right there makes it easier to expedite the process of whittling down the second-cut list into the interview list since they don't have to wait for dossiers and writing samples to arrive after putting in requests for them. Still, seeing all that paper go to waste makes me uncomfortable.