next »

[fredb]

Dear Wise and Witty Forumites,

I put forth my dilemma to you.  I have a tendency toward humor in most of my dealings with people.  I am often the cl*** ***** and sometimes I go past sarcastic and am down right snarky.  I am aware that this will put some people off, but then I don't want to work somewhere that I will not fit in.

Clearly, I should restrain myself and be mostly serious in my cover letter and application materials.  However, must I submit a completely bland packet and wait until the interview to unmask myself or should I go ahead and include a minor hint of humor because that's more humanizing and gives the committee a flash of personality?

[galactic_hedgehog]

I put the humor into my research statement where it belongs.

[madhatter]

For some jobs, the fact that I am applying at all is humorous.

[oldadjunct]

Definitely save the hand-buzzer, whoopie cushion, and squirting boutonnière for the interview.  You will be a hoot, and certainly a memorable anecdote for years to come.

With all the things you have to juggle in a page, page-and-a-half, cover letter you want to add humor? You must be joking.

[jammer]

Ha.

IMHO, the point of a cover letter is to give the search committee the info they need easily.  They're probably reading hundreds of these things.  I would argue that clarity is the most important thing.  You do this kind of unbelievably interesting research and it fits nicely in this department because ______.  You can teach these classes and that's perfect for this department because _______.

Humor is hard because you won't know your audience here.  Many academics are ironically challenged.  They might be perfectly nice people and great colleagues, but they might not get it.  The other thing is that humor in writing is hard; you don't have cues and clues from nonverbals and, hopefully, you don't have the normal joke cues in mind.  For example, I wouldn't start a cover letter by saying "Three professors walk into a bar..."  

I guess you could use it at your own peril.  Showing some personality could be a good thing and make your letter stand out, but if the SC doesn't get it or if the snark comes through in a way you don't intend (because you don't know your audience), then the joke would be on you.
 

[fredb]

Definitely save the hand-buzzer, whoopie cushion, and squirting boutonnière for the interview.  You will be a hoot, and certainly a memorable anecdote for years to come.

I hadn't planned on bringing the whoopie cushion, but I'll definitely pack it just for you.

With all the things you have to juggle in a page, page-and-a-half, cover letter you want to add humor? You must be joking.

I should leave out my favorite joke about the three deans.  Check.

What I was asking is I tend to be a little, well, to be honest, a lot sarcastic.   I'll risk outing myself here by paraphrasing a couple sentences from my cover letter.


I particularly like to teach introductory classes in chicken studies to nonmajors.  I make a conscious effort to demonstrate how chickens affect our daily life and why this is not an esoteric topic only for specialists.  If, after discovering the joys of chickens, some students change majors to chicken studies, I can live with the guilt of poaching from other departments.


I see the argument for being misunderstood, but I really don't see space being the primary issue here.  I can make the point in some bland way that I hope students will change majors upon seeing the light, but I like the poaching line.

[carebearstare]

I wouldn't personally use humor in a letter. It can be misread. It also might convey things you don't want to convey about your personality, such as "I think I'm funny"--which is for some people in close proximity to "I'm arrogant (about my sense of humor and perhaps other things)." For instance, in your example with the poaching line, my first thought was that some people won't get it. My second thought is that those who would get it might focus on the fact that you said you can "live with the guilt"--which struck me as moderately cocky.

If you truly are a laugh-a-minute kind of person, leave that for your interview, where it will be much easier for you to judge your audience and for them to judge you.

[locutus]

For some jobs, the fact that I am applying at all is humorous.

Yeah. I'm guessing that my CV will get the most laughs.

[fredb]

I wouldn't personally use humor in a letter. It can be misread. It also might convey things you don't want to convey about your personality, such as "I think I'm funny"--which is for some people in close proximity to "I'm arrogant (about my sense of humor and perhaps other things)." For instance, in your example with the poaching line, my first thought was that some people won't get it. My second thought is that those who would get it might focus on the fact that you said you can "live with the guilt"--which struck me as moderately cocky.

If you truly are a laugh-a-minute kind of person, leave that for your interview, where it will be much easier for you to judge your audience and for them to judge you.

Ah, but I am both arrogant and cocky so, if that's the conclusion people draw, well, they're right.

I'm also wondering how field specific this is.  The charge of arrogance is not necessarily a huge black mark against a scientist.  I've also noticed just from hanging out on the fora that my jokes go over well with the physical scientists and less well with many of the humanities people. 

[jammer]

I think physical scientists are hilarious.

[larryc]

It is a fine line between being the cl*ss cl*wn and being an ass klown.

[What the heck--"class" and "clown" get auto censored?]

[grasshopper]

For some jobs, the fact that I am applying at all is humorous.

Yeah. I'm guessing that my CV will get the most laughs.

My writing sample will give your CV a run for the title. I troll the make-fun-of-applicants threads just waiting to hear about "that crazy application some wingnut sent us from Canada."


Modified to add: don't do it. You want to stand out, but in a good way. Unleash your biting wit on them after you've signed the contract.

[jackit]

...
Modified to add: don't do it. You want to stand out, but in a good way. Unleash your biting wit on them after you've signed the contract.

Follow this advice.

The job hiring process is meant to take a large stack of applications and efficiently turn it into a small stack.  Don't given the search committee a reason to downgrade you for being...unusual.

[hollow_man]

I particularly like to teach introductory classes in chicken studies to nonmajors.  I make a conscious effort to demonstrate how chickens affect our daily life and why this is not an esoteric topic only for specialists.  If, after discovering the joys of chickens, some students change majors to chicken studies, I can live with the guilt of poaching from other departments.

If that's your idea of funny, don't do it.

[fredb]

...
Modified to add: don't do it. You want to stand out, but in a good way. Unleash your biting wit on them after you've signed the contract.

Follow this advice.

The job hiring process is meant to take a large stack of applications and efficiently turn it into a small stack.  Don't given the search committee a reason to downgrade you for being...unusual.

[Hey, you modified this in the time it took me to click quote!]

So, I'm hearing "Make an interesting letter with a strong case for hiring me, but figure out a way to do it without humor, in part because I'm not as funny as I think I am".

I bow to the wisdom of the fora.