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paul_robeson
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« on: December 16, 2009, 09:34:15 PM » |
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I made it into the final round for a tenure track position in one of my fields, but I received word today that the school made an offer to another candidate. I am disappointed but not crushed; I guess I've been through this enough to know that even well-qualified candidates can come up short, especially in a hyper-competitive job market.
As I review the hiring process I just muddled through, it strikes me as odd that the university never asked for a writing sample of any kind. To my knowledge, the hiring committee never reviewed any of my publications, which are one of my strong suits as a candidate. (I am applying at the assistant level, but I've published three books, all with reputable university presses.)
In retrospect, this seems weird to me. I've been on the market for a couple of years now, and I can't recall ever making it to even the phone/conference interview stage without having to provide a writing sample. (And here I had a two-day campus visit.)
How common is this?
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erzuliefreda
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« Reply #1 on: December 16, 2009, 09:51:41 PM » |
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There is no rhyme nor reason. The TT job I now have never asked me for a writing sample or a syllabus. It turns out they meant to ask for samples in the ad but forgot and didn't realize the discrepancy until I mentioned it later.
In any case, best of luck on the market.
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t_r_b
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« Reply #2 on: December 16, 2009, 09:57:38 PM » |
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I was on a SC last year and didn't read a single writing sample. I don't remember whether or not my application for my current job required a writing sample, but it quite possibly did not.
It's a matter of priorities. In the case of the SC I was on, we were much more interested in teaching experience and the ability to present interesting ideas clearly in an interview, job talk, and teaching demo. It's a teaching intensive job, so we focused on factors that related more directly to teaching.
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If you want to be zen, then stay in the freaking moment.
A lot of the people posting on this thread need to go out and get kohlrabi.
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paul_robeson
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« Reply #3 on: December 17, 2009, 06:52:17 AM » |
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I was on a SC last year and didn't read a single writing sample. I don't remember whether or not my application for my current job required a writing sample, but it quite possibly did not.
It's a matter of priorities. In the case of the SC I was on, we were much more interested in teaching experience and the ability to present interesting ideas clearly in an interview, job talk, and teaching demo. It's a teaching intensive job, so we focused on factors that related more directly to teaching.
I can understand emphasizing teaching over research, and I don't want to get into an extended debate over their relative merits. However, if publications ostensibly are part of the hiring decision -- and if they will be factored into a tenure process somewhere down the road -- I would think that members of a hiring committee might want to take 10-15 minutes and actually read even a small portion of the finalists' published work. Wouldn't you want to make sure that a candidate isn't publishing garbage? (I would.) Or, conversely, wouldn't you want to know if a candidate is a gifted scholar and writer? (I would want to know that, too.) This seems like something pretty basic to me. If I'm going to be evaluated as a scholar, then my scholarship should be scrutinized. Or am I missing something here? (And just for the record: this school never asked for teaching evals, either.) |
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carebearstare
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« Reply #4 on: December 17, 2009, 08:26:58 AM » |
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The job I have now never asked me for a writing sample, and I am at a research-intensive school.
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Well, some posters were being naughty here.
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dellaroux
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« Reply #5 on: December 17, 2009, 08:45:57 AM » |
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If your stuff is out and published, they can usually get it and read it without asking you for it, anyway.
I worked for someone who was on an SC who regularly just ordered the books or articles of the folks the SC was most interested in from Amazon, then donated them to the library if they didn't already have a copy and someone didn't want to keep them themselves.
But most of the time they already knew this person's work upside down and inside out anyway; that was why they were recruiting them or picking them out of the pile to begin with.
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Pax in terra choreagibus
Ballo non bello parare
How am I?: There are four levels: Alive, Alert, Awake & Functioning. Right now, I'm standing upright & moving forward.
We are gifted superfluously--the cosmos is more generous than we can ask or imagine.
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malcha
Creepy Lit Critter, Undead Language Lover,
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 7,474
posting live from her FCFU
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« Reply #6 on: December 17, 2009, 09:59:18 AM » |
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The job I have now never asked me for a writing sample, and I am at a research-intensive school.
Yep. I was at a school that was supposedly emphasizing research over teaching. They hired me without a writing sample. And it wasn't that they got hold of and read publications -- I was on two search committees there, they never read a word the candidates wrote beyond the cover letter. If that. Mostly they just glanced at CVs. And it wasn't because they preferred to get a sense of a person's research from the job talk, either. They just didn't give a crap about the research beyond what could be measured in lines on a CV they could count for the dean. |
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categorical
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« Reply #7 on: December 17, 2009, 10:00:33 AM » |
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I interviewed for a creative writing job where they didn't ask for a writing sample. I thought that was a little strange, too.
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lorelei
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« Reply #8 on: December 17, 2009, 12:08:20 PM » |
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If your stuff is out and published, they can usually get it and read it without asking you for it, anyway.
This. It's much quicker than requesting it from the candidate. I don't know why you assumed that just because they hadn't asked you for a writing sample, they hadn't read your work. (writing samples are more important for grad students who may not have published much yet - one you have a bunch of hits on google scholar, nobody needs to ask you to supply written work) |
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svenc
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« Reply #9 on: December 17, 2009, 12:14:36 PM » |
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If your stuff is out and published, they can usually get it and read it without asking you for it, anyway.
This. It's much quicker than requesting it from the candidate. I don't know why you assumed that just because they hadn't asked you for a writing sample, they hadn't read your work. Yep. If an applicant has published in respectable outlets in my journal-driven field, I can be looking at a copy of the article on my machine in less time than it takes to walk over to our department administrator's desk to ask to see your application file. Another possiblity is that |
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In foris veritas.
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voxprincipalis
Foxaliciously Cinnamon-Scented (and Most Poetic)
Member-Moderator
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 17,442
Has potentially infinite removable wallets
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« Reply #10 on: December 17, 2009, 12:21:19 PM » |
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I made it into the final round for a tenure track position in one of my fields, but I received word today that the school made an offer to another candidate. I am disappointed but not crushed; I guess I've been through this enough to know that even well-qualified candidates can come up short, especially in a hyper-competitive job market.
As I review the hiring process I just muddled through, it strikes me as odd that the university never asked for a writing sample of any kind. To my knowledge, the hiring committee never reviewed any of my publications, which are one of my strong suits as a candidate. (I am applying at the assistant level, but I've published three books, all with reputable university presses.)
In retrospect, this seems weird to me. I've been on the market for a couple of years now, and I can't recall ever making it to even the phone/conference interview stage without having to provide a writing sample. (And here I had a two-day campus visit.)
How common is this?
I know I'm not inside your head, but I'm wondering if a little subtext that's going through your brain is "... because surely, if they had looked at my writing samples, they would have hired me." Just wanted to caution you against tying these two things together. VP |
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If you need me, I'll be hiding under a rock until mid-August. Try not to need me, unless you come bearing Chinese food.
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dellaroux
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« Reply #11 on: December 17, 2009, 12:28:34 PM » |
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If your stuff is out and published, they can usually get it and read it without asking you for it, anyway.
This. It's much quicker than requesting it from the candidate. I don't know why you assumed that just because they hadn't asked you for a writing sample, they hadn't read your work. Yep. If an applicant has published in respectable outlets in my journal-driven field, I can be looking at a copy of the article on my machine in less time than it takes to walk over to our department administrator's desk to ask to see your application file. Another possiblity is that Svenc? Svenc? Sveeennnnccc! <Where did you go?> Anyway, yes, what VP said, too. DO NOT make yourself crazy over this! If they didn't want you, you don't want them. By definition. Mourn if you must, but move along, now.... |
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Pax in terra choreagibus
Ballo non bello parare
How am I?: There are four levels: Alive, Alert, Awake & Functioning. Right now, I'm standing upright & moving forward.
We are gifted superfluously--the cosmos is more generous than we can ask or imagine.
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svenc
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« Reply #12 on: December 17, 2009, 12:45:09 PM » |
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If your stuff is out and published, they can usually get it and read it without asking you for it, anyway.
This. It's much quicker than requesting it from the candidate. I don't know why you assumed that just because they hadn't asked you for a writing sample, they hadn't read your work. Yep. If an applicant has published in respectable outlets in my journal-driven field, I can be looking at a copy of the article on my machine in less time than it takes to walk over to our department administrator's desk to ask to see your application file. Another possiblity is that Svenc? Svenc? Sveeennnnccc! <Where did you go?> Oh, um, yeah. Nevermind. I have no idea where I was going with that. |
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In foris veritas.
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imawakenow
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« Reply #13 on: December 17, 2009, 12:57:35 PM » |
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If your stuff is out and published, they can usually get it and read it without asking you for it, anyway.
This. It's much quicker than requesting it from the candidate. I don't know why you assumed that just because they hadn't asked you for a writing sample, they hadn't read your work. It was that way on both SCs I've been on at research-oriented universities. CV to google scholar to printer in about 2 minutes or less for finalists. Sorry it didn't work out, but I agree that the assumption no one read your work is probably faulty unless your work not widely available. |
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paul_robeson
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« Reply #14 on: December 17, 2009, 01:47:17 PM » |
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I made it into the final round for a tenure track position in one of my fields, but I received word today that the school made an offer to another candidate. I am disappointed but not crushed; I guess I've been through this enough to know that even well-qualified candidates can come up short, especially in a hyper-competitive job market.
As I review the hiring process I just muddled through, it strikes me as odd that the university never asked for a writing sample of any kind. To my knowledge, the hiring committee never reviewed any of my publications, which are one of my strong suits as a candidate. (I am applying at the assistant level, but I've published three books, all with reputable university presses.)
In retrospect, this seems weird to me. I've been on the market for a couple of years now, and I can't recall ever making it to even the phone/conference interview stage without having to provide a writing sample. (And here I had a two-day campus visit.)
How common is this?
I know I'm not inside your head, but I'm wondering if a little subtext that's going through your brain is "... because surely, if they had looked at my writing samples, they would have hired me." Just wanted to caution you against tying these two things together. VP It's more that I'm frustrated over how irrelevant my scholarship (whether it's awesome or horrible) proved to be, in this case. It plainly didn't matter, one way or another, and that strikes me as being really messed up. I do think it's possible that they could have read my stuff and absolutely hated it. |
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