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[resident]

Hi,

I have been invited for an interview and have been waiting for it to be scheduled for a few months now. This makes me think I could probably be one of the last candidates to be interviewed (although this is pure speculation).

So first I was wondering on how do SC determine the order of candidates to be interviewed. Is it random? Do they interview their strongest candidates first?

And also I would like your opinion on whether being interviewed first or last would be an advantage or a disadvantage? Or this would make no difference at all?

Thanks!

[charlesr]

Are you saying that you have known for several months that you were going to be interviewed and they are just scheduling it now?  Is this a faculty position?  This seems unusual.

That aside, I don't think interview order makes much of a difference.

[resident]

Thanks for the reply- that's exactly what is happening. This is a tenure-track faculty position and the search has been moving very slowly (but from the very beginning I was warned by the SC chair this would happen).

[sugaree]

This has been discussed to death on too many threads to count (and if I were better with the search function I might be able to find them). The (near) universally-agreed-upon consensus is no, interview order doesn't matter.

As for choosing the order of candidates, scheduling issues and alphabetic lists come to mind. Rankings are irrelevant.

Focus on things you can control in preparing for the campus visit. Do not try to read into things that have no deeper meaning.

[resident]

Thanks, Sugaree. I also searched the forum, but apparently I'm no good at it either :)

I will try to focus on preparing for the campus visit. It's just that the longer it takes for them to schedule the visit, the more time I have to think about irrelevant things!

[sugaree]

Thanks, Sugaree. I also searched the forum, but apparently I'm no good at it either :)

I will try to focus on preparing for the campus visit. It's just that the longer it takes for them to schedule the visit, the more time I have to think about irrelevant things!

Yeah, you're not alone in struggling with the evil search function. Nor are you alone in conjuring up irrelevant interview scenarios. But resist! And good luck with the interview.

[see_wolf]

I was the last to interview, and had an offer on my answering machine by the time I got home.

(fondly remembering the days before cell phones...)

[nanoputian]

As an interviewer, I've found that the last interviews are some of the best, or at least most informative. After a few other interviews we've figured out what we are NOT looking for, and can craft questions that determine if you ARE what we are looking for.

Similarly, there may be questions that we wish we had asked previous interviewees, but didn't, so in the end we (often) end up "knowing" the last candidates the best. This doesn't always work in the person's favor, but if the last person is the right match for the job, we usually know right away.

Disclaimer: the SC's I have been part of are VERY informal--I know that many places have more rigorous protocol to make each interview as standardized as possible. 

[der_gadfly]

Order is not important, in general, as all candidates are typically 'in the running'. Some say that going first means that you have to set the bar for the others, and if there is a long time between first and last, the memory of your brilliant performance may fade. Others posit that going last allows you to capitalize on the learning curve experienced by the SC.

Bottom line, just go whenever you can, and as as Alexy Brodovitch would say, "Be brilliant."

[imawakenow]

This has been discussed to death on too many threads to count...

Here are a few:

http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,55680.0.html

http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,57077.0.html

http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,35841.0.html

http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,31966.0.html

http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,32028.0.html

http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,21226.0.html

To summarize: candidates often seem to think it matters or that there's some special invitation algorithm; but as sugaree noted, most people who've served on SCs report that order rarely, if ever, matters.

Good luck with your interview.

[watermarkup]

I believe responses 2 and 3 will answer all your questions.

[zuzu_]

I was interviewed last, and the committee met to make their decision during my scheduled campus tour. When I returned from the tour, the VP asked me into her office and offered me the job. Then I went to lunch with my new colleagues.

I was on a search committee last summer, and the same thing happened to the last candidate.

[tofurky]

Hi,

I have been invited for an interview and have been waiting for it to be scheduled for a few months now. This makes me think I could probably be one of the last candidates to be interviewed (although this is pure speculation).

So first I was wondering on how do SC determine the order of candidates to be interviewed. Is it random? Do they interview their strongest candidates first?

And also I would like your opinion on whether being interviewed first or last would be an advantage or a disadvantage? Or this would make no difference at all?

Thanks!

Don't worry. If anything, I've had my best experiences interviewing last. In fact, when I had the first campus visit for a particular search, and it was completely disorganized and horrible. You might be better off as the last candidate interviewed!

[resident]

Thank you all for the replies!

[litdawg]

Can I save us all some trouble from the MLA crowd by resurrecting this zombie thread for its savvy use of the search function by imawakenow?