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[corny]

Ok, here’s the situation. I had a phone interview a couple of weeks ago for a VAP. A few days later, I heard from the search committee chair (by email) that I had passed on to the next stage and that they were going to contact my references. (I know that they contacted at least one of said references last week.) Then on Friday, I received a call from someone in the department asking for my home address so that they could send me a contract. To this, which sounded a lot like "you got the job," I responded, "oh! great!" She then hastened to add that she wasn't making an offer, but needed the address all the same. At the end of the call, she said something vague about how I might be hearing more details soon. But of course, so far I have heard nothing. So here's the little tape I can't stop running in my head: "I must be the top candidate, because why else would they be asking where to mail the contract? But if they were going to make me an offer, surely they would have let me know that, even if formally they were still waiting for the Dean's approval (or whatever). So I must be on the short list but not their first choice. But then why would they have bothered to call me at all?" (I’m assuming here that they aren’t going to be doing campus visits, since it’s only a VAP, but I don’t actually know that.)

Anyway, I'm sure this will all be resolved eventually one way or another (though if someone would like to interpret this situation for me I would be, needless to say, thrilled). But in the meantime my question is this: I'm leaving town tomorrow and won't be back until the middle of next week. I can still check my voice mail and email from the road, obviously, but is there some remote possibility that an important envelope is going to arrive while I'm gone, or something? More to the point, should I let the search committee chair know I'll be out of town? Give him my cell number, perhaps? Or do I just need to sit on my anxious little hands?

[tuxedo_cat]

Or do I just need to sit on my anxious little hands?

Yes.

If they need to reach you, they'll find you.  You have voicemail and an email address.   I am going to *guess* that the person who called you is an admin (since she's taking care of minor logistics, like confirming your mailing address), who used some language that confused you, perhaps because she herself may not really understand this process.  She is not a source of reliable information.

You will know if you have formally been offered the job when you hear directly from the SC Chair -- either by phone or email.  I suppose the contact might come from the Dean's office, but it's usually the SCC.

[corny]

Thanks, tuxedo_cat. Deep down inside, I probably already knew that - I blame the accumulated crazy of the job search. Sigh.

Say, why don't we have an acronym for this yet? DNCTDSCC (Do Not Contact the D*mn Search Committee Chair), perhaps? Not that I want to be directing curse words at the SCC. He seems like a perfectly nice guy. But you get the idea.

[systeme_d_]

I propose SOTDH.  Sit On Those Damn Hands.

[corny]

I propose SOTDH.  Sit On Those Damn Hands.

Yes. Perfect. Excuse me while I go tattoo that on my forehead.

[polly_mer]

Or do I just need to sit on my anxious little hands?

Yes.

If they need to reach you, they'll find you.  You have voicemail and an email address.   I am going to *guess* that the person who called you is an admin (since she's taking care of minor logistics, like confirming your mailing address), who used some language that confused you, perhaps because she herself may not really understand this process.  She is not a source of reliable information.

I agree with TC.  The highest probability in my mind is that the admin knows she will have to send out a contract to somebody in a few weeks and would rather have everything ready to go with just an address to fill into the appropriate blank.  Her calling now before people go on vacation and such is half an hour of work to get her list ready instead of a couple days to track down people.  That admin is trying to make her life easier without thinking about how the wording could be different.

SOTDH.

[tuxedo_cat]

I propose SOTDH.  Sit On Those Damn Hands.

Yes. Perfect. Excuse me while I go tattoo that on my forehead.

Don't forget to have that tattooed on backwards.  ;)

Good luck -- I hope it really is you!

[corny]

Just an update for those who might wonder how this saga ended: I got the job! They called while I was out of town, but - like the modern academic that I am - I checked my voice mail while I was gone, got the message, and called back right away from the road. It was all very simple, really.

And I still don't really know what that initial call was about, but I'm not going to worry about it, because all's well that end's well. Thanks to all who prevented me from doing something foolish back there.

~FIN~

[tuxedo_cat]

Congrats!  And thanks for checking back in to give us the update.  We need all the "happy ending" stories we can get in this profession.