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[nuznovm]

As I slush through job posting and avidly await interview requests, I can't help but realize there is a specific area of searching for a job that I have little knowledge on, and that is the search committee.
All I know about search committees is what am grad advisor mentioned in passing while he was serving on a committee.

So I guess I was wondering if you all would be so kindly as to enlighten me about search committees. Who typical takes part in them, how big are they, their hiring timeline, what they look for specifically in administration candidates?

I understand that all hiring committees are different but any general information would be very helpful.
Thank you!

[glowdart]

Here, the membership & timeline depend a great deal on the level of the admin post. 

Minor admin?  Membership is whomever is relevant to that post.  Timeline seems to be faster than a faculty search sometimes, but not always. 

Chair?  Department faculty & possibly a student or two.  Timeline?  Normal faculty search timeline.

Academic School Dean?  Faculty from that school and other administrators.  Timeline?  Just depends; if there's a viable interim person on campus, then we get a little perfectionistic and it can drag even longer as we try to find someone who is a good fit.  There's less willingness to hire someone who isn't clearly a great fit for admin posts, overall.  The line isn't going to disappear, so they'll re-run a search if need be and stick an interim in place in the meantime.

Dean of Faculty?  Faculty from the whole campus.  Timeline?  Whatever it takes; could be months.  Interim note from above also applies. 

Dean of Student Affairs, etc?  Staff from that discipline, students, one or two faculty members.  Timeline?  No idea.

President?  Faculty & staff from all over campus, usually the Student Gov Pres, board members, etc.  It is a huge committee.  The process from start to finish, I'm told, can take 12-18 months from conception, to headhunters hired, to visits, to hire. 

[txgalprof]

OP-
Are you asking about admin positions or faculty positions?

[cj405]

You actually hit the nail on the head: all hiring committees are different.

In my experience, most places will tell you in advance who is on the search committee and what job they do.  Also, they will tell you their timeline if you ask.  I've seen searches take weeks or months.  

Search committees that have interviewed me usually have both faculty and various administrators because I interact with faculty often.  I could see how other jobs might not, and so the search committees might only include other administrators.  

One definite advantage is that universities' web pages make it pretty easy to find background information on the people who will be interviewing you.  

[methodsman]

Search committees for administrative positions below the muckety-muck level (i.e., deans and deanlets, provosty people) are usually hastily thrown together group of administrators and sometimes faculty who either know too much about what you are going to be hired to do (i.e., they want to get their claws into you first) or too little (i.e., they could care less and have much better things to do). Often times there is also that one person who serves on every hiring committee for a variety of reasons such as 1) they do nothing but attend meetings and, hey, a search committee looks like a meeting!, 2) they are a plant, 3) they represent a certain, oh let's say, aspect of the college.

Timelines vary, but typically whatever timeline that is established will be immediately thrown out the window as soon as the president or provost instigates yet another whole-institution reform effort or project or mandate.

Note that the job you applied for may already have an insider candidate: if you make it to the interview stage you are simply fulfilling requirements for a fair search.  Also, the funding for the job that was listed may be rescinded or moved to another unit the day after it was posted.

There are of course exceptions at those colleges which have hiring down to a science.  Small committees are hand-selected for how functional they will be in terms of personalities, strict timing of events are expected by HR or the hiring office, and secretaries are expert at greasing the hiring wheel.  But, this is often the rare exception.  If you have applied for an administrative job, expect to wait three months to hear about the status of your application, 6 months to be interviewed and 1 year to be hired. 

Here's some advice, do some research on the position.  Who was in it before?  Where did they go?  How long has it been vacant?  Is it a totally new position (there is good and bad to that)?  How many people will you report to (more than one is not good)?  What is the funding source (grant sources=you will be out of work in 2 years)?  Is your supervisor adequately credentialed? 

Isn't administrative job hunting grand!

mm

[nuznovm]

OP-
Are you asking about admin positions or faculty positions?

Admin positions only. I understand the hiring process can be drastically different between the two and when I searched the forums I came up with things mainly related to faculty positions. I guess I am trying to quell my nerves with research and understanding. hahaha.

Also thanks for all the responses thus far.