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zyzzx
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« on: January 03, 2012, 12:02:05 AM » |
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Been lurking for awhile, and thought I'd jump in with my first plea for advice.
Here is the story:
I'm a postdoc looking for a TT job. I had a campus interview recently at a place where I would really like to work. The interview went really well - I felt like I would fit in well, and everyone was very nice and enthusiastic about my work. They are still interviewing, and won't be able to make a decision for several weeks, so I am currently in limbo, but I am positive about my chances. A week or two after my interview, an ad was posted for another position in the same department, in an overlapping subfield. I heard nothing about a second position during the interview (although I do now know, from other sources, why position 2 came up suddenly). "Review of applications" for position 2 starts maybe two weeks before a decision is expected for position 1.
Having two positions available is great, but what (if anything) should I do? I feel like it would be really weird for me to just send in my application again while still under consideration for position 1. Emailing to ask about it seems somewhat less strange, but kind of defeatist - like I'm assuming I'll get rejected for position 1. Should I just wait for the results about position 1, and if rejected, ask if I would be considered for position 2 (since it is not a hard deadline)? Or is it possible/likely that the search committee (it's not a big place, so it will be the same committee) would be proactive and say something to me about position 2 if I'm not the first choice for position 1? They did bring me to campus, so it's not like they wouldn't remember me (hopefully). How do search committees deal with this sort of thing - when there are two fairly similar positions available, but the timelines are off? I would really love to end up at this place, in either position, so I don't want to mess things up.
Thanks, I await the wisdom of the forum.
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11thfloor
Junior member
Posts: 91
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« Reply #1 on: January 03, 2012, 01:00:54 AM » |
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I would email and ask about it, and let them know you'd be keen to apply for position two if position one didn't work out. If they want you, they will be pleased at this show of how much you want to be there. You won't seem defeatist, you will seen keen and committed and realistic about the fact that you might be an excellent candidate but still not be offered the job - we are currently interviewing candidates for a position and we had to go through 150 applications, and we now have a shortlist of five it was almost impossible to decide on from many very strong applications, and these are the ones we simply could not leave off the list. Now the problem is that we can't bear the thought of turning down any one of them. This is not meant to discourage you - only that they won't think any the less of you for considering the possibility that they may end up hiring someone else for position one no matter how much they would like to hire you. But let's hope they pick you!
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msparticularity
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« Reply #2 on: January 03, 2012, 01:08:45 AM » |
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I also would suggest you express interest in it--to the SC chair for the new search. Email, explain your situation (depending upon departmental dynamics, this SC may or may not know much about the first search), and ask whether you should submit a new application packet to be considered for this position if you are not hired for the first.
Good luck!
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"Once admit that the sole verifiable or fruitful object of knowledge is the particular set of changes that generate the object of study...and no intelligible question can be asked about what, by assumption, lies outside." John Dewey
"Be particular." Jill Conner Browne
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larryc
Hu hatin'
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 18,285
Eschew the hu.
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« Reply #3 on: January 03, 2012, 01:43:12 AM » |
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Having done a campus interview I'd pick up the phone for this one. Good luck.
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_touchedbyanoodle_
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« Reply #4 on: January 03, 2012, 07:38:36 AM » |
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This sort of thing happens all the time. It isn't defeatist to express your interest in the second position; it's practical and indicates the depth of your interest in working for them.
You will likely be asked if you want your original materials to be considered for the second position or if you have any new materials, such as a tailored cover letter.
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"Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist." -George Carlin
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seniorscholar
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« Reply #5 on: January 03, 2012, 09:54:33 AM » |
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One of my recent PhD students, in virtually the same situation, was telephoned before the final choice had been made for position 1 and asked if s/he would be interested in having materials considered for position 2, said "yes," and was offered position 2 very soon after deadline and without another campus interview. This, however, was a small department at a SLAC, where the search committees overlapped; it was evident that the quick wrap up of the second (unexpected) search had been a big relief to everyone.
Handle it as touched by a noodle suggests.
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zyzzx
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« Reply #6 on: January 03, 2012, 09:11:23 PM » |
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Thanks for the advice all, sounds like it's a consensus. I will contact the SCC (same one for both searches) and express my interest in position 2.
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