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[newromanticist]

Hi all,

A few days ago I got a call from an amazing university to come for a campus interview post-MLA.  I was/ am ecstatic. However, I've started to get really anxious because the search committee chair who called me said that her assistant would follow up to set up the visit and I haven't heard anything since.  Only a couple of days have passed, but I am starting to feel very worried about when/ if I'll hear from the assistant.  Does this mean that they're trying to arrange the other campus interviews first and that I am in last place? Is there a time after which it would be okay for me to contact the assistant myself or would I seem overeager (which I am) and inappropriate if I do this? I am thinking I may just be being neurotic in my post-interview fervor, but I am starting to get concerned and I want to know when I am going to campus so I can start preparing.  Any advice would be much appreciated!

[helpful]

Wait a few more days. This is early in the term and there are probably lots of things getting arranged now. And, no, the order of being contacted has nothing to do with anything.

[scampster]

Hi all,

A few days ago I got a call from an amazing university to come for a campus interview post-MLA.  I was/ am ecstatic. However, I've started to get really anxious because the search committee chair who called me said that her assistant would follow up to set up the visit and I haven't heard anything since.  Only a couple of days have passed, but I am starting to feel very worried about when/ if I'll hear from the assistant.  Does this mean that they're trying to arrange the other campus interviews first and that I am in last place? Is there a time after which it would be okay for me to contact the assistant myself or would I seem overeager (which I am) and inappropriate if I do this? I am thinking I may just be being neurotic in my post-interview fervor, but I am starting to get concerned and I want to know when I am going to campus so I can start preparing.  Any advice would be much appreciated!

At least wait a week before freaking out. They may indeed be arranging the other interviews first, but I doubt there is any rhyme or reason to the order in which they are doing it. I've waited over a week for someone to get back to me about actually scheduling the interview - don't read anything into that. Congrats on getting the interview! That means they like you! They aren't going to blow you off now!

On preview: what helpful said.

[fraggles]

Hi all,

A few days ago I got a call from an amazing university to come for a campus interview post-MLA.  I was/ am ecstatic. However, I've started to get really anxious because the search committee chair who called me said that her assistant would follow up to set up the visit and I haven't heard anything since.  Only a couple of days have passed, but I am starting to feel very worried about when/ if I'll hear from the assistant.  Does this mean that they're trying to arrange the other campus interviews first and that I am in last place? Is there a time after which it would be okay for me to contact the assistant myself or would I seem overeager (which I am) and inappropriate if I do this? I am thinking I may just be being neurotic in my post-interview fervor, but I am starting to get concerned and I want to know when I am going to campus so I can start preparing.  Any advice would be much appreciated!

I too would wait a few more days before getting nervous.  I got a call inviting me to campus post-MLA and the SCC told me it would take a few days to get their schedule sorted out and clear the costs of bringing candidates to campus cleared with the provost. But the committee wanted candidates to know where they stood so they were letting them know they were getting invited even though the department wasn't quite ready to set up the visits. So for now, I'm just thinking about my presentation and what I'm going to teach.

Congratulations!

[janewales]

For us, the order of arranging details is often dictated by where candidates are coming from; so, we'll set up the person who's coming from somewhere like the UK first, since that will be the most difficult, and fit the candidates who are closer geographically in around that more complex itinerary.

Congratulations on getting the interview!

[zyzzx]

I once had an email from the SC saying they'd like to interview me, and that so-and-so would contact me. Then crickets. I emailed so-and-so and asked what was up after about a week and a half. I probably would have waited longer, but I actually really needed to know the dates, since I had to schedule some field work and other travel, and my schedule was rapidly filling up (this was also how I framed my email). It went over fine, we scheduled the interview, and I was then able to fit in all my other travel. I had some kind of trip about every week for about three months, so if I'd waited it could have been a problem.
So if you're just worried, try to relax, but if you have a good reason why you need to know the dates sooner rather than later, I'd contact the assistant.

[newromanticist]

Thank you for your responses! They are very comforting.  Still no word from the SC chair's assistant. I'm really really tempted to write the assistant about scheduling something, but I don't want to seem overbearing (they shouldn't find that out about me until I get the job ;-)...).  It's just difficult to feel the high of being asked for the campus visit and then crickets, as zyzzx says. I am going to wait until tomorrow, I think, and then I might have to write for my sanity's sake.  Do you think writing is a mistake?

[scampster]

Thank you for your responses! They are very comforting.  Still no word from the SC chair's assistant. I'm really really tempted to write the assistant about scheduling something, but I don't want to seem overbearing (they shouldn't find that out about me until I get the job ;-)...).  It's just difficult to feel the high of being asked for the campus visit and then crickets, as zyzzx says. I am going to wait until tomorrow, I think, and then I might have to write for my sanity's sake.  Do you think writing is a mistake?

You've never been in contact with the assistant before, correct? So would you have to look up their contact info and all that? Don't do that and be an obsessive weirdo unless you really need an answer (like zyzzx noted, and even he waited 10 days). You can start prepping without knowing when the interview is. Don't you think the SCC's assistant will tell her about PITA candidates? You have no need to be a PITA yet. You are not being neglected.

If you are this nuts when waiting to schedule an interview, you are going to be a crazy mess when it comes to waiting for an answer, so chill the f*** out. I think I said this to someone else recently too, but I say that with all the sympathy of a fellow job seeker. Being on the market makes us all temporarily insane.

Scampster, also currently waiting to have an interview scheduled

[newromanticist]

I should chill out. Somehow, I've always been remarkably able to feel sane and calm at interviews. I am just crazy during the time in between ;-).  Thanks for the responses.

[scampster]

I should chill out. Somehow, I've always been remarkably able to feel sane and calm at interviews. I am just crazy during the time in between ;-).  Thanks for the responses.

Oh, we're all crazy with the waiting! The assistant is probably trying to get 5 or 6 search committee members to collect their schedules so they can find the days they can interview, so you e-mailing them before they have that figured out is not going to yield you any useful info. Have a drink. Relax. Work on a paper so that when you have the interview you can hand in a shiny updated CV.

[tuxedo_cat]

Ok, OP, show us your hands.

All righty, very nice.

Now show us that you know how to sit on them.  Both of them. . . c'mon, this is not that hard . . .  Excellent.

Remain in this position until your cell phone rings with that call from the assistant.  

Think of it it this way: the other two campus visit candidates are patiently going about their business.  You do not want to appear to be the High Maintenance / Possibly Lunatic one in the bunch.

Good luck!  And if you are in fact a Romanticist and you've landed a campus visit in this job climate, you get special congratulations -- that is a *rough* field these days.

[scampster]

So new_romanticist, did they finally contact you?

I'm currently sitting on my hands. It's been six days since they said "We'll get back to you about arrangements." I am more or less unavailable starting 2/17, unless they want to fly me in from another continent (I have a conference before I move - they know about the move, but not about the conference the week prior to the move).

There is almost a month still, so I keep telling myself "there's plenty of time, there's plenty of time, there's plenty of time."

There's a paper I should go work on now...