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[job12]

I wrote a thank-you note after an onsite interview, and a week later the chair replied " We very much enjoyed meeting you. Please send me the receipts if you have not done so." My wife said it was a negative sign coz it sounds like they were trying to get this over and move on. They are still interviewing other candidates and officially the wont have a decision until two weeks later. I am wondering if this reply really a negative sign or we read too much into it? Thanks for your input.

[charlesr]

You're reading too much into it.

[sugaree]

Hmmm, let me consult my tea leaves. No wait, my crystal ball....

Don't try to parse every stage of the interview - it will drive you crazy and the job search is stressful enough without imagined scenarios that are utterly impossible to interpret. IOW, you're reading way too much into it.

[litdawg]

There was a time in the not-so-distant past when paying debts quickly was a sign of integrity. It may be that the interviewer's eagerness has more to do with the desire to impress you with their sensitivity towards your desire for reimbursement. After all, if they really like you, they are worried other schools do too and that you'll be snatched away by a school that reimbursed you more quickly.

IOW, it means nothing. Send the receipts and cash the check when it comes, whether you've heard about the job or not.

[writingprof]

My wife said it was a negative sign coz it sounds like they were trying to get this over and move on.

Conversely, were they to drag their feet about reimbursing you, it would be a sure sign that they want to do so in person, perhaps while showing you to your new office.

But seriously, I get it.  Some people are curt in email.  To those of us who aren't, it can seem standoffish.  My experience is that it usually isn't meant that way.

[job12]

thank you all for your replies! This is the ONLY interview I had so far, and I am increasingly worried I could end up getting nothing...

[aprilmay]

Do not read into this. It does not mean anything.

[litdawg]

thank you all for your replies! This is the ONLY interview I had so far, and I am increasingly worried I could end up getting nothing...

They don't know that.

[dalekk]

Do not read into this. It does not mean anything.

Wrong.  It does mean something: they're trying to clear up paper work.  But it does mean nothing about your status with this job.

[bookishone]

Also, I know that for travel receipts, my department requires that we submit receipts within 30 days (or else!) because of some rule from Higher Up. It is claimed that the funds may be denied if the receipts are late, though I've never tried to push the limit. Perhaps your host was just trying to make sure your reimbursement claim was not denied due to some bureaucratic rule about timely submission of forms.

[offthemarket]

People are busy. He wanted to make sure you got reimbursed. Keep in mind - that the decision isn't made by the chair alone, and also that an absence of praise and familiarity in an email doesn't mean anything negative. I write emails with the same tone, to people I like and love, all the time.

[sagit]

If I got that email I would have thought, Wow, the SC is so thoughtful to remember that I need to be reimbursed!  I would have read it as a good sign that they are considerate of the people they are interviewing. They might also have some kind of issues with needing to get receipts within a certain amount of time (e.g. 90 days) or they can't reimburse people.  We have that rule at my university.

[cc_and_grad]

The SC chair sits in his office one day. An email arrives from the Dean's administrative assistant (or HR or whoever), hectoring him for the thousandth time about getting receipts from candidates to them in a timely manner. The next email is a thank you note from the latest interviewee. Thinking hard, the SC chair tries to reply in a neutral way (since the Dean, HR or whoever has warned him not to accidentally promise something in an email to candidates...remember that guy three years ago that was going to sue us because we said he seemed like a strong candidate but didn't hire him later?). What to say besides "thanks, we enjoyed it"? Aha, why not remind them to send along their receipts. Perfect.

The candidate sits at home one day. An email reply to his thank you note comes in "We very much enjoyed meeting you. Please send me the receipts if you have not done so." Arrgghh! They hate me!

[scion]

How familiar is your wife with the academic job hiring process?

[drnobody]

Come to think of it, I got this kind of reply twice. Once I didn't get the job; once I did. In both cases, I assumed I didn't from the neutral tone.