|
leobloom
|
 |
« on: January 28, 2012, 12:08:26 PM » |
|
This Monday I received a phone call from a school I applied for a job at. The lady made sure I was still interested in the job, then said she'll get a tentative schedule of interviews ("next week or so") and send it by e-mail the next day at the latest.
Four business days have passed since, and three since I should have received the e-mail, and the e-mail didn't arrive. It crossed my mind that the search is slow, and I even verified that it's the one search which gave me two acknowledgment messages after I sent the application by e-mail. But I wonder if I should still send an e-mail inquiry or not, since time may be of essence (or it may not.)
So my question here is, is it a good risk if I e-mail the administrative assistant a short message? Yes, I found her contact information on the university website.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
f_talbot
|
|
« Reply #1 on: January 28, 2012, 01:23:10 PM » |
|
I don't understand why you would email. If I'm reading your post correctly, the administrative assistant said she would have a tentative schedule "next week or so" (i.e. in a week) and then would email the next day after that. If this description is correct, it would have to be at least eight days before you received an email. Am I misunderstanding the post here?
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
leobloom
|
|
« Reply #2 on: January 28, 2012, 01:51:23 PM » |
|
I might have gotten it wrong, what I understood was that the schedule (or more properly the available time slots) was supposed to be e-mailed to me in one day, and then the interviews will take place "next week or so".
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
msparticularity
|
|
« Reply #3 on: January 28, 2012, 02:49:13 PM » |
|
The issue is probably difficulty in getting dates scheduled where all of the people needed are available--including not only SC members but various administrators. SCs always seem to start out wanting to begin interviews "next week," and then they discover that the Dean will be out of town next week, and the following week s/he is tied up most of the time with some Super Important Thing, and the week after that the department chair will be gone several days for a conference, and on and on.
I do think, though, that it would be fine to send a short message to the administrative person, just checking back in to make certain you haven't missed a message from her. Be polite, apologize if you misunderstood her, and thank her for her help.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
"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
|
|
|
|
leobloom
|
|
« Reply #4 on: January 29, 2012, 01:24:33 AM » |
|
Thank you, MsP. Just received the confirmation, you were spot on: it was the schedule of a SC member that delayed the process.
Conclusion: take heed of the "do not call" general advice, but adapt it to your specific situation.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
polly_mer
|
|
« Reply #5 on: January 29, 2012, 08:31:22 AM » |
|
Conclusion: take heed of the "do not call" general advice, but adapt it to your specific situation.
The "do not call" advice we generally give is for someone who wants to be a pain or Sparky The Wonder Poodle eager, not someone who has let the timeline elapse as well as a slight buffer before making a "I'm just checking on the timeline" reasonable inquiry. We generally encourage people who have been given a timeline to do a short, polite check. |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
If you haven't got either the anatomical or metaphorical balls to post your own question on a pseudonymous internet forum, then academia is the wrong job for you.
|
|
|
|
msparticularity
|
|
« Reply #6 on: January 29, 2012, 01:55:46 PM » |
|
Good luck on your interview, Leobloom!
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
"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
|
|
|
|
ruralguy
|
|
« Reply #7 on: January 29, 2012, 02:30:18 PM » |
|
If you email the dept. AA, I think it would be a good idea to CC the search chair or chair of the dept, whichever you happen to know.
I might wait about a week, and then....
Just write something like:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was delighted to recieve your phone call last week discussing a potential interview schedule.
I was wondering where we currently stand with this since I wanted to be sure to plan for it adequately.
I eagerly await your updates.
Thank you so much!
-------------------------
Well, it could be better, but you get the idea.
Do NOT mention anything else!
Do not berate anywone for not being on schedule, etc.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
leobloom
|
|
« Reply #8 on: January 29, 2012, 03:28:42 PM » |
|
Ruralguy, my message was indeed along the lines you suggested. I even went to great lengths to avoid any potential adverse interpretation. To my relief, I was told I will be given ample time to prepare. Thanks again, MSP, for encouragement.
I've recently seen debates about TT>>VAP. Now in a different context, I can say about job search strategies that qualitative trumps quantitative (Zharkov's law and all that.)
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
