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[zyzzx]

I am not sure what to think. I've been contacted personally, asking if I'd be interested in a faculty position that won't be advertised. It's a good school, and from the little that I know about it at the moment, I'd definitely be interested. But I'm a little confused. Does this sort of thing actually happen? How does it work?
And why me? I don't know anyone in the department, and I'm not exactly well-known, so I am puzzled about how they came up with me. Actually, now that I think about it, I am guessing that they asked around and one of my mentors suggested me.
I will certainly respond and express my interest, but this is a whole new level of the "what does this mean?" question, and I am curious to hear the fora take on it.

[tortugaphd]

Don't overthink things.  Just apply for it!

[ruralguy]

Ok, yeah, first of all, AFTDJ.

But secondly, I don't get it either.

Did they really say "Its not going to be advertised?". Or, did you just sort of assume it?

If this job is in the US, and you are not a superstar who already has tenure somewhere, then I have my doubts about this really not being advertised.

Now, there ceratinly are jobs that are WEAKLY advertised, and the big candidates are gotten via the methods you mention were used on you. Or, they are advertised plenty, and the top candidates (or at least, some of the candidates) are gotten through these methods.

Please explain the nature of this position more.

But do still apply.

[zyzzx]

They said not advertised anytime soon. I checked and it's not currently listed on their HR website, although I guess that doesn't necessarily mean anything.
They didn't say anything about sending in materials or normal application stuff, just 'let us know if you're interested'.
Like I said, I'm not anywhere near a bigshot, hence the confusion.

[aprilmay]

Being asked to apply for a job is not at all unusual. Many will be asked to apply. It means that at least someone in the department thinks you have a great chance. Why someone is selected can relate to several factors. This can be their presence in the field. Even if you think you are not a superstar, maybe others disagree. Perhaps someone recommended you. Sometimes schools are looking to build minority representation on the faculty and sometimes are even tracking how many minorities they contacted. From your perspective, it really does not matter why you were asked. If you are at all interested, you should express interest. Not advertised soon does not mean not advertised. This just means they are in the early stages.

[janewales]

Solicitations to apply can be sent out quite widely, or very selectively. You can sometimes tell which sort you're looking at by the content of the invitation. If it looks very generic, if you're not a superstar, if you don't know particular people in the department who might be suggesting you as an excellent choice... then there's a good chance that the invitation is one of the broader ones. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't express an interest. By all means, if you're interested, then say so, and you will in due course find out exactly what the process will be like.

As for the advertising, I have received solicitations that came in advance of advertisements, though the letters made clear that the position would be advertised in due course. It's possible that's the sort of situation you're looking at here, too.

[zyzzx]

Thanks for the responses. I have done a little more investigation. The phrase "target of opportunity" is in the email, and is related to the bit about not advertising any time soon. Some investigation reveals that that is a phrase that can have some meaning in the hiring process.
Does that make any difference in how I should interpret this?
How does a target of opportunity position work?

I've been feeling kind of down about this year's job search, so I'm kind of wondering just how much I should get my hopes up...

[offthemarket]

Target of opportunity means that they have the opportunity to hire you because of any particular circumstances, and that you are seen as particular value to the campus and they don't need to do a search. It's a way of hiring someone and circumventing a search.

Usually, I've seen this with spousal hires and with hiring faculty from ethnic minorities to juice up the campus ratio. If you're not white/European, this could be why they want you.

[zyzzx]

Target of opportunity means that they have the opportunity to hire you because of any particular circumstances, and that you are seen as particular value to the campus and they don't need to do a search. It's a way of hiring someone and circumventing a search.

Usually, I've seen this with spousal hires and with hiring faculty from ethnic minorities to juice up the campus ratio. If you're not white/European, this could be why they want you.

Well, I'm a woman in STEM...
So where you've seen this, how does it work? Do they identify a bunch of people and make kind of an automatic short list?

[ruralguy]

If it said "target of opportunity", there may be no other candidates! However, there might be a few. Who knows. It depends on what created the ToA. If you are a woman in STEM, perhaps the school has started some sort of initiative to hire more women in certain fields.

Let me guess...you're a chemist or engineer?

Don't hiss if I am wrong---I am just guessing so since these fields have particular trouble getting women.

[ruralguy]

I just thought of something....they might have a Claire Booth Luce grant.

The CBL Foundation set up funds to promote women who wants to study and work in the sciences. Some schools have used this money
to get faculty positions, or partial funding for positions.

[offthemarket]

Chemistry has a hard time with tenure-track female faculty, definitely.

The three cases I've seen:

Two were spousal/partner hires, to keep someone from leaving the department in the near to moderate future. The third was a person who was an ethnic minority as a VAP who turned out to be outstanding, and they decided to hire the person on the spot after one year into a TT position. This school definitely has an ethnic minority problem to solve.

[zyzzx]

If it said "target of opportunity", there may be no other candidates! However, there might be a few. Who knows. It depends on what created the ToA. If you are a woman in STEM, perhaps the school has started some sort of initiative to hire more women in certain fields.

Let me guess...you're a chemist or engineer?

Don't hiss if I am wrong---I am just guessing so since these fields have particular trouble getting women.

Well, however many candidates there may be, after further contact, it's now clear that this is definitely not an invitation to apply for a normal search. Just imagine, what a potentially strange (but good!) way for my job search to end after all of the applications, interviews, and angst...

I'm actually not a chemist or engineer. While my field is, like most STEM fields, not balanced, I don't think it's one of the worst. But it does seem, anecdotally, like Universities are trying to be proactive about it, so it is unbalanced enough to be a concern. 

[ruralguy]

What can we say but "congratulations!", I guess?

Its so out of the norm that few of us would be able to comment
usefully, and my own speculation on the matter hasn't gotten us anywhere.

Let us know if this indeed leads to an offer or already is, or whatever.

[totoro]

I was hired to my current position from a short term VAP style position. They did advertise because they have to but the position was more or less created for me (we're big so there is turnover). A private university might not need to go through the formalities of advertising. In the US at the senior level this seems to be how most hiring happens as at least in my field senior positions seem to be rarely advertised yet people move around.