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On the Market

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By David S. Marks

By the first of the year, I had sent out 32 applications for faculty positions in biology (the number now stands at 40) and had made it past the first cut at six departments. Those weren't bad results, but I was beginning to get fidgety about my search for a tenure-track job.

Then interviews started to fall my way like snowflakes. Suddenly I was scheduled for six preliminary and three campus interviews at a total of eight institutions, over the course of five weeks. I found myself having to imagine what it would be like to work at a large research university, either of two public comprehensive universities, a public liberal-arts college, a secular private college, and three small colleges with religious affiliations. I'm still finishing the interviews, but my first two as a finalist were a study in contrasts.

My first campus interview was at Flagship State University. In a variety of ways, Flagship represented familiarity to me. All four of the institutions with which I have been associated in my life were large research universities: I lived next to one as a boy, and I did my undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral work at the other three.

This particular university was a known quantity: I had completed my Ph.D. at a comparable institution, and its department and Flagship's had ongoing research collaborations. I even knew the departing professor whose position was to be filled.

I also had visited Flagship's town several years earlier, and was familiar with the state's geography, culture, and nonhuman environment. Essentially, if hired, I would take on the life of my graduate-school professors, and be able to return readily to the topic of my dissertation.

In contrast, I knew little about Eastern College, where I was scheduled to have my second campus interview as a finalist. The interview itself came as a surprise because three months had passed since I sent in the application, and because colleges in its institutional category (liberal-arts college) had not shown much interest in me up to that point.

I had never visited the part of the state where Eastern was located. More important, perhaps, the dominant ecosystems of the area were ones with which I had no particular expertise. Although I come from an academic family, I have no role models who could instruct me on what life would be like as a faculty member at such a college in a semirural area. I would be playing academic dress-up in an unfamiliar context on that interview.

First, however, was the interview at Flagship State. While the university is not in a major city, arrangements were made to fly me directly into its local airport. The university paid nearly all of my expenses up front.

I was picked up at the airport, and lodged at an expensive hotel. During my interview I was chauffeured everywhere, and elaborate buffet meals materialized even for my informal meetings with graduate students. I think the department picked up the tab for two meals I had with people from the department at fancy restaurants. I certainly didn't pay. Research was the number-one mission of Flagship, and money seemed to flow to all parties.

I found the experience at Flagship to be challenging, but exhausting. My formal itinerary included 14 one-on-one meetings with faculty members, plus five group meetings over two 13-hour days.

Mercifully, a faculty interviewer occasionally spent our allotted half-hour describing his or her own research, allowing me a breather from the intense questioning about my own teaching and research plans. No doubt it didn't help that I hadn't slept well, because of the travel and because my 5-month-old son had picked that week to forget how to sleep at night. I'm sure I looked tired by the end of each day, and my facial muscles were sore from holding a perpetual smile in place.

On the whole I got a very positive impression of Flagship; the teaching assignments were appropriate, students and faculty members all seemed happy to be there, and the opportunities to conduct research looked good. I knew the work of several tenured professors, who would be in a good position to mentor my development as a researcher. However, at times I felt like I was interacting with a reincarnation of my dissertation committee, and not so much a set of future colleagues.

My preinterview suspicion seemed on target: My life at Flagship State would be very similar to that of my mentors in graduate school. I know how to play the publication game; I've got a sheaf of papers on my CV, including several in well-known journals. I very much enjoy writing papers, but I am apprehensive about the cycle of dependency on large grants that characterizes the life of a researcher.

On the other hand, I think I would equally enjoy the set of responsibilities (like a high teaching load) associated with working at a small college. I like being in the classroom. I've been nominated twice for teaching awards, and have voluntarily taken on more teaching roles than was my imperative.

With those conflicting thoughts in mind, off I headed a week later to Eastern College.

Like Flagship State, Eastern College is located near a regional airport that is served by one or two major carriers. But this time I was asked to purchase my own ticket into a major airport somewhat farther away, and wait for reimbursement. I also had to rent a car at the airport.

During the interview, Eastern faculty members were clearly paying their own way at group dinners in local restaurants, and I was "treated" to two meals in the school cafeteria. I'm not whining, just contrasting the experience with the relative luxury I encountered at Flagship.

The interview process at Eastern was much shorter, with a total of eight single and group meetings. In addition to the standard research seminar, I was asked to give a lecture in a regularly scheduled course. The latter occurred in the morning, and teaching that class had the positive effect of energizing me for the remainder of the day.

The more I learned about Eastern, the better I liked it; it has a good reputation and an interesting summer-research program. The college is located in a region with relatively intact natural areas where I could conduct outdoor classes and research projects. While I wouldn't be able to claim specific expertise on the local ecosystems, there were broad similarities to the area in which I lived before graduate school and my body of knowledge would readily apply.

Eastern is principally a teaching college, but the courseload is not outrageous and I would be given significant leeway to develop courses of interest to me. Some research activity is required, which I prefer, and there would be good access to potential field sites in an interesting and environmentally diverse area.

And, not insignificantly, the likely salary would be comparable to what I would earn at Flagship, although Eastern is in a more expensive area. The principal negative thing I can report is that I found the office and laboratory facilities to be somewhat dated, although I am predominantly a field scientist and not particularly sensitive to such considerations.

Finally, I was very happy with my interactions with professors at Eastern. Although people put their best face forward on these occasions, I got the impression that Eastern is a genuinely collegial place. While most of the professors were significantly older than me, I seemed to fit in well and could expect a cohort of colleagues of my own age to come on board over time.

The response to my candidacy seemed very positive at Eastern, with one professor telling me flat out that he hoped I got the job. They will be seeing at least one other candidate, but I am optimistic about my chances for a job offer there.

Strangely, I find that I can more easily visualize myself as a faculty member at this small college in an unfamiliar place I had never visited than at the known quantity of a research university in a familiar setting with a job description that matched that of my role models.

Perhaps that is because I felt more like a peer at Eastern, or because I took a liking to its area, or because my preferences for what I want in a job are changing.

How will it all turn out? I have at least one more campus interview scheduled and I may be selected as a finalist for other positions. We will have to wait and see.