Because one can never be too careful
Please use this thread for straight-up questions and answers regarding the assembly of dossiers, mailing practices, letters of application, interviews, job-talks, etc. Basically anything involving the process, from A to Z.
A sometimes useful, and oftentimes entertaining, site to check out is the Chronicle of Higher Education's Discussion Forum. Two particularly relevant examples are here:
The Job Seeking Experience
The Interview Process
The threads are often not apposite, but they can be a treasure-trove of laughs and morale boosts. And don't forget to check the archives on this site for the past few years.
15 comments:
Why do departments want electronic applications through HR websites as well as hard copies? It seems a bit excessive, particularly when they seem to require references to be submitted both ways...
It MIGHT be because HR does not communicate well with the department, and/or a significant number of faculty can not figure out the interwebs. At my university the HR site is very new and we've had to deal with quite a few bugs (I consider myself pretty good at simple online stuff, but even I couldn't find the letters of ref last year because they were listed under a completely illogical heading).
On the other hand, it is for these reasons that we have our dept. assistant print out things from the HR site -- we don't ask the candidates to do so.
What are some other examples of "information on teaching effectiveness" other than statements of teaching philosophy and quantitative representations of course evaluations? Does anyone include actual student comments?
You can send "representative" samples of the actual student evaluations, or provide a summary of their narrative comments as part of your teaching statement.
Quantitative data is fairly useless, imho, unless you have a baseline against which to compare it. Better to hear the students voices themselves, so long as the evaluation forms gave them a chance to reflect in that way.
Another way is to let the SC know that you are willing to send them every student eval you have (scan them all into a PDF for this - it will be handy to have) if they wish.
Good luck!
The Penn ad reads: "Candidates are to apply at facultysearches.provost.upenn.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=50817 and include a cover letter, CV, writing sample, and the names and contact information for three individuals who will write a letter of reference." Does anyone know whether this means we're not supposed to send letters and they will contact our references if they're intereested, or simply that we're supposed to inform them whose letters we're having sent? I assume it's the former, but that sentence is a bit ambiguous.
The NYU job asks for a personal statement, a cover letter, and a statement of research and goals - overkill? And isn't that just the same document x 3 (with a bit of cutting and pasting)? Why on earth do departments or HR feel the need to do things in a non-standard way that serves only to waste everybody's time?
If the Penn ad asks for "the names and contact information for three individuals who **will*** write a letter of reference," I'd assume it means that they want letters sent without their asking. If it said "would be willing to write" it would be different. But you could also ask them.
Pardon the first timer question. When offered an APA/AIA interview via e-mail, what should the response be? Obviously a "thank you" and reiteration of interest is good, but are there any questions that could/should be asked at this stage?
When offered an APA/AIA interview via e-mail, what should the response be?
No thanks. Pass it on to the next candidate. (Sorry, had to do it)
I think the best thing is to simply thank them, tell them you are looking forward to meeting them in San Antonio, and then prep like mad. Ask your advisors, however, as they should know more about etiquette than I do!
Pardon the first timer question. When offered an APA/AIA interview via e-mail, what should the response be? Obviously a "thank you" and reiteration of interest is good, but are there any questions that could/should be asked at this stage?
Yes, you'll want to ask which committee members are exceptionally weird-looking, so you can prepare yourself not to stare at them during the interview. Also, ask for a specific list of narcotics that they would prefer you not take immediately before your interview. Finally, ask if they would mind if you led the committee in a prayer before beginning the interview.
Seriously, though, no. You'll want to have one (1) question to ask them at the interview, but the time for asking substantive questions of them doesn't really come till the campus visit.
Our teaching center pushes candidates to bring full teaching portfolios to interviews with schools that are teaching-focused. It strikes me as perhaps a bit annoying to hand a committee a lot of extra paper in an interview that they may or may not care to lug around. What are thoughts on this? Should we stick with sample syllabi or have one or two teaching portfolios on hand in case it arises naturally?
At what point does the length of time taken to finish your PhD become a liability? Do SCs care if it's taken you over 8 years to finish?
Depends. Some people take forever but actually did an article or two, some people did significant work in ancillary disciplines. For them, the 8 yrs. is no liability. For those who have nothing to show for taking forever, it hurts.
Dear socio-cultural anthropologist:
Why are you asking these questions on a job wiki? These are mostly grqduate students and people with temporary jobs, and though many are smart and insightful, many of them are freaking out about the job market and striking out at people in different parts of Classics. Some are also just jerks. Would you ask advice about daycare and retirement plans at a singles bar? There is a list of Classics Depts at http://www.tlg.uci.edu/index/departments.html. Some of them share admin. with Modern Languages or Religion or Medieval Studies (Virginia Tech, Texas A&M, Penn State, Bates)
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