I have a vague acquaintance in a department at a nearby 4 year school. It's an okay place, and I usually keep my eye on their job openings.6 weeks ago they announced a full time t-t spot. The same day I got a call from the department chair about the position. She'd gotten my name from my acquaintance, and asked if I'd be applying. I told her I would, and hand delivered my letter, vita, sample of scholarship, and student evaluations the next day.
2 days later I had a phone interview with three members of the department, and then a week later I was asked to campus.
They were hiring late because of an unexpected retirement. They department was friendly, the campus pretty, and the Dean came by during my lunch to tell me that he'd heard wonderful things about me.
I went back to my shitty apartment and began imagining packing my belongings up and moving the 30 miles up the road to the big school. (I've been on a contingent full time contract at a community college for 6 years.)
The search chair called me one more time, 2 weeks ago. Sorry for the delay, just crossing some t's, etc. Will call tomorrow with the news. Everyone was knocked out by me.
A week passed. 5 more days passed.
Yesterday, I got an email that started:
"Dear undisclosed-recipient: Thank you for your application, but our position in Xxxxxxx has been filled."
Sorry, Greg. That sucks. But I would ruin the person's day by calling and expressing your surprise and making him/her squirm.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't expect the responsible party to squirm, and the person who does squirm with embarrassment probably isn't the responsible party. My guess - some Adminflake (possibly the same Dean who came by to say he's heard wonderful things about your) suddenly realized that Dr. Favourite has a spouse who has been looking for work. This option was probably 'presented' to the hiring committee sometime after your interview.
DeleteSomeone please explain to me why this is an acceptable way to treat your professional, job-seeking peers.
ReplyDeleteAnd Greg, the same thing happened to me but the fuckers took two months to say so, via snail-mail.
This has happened to me more times than I can remember. We'll definitely get ahold of you (whether we want to hire you or not) in a week, silent treatment, delaying tactic, mass rejection from HR. And then the passive voice! "Has been filled." Ugh.
ReplyDeleteWhat I dislike the most, and what I've seen as well, is the faulty form of the email: "Dear undisclosed-recipients"?
ReplyDeleteThat's bush league.
These people are assholes.
ReplyDeleteThe mass email is possibly acceptable if you're weeding out the first batch of candidates from 200 applications, but once you've conducted a phone interview and invited someone to campus, you owe them the courtesy of a phone call.
In this case, it's even worse, because Greg actually got a call from the Department Chair inquiring about whether he was going to apply. Shit like this makes my blood boil.
Yeah, it's SOP at my SLAC that if you get a phone interview, you get a call from the vice president at least. It's just common professional courtesy, seems to me.
DeleteWhen I was on the market, I got everything from form letters (when I was lucky! I still have some outstanding applications, technically) to direct notification during the interview (to be fair, I so was not qualified for that particular position, and admitted it to save us all some time). But if I had an interview, I got a personal call.
That really sucks, Greg.
ReplyDeleteA pox on them. And I'll second what Hiram^ said--that's bush league. You're better off...though right now it probably doesn't seem that way.
No question that the hiring department handled this really, really badly. I suspect that there was some sort of administration/department or within-department disagreement, and that HR regs also played a role, but the department members should have realized they had a sticky situation on their hands, and exercised appropriate caution in their interactions with you. At the very least, the chair, hiring chair, or your acquaintance could have made a phone call from a personal line to explain the situation. Even if doing so were technically against the rules, it leaves little to no record (and hence no lawsuit-fodder), and would go at least a little way in maintaining a cordial relationship with someone who is, after all, a colleague, and not so far away. At some point, they're probably going to need to hire adjuncts who also work at your place, and/or place their grad students at your place. Ending things on a sour note is a stupid move on their part.
ReplyDeleteI'd be curious to know whom they did hire, and what qualifications (or, more likely, connections) (s)he had that you didn't. I'm sure you'll be checking their website, and listening for scuttlebut. If you learn anything, please update us.
I seriously don't understand the HR lawsuit fear. Honestly, I think the standard practices already have given me an excellent case for emotional distress.
ReplyDeleteI mean, come on. I've seen faculty members open up their schools to lawsuits in more overt ways than timely and professionally informing job candidates they didn't get the job and/or interview:
Not reporting enormous conflict-of-interest consultation "fees" to the university? NO PROBLEM!
Buying personal items with grant dollars? NO PROBLEM!
Skirting ethical research practices and then lying to the IRB about it? NO PROBLEM!
Making up a conference in Jamaica and submitting it for reimbursement? NO PROBLEM!
Keeping candidates updated about their candidacy for a TT job in a professional and timely manner? NO FUCKING WAY! SOME HR PEON TOLD ME WE'D GET SUED INTO THE FUCKING STONE AGE!
That's happened to me, even down to specific members of the department assuring me that I was their first choice, only to find out that no, someone accepted the job already. It effing sucks. FUCK!
ReplyDeleteSearch committee/department members/chairs who say that kind of shit are scum. That happened to me once too: "You blew the interview away! You're our top choice!" Then, crickets.
ReplyDelete@Greg: From your side, it's easy to think that those people are evil and more powerful than you. More than likely, though, they are quite similar to you. And they might simply be insecure. Perhaps they realized that your mother used to babysit them or your PhD advisor once outwitted them in a nasty--but very memorable-- argument at a big conference thirty years ago. It's a small world, and one search committee member's neuroses can doom you, and there isn't anything you can do about it. Really, it's not about fairness and justice. People are irrational. So don't let it get to you. Sit down today and write your letter to the chair thanking hir for inviting you for the interview(s) and the interesting interactions you had with them. Next month, when the person who blackballed you dies of a heart attack, then the chair will remember you and call you up. Or maybe not. Regardless, what have you got to lose?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Bubba and would add that the department chair probably didn't write the rejection letter. Maybe the chair assumed you were treated with respect because that's how he or she would have handled it. Even if the chair did write the letter, there's no reason to burn bridges. That's what CM is here for.
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