tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post2684432779432919096..comments2023-10-15T04:23:50.187-04:00Comments on College Misery: RYS Flashback: 7 Years Ago Today, For Those Folks On the Job Market.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-68035603733885084752016-09-21T07:19:18.077-04:002016-09-21T07:19:18.077-04:00May I jump in please? Our problems is that too ma...May I jump in please? Our problems is that too many candidates seem to have ONE and only one generic letter--for the "top" positions at the "top" universities. We don't mind a generic letter--we try to be fair and kind. But a generic letter that details in great detail research projects without a balance of teaching experience signals to us that our position may not be Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-87948063237932712372016-09-18T22:53:21.653-04:002016-09-18T22:53:21.653-04:00We ask this question before inviting candidates ou...We ask this question before inviting candidates out, only because if we didn't we'd just end up subsidizing peoples' Hawaiian vacations. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15711314415244801354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-83086263415073429592016-09-18T16:46:28.070-04:002016-09-18T16:46:28.070-04:00And in many places these days, the good outcome to...And in many places these days, the <i>good</i> outcome to someone leaving (for greener pastures, or as the result of retirement, death, dismemberment, or other means) is having to do the search over again. The decidedly less-good but increasingly common outcome is that the line disappears, or is parceled out among 3 adjuncts. <br /><br />So, although it's an absurd question from the Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-58816590890494311722016-09-18T16:37:59.464-04:002016-09-18T16:37:59.464-04:00My department campus-interviewed someone who had a...My department campus-interviewed someone who had addressed the cover letter to our nearest competitor (up top, not somewhere far down). If I'm remembering correctly, that candidate was ultimately offered the job, and turned us down. <br /><br />So no, that particular error is not an irrecoverable one. But entirely dismissing a whole teaching area (or, these days, platform/mode) can be fatalContingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-6406379076763268932016-09-18T16:33:51.003-04:002016-09-18T16:33:51.003-04:00What we're actually asking when we ask that qu...What we're actually asking when we ask that question isn't why you want to work here, but how do we know that you won't leave here in two or three years once you find an opening at a place where you really do want to work. We actually had a candidate say something along the lines of he wanted to work for us because it would be good experience. That's not exactly heartening, Prof Chiltepinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-70186530759768454032016-09-18T14:18:57.855-04:002016-09-18T14:18:57.855-04:00The one that kills me every time is 'Why do yo...The one that kills me every time is 'Why do you want to work here?'<br /><br />Hmmm... let's see.<br /><br />1. Eating and paying rent are nice.<br /><br />2. You're one of the few places hiring in my field and one the even fewer that showed any interest.<br /><br />3. The last cult murders in your little town were over a decade ago!<br /><br />This one isn't admin's faultTimuridhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11536009947822850606noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-51132257809870493142016-09-18T13:28:13.212-04:002016-09-18T13:28:13.212-04:00Yes, cover letters get a lot more (unfavorable) at...Yes, cover letters get a lot more (unfavorable) attention when they say that the candidate refuses to teach a class that is central to the position they are applying for.introvert.profhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09042783611716432247noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-4114580665141346882016-09-18T12:28:54.541-04:002016-09-18T12:28:54.541-04:00Our ridicule has at least some mercy, as we know t...Our ridicule has at least some mercy, as we know that whitewashing the sad truth must require more repressing of cognitive dissonance than we could personally muster.<br /><br />We look favorably at a candidate's regurgitation of something from our website, however fanciful that something is: at least they cared enough to go through the motion. It's more than we sometimes get from our Ogre Proctor Hephttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17428431147495287413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-34165190860536245822016-09-18T12:22:13.270-04:002016-09-18T12:22:13.270-04:00In our latest search for an assistant proffie, we ...In our latest search for an assistant proffie, we rarely held a cover letter against a candidate, not even one that still had our nearest competitor's name buried in one of the more generic paragraphs. Are we so full of ourselves that we'd demand candidates to apply to only us? For someone looking for a first TT appointment, that would be a silly strategy, and we'd rightfully count itOgre Proctor Hephttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17428431147495287413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-36563009685109933742016-09-18T10:39:34.393-04:002016-09-18T10:39:34.393-04:00Not to mention that the marketing and branding bul...Not to mention that the marketing and branding bullshit that applicants will find on our website was admin-driven, developed by highly-paid outside consultants with limited understanding of higher ed, bears little resemblance to what actually happens on the ground, and is mercilessly ridiculed by faculty.Ed Yutanenoreply@blogger.com