I had my first phone interview last week. I was so incredibly nervous I could barely speak! Anybody have good advice about dealing with phone interviews?
I had my first interview last week as well. Based on my own fumbling mistakes, my first advice is to clarify any question you don't fully understand before starting to answer it... haha. That was an embarrassing moment.
I can't offer any specific advice, but I did feel the same way when I had my first phone interviews. I do think it gets easier, much in the same way that I used to be much more nervous about the first day of a class or about giving a talk than I do today. While they (phone interviews, talks, etc.) are still stressful, the degree of stress for me is more manageable.
I would say that while every phone interview is different, there is likely to be some benefit from thinking about the questions you were asked in past interviews, and rehearsing answers to those questions and related questions. You may have to come up with a new answer in your interview, but it has helped me to have a set of "stock" answers, much like a politician, that you can improvise from.
I benefited greatly from user forums on the Chronicle of Higher Education site. I found some lists of commonly asked questions, and prepared for those types of questions. This helped me feel more prepared (an important calming step for me), and during my phone interview they did ask some of those very questions (or derivations of them). The easiest example that is virtually guaranteed to be asked in some form: "Why do you want to work here?" These are good things to think about whether they are asked directly or not.
I found it helpful to make a "cheat sheet" that I printed out and had in front of me during phone interviews. For example, I had a list of main talking points for a few of the more common questions (e.g., why are you interested in our dept/school?).
I also gave a list of frequent phone interview questions to my significant other and practiced answering them over the phone.
I just had my first phone interview with a liberal arts school today. Most of the questions were what I expected ("Why do you want to work here?" "What is your teaching style?" "Tell me about your research program and how it would fit here.") but one thing I was not prepared for was very specific ideas about courses I would teach. Not just whether or not I would teach Course X, and what would qualify me to teach Course X, but how I would structure the course, what topics I would and would not cover, and what I would do in class both during lectures and lab sections. I think I ultimately gave the same answers I would have given had I had more time to prepare, but just in case this is something you haven't through through, I recommend taking the time.
What does one wear to an interview? Are pantsuits (for women) still frowned upon? I'd like to think that "looks" don't really count during an interview for an academic position -- but I have a feeling that "looks" still do.
I had a campus interview earlier this week and I (a woman) wore a pantsuit. Female job candidates who have interviewed at my current university have also almost always worn pantsuits. So, I don't think they are frowned upon at all. I only wore a suit one day; the other two days (both half-days) I just wore nice slacks and a conservative, professional blouse.
Regarding on-campus interviews...
I was asked almost NO questions. Nearly every person with whom I had an individual meeting (deans, professors) said, "I'm here to answer your questions. So what questions do you have?" I began to run out of questions! (which is a bad thing, at least based on all the interview websites that advise you to never say all your questions have been answered.) Has this happened to anyone else? Is it unusual to be asked almost no questions and instead be encouraged to do the asking? I'm assuming the campus interview was mostly a "personality interview" because they knew enough about my credentials based on my vita and phone interview, but I have never heard of this before and am curious if other people have been asked almost no questions.
I would say wear what you are comfortable in. For an interview a couple of years ago I wore a suit and was very uncomfortable and it showed. For an interview a couple of weeks ago, I wore a comfy dress and pant-suit and was more at ease.
Re the last poster - yeah at my interview a couple of weeks ago, at almost every individual meeting everyone asked "do you have any questions for me". It was annoying after a while because I felt like they didn't really prepare for me (ie reading up on my research, etc)...and it was simply to fill the time. And that wasn't reflective of their lack of interest in my because I was the top candidate. I ended up asking them the same questions - I also had prepared questions for junior vs senior faculty for those one-on-one meetings which helped when they turned it on me.
I do think there is something to assessing your personality and how you'll fit with the department - which is again, why I say, wear something you're at ease in and is somewhat professional. You don't want your clothes to stress you out.
... and by the way, I say that only because if I were giving a talk, etc., I would want people focused on my work... not my clothing, hair, tattoos, etc.
How do you all handle cover letters? Totally form letters? A mix of form and original? Write each from scratch? Do committees even care about the cover letters?
I kind of mix and match, but it takes lots of time.
My cover letter is mostly a form with a few sentences throughout that are customized to the program. For example, I make a generalization about something I am looking for in a school, and then I follow that up with a sentence that refers to some specific aspect of their curriculum that I find appealing -- I fill in a different aspect depending on the school. I would say my cover letter has about 3 of these "fill in specifics about the school" spots.
Note that this only works if you are mostly applying to similar types of schools. If you are applying to large universities, liberal arts schools, and community colleges, I wouldn't use the same cover letter for each. At least change the order in which you talk about research vs. teaching (teaching first for liberal arts and community colleges, research first for research universities) to reflect the differing priorities. If you have time, you might make a form for each kind of school -- at a research institution, you might emphasize your interest in working with graduate students and postdocs whereas at a liberal arts school, you'll want to talk about how undergraduates fit into your research plan, and so on.
In my teaching statement, it is all a form (except for changing one school name to another) until the end, when I do a paragraph that is completely customized to the department. The research statement is all form, but again, this only works because I am applying to only one kind of school.
Although I do not have inside information to corroborate this, I would argue that the cover letter generally does not matter. If you have a stellar vita, the world's most generic form letter will not count against you; if your vita is not strong enough to put you in consideration for a given job, a 100% customize letter is not going to suddenly put you in the mix.
My approach (which has seemed to work well) has been to spend a little time customizing letters for schools that I am a) very interested in and b) think I have a legitimate shot at, but send out essentially generic form letters to everywhere else.
Whew! I need a space to let out my nervous energy. I had a couple of "phone calls" with the chair of the department, but today was my first phone interview with six committee members sitting at a table listening to me on speaker phone. My heart is still beating fast! I believe I represented who I am, but of course it is hard to get a read on their responses to my answers.
Being interviewed by 6 people over the phone sounds cruel. (Maybe "cruel" is too harsh a word, but it still seems extremely unpleasant.) I am so happy I've only had one-on-one phone interviews.
Yes, I've had both group and one-on-one phone interviews and the one-on-one interviews have led to invitations for job talks, while the group ones have not. The group phone interview is such a stilted, unnatural mode of conversation. It forces the interviewer to ask "interview-y" questions which are contrived, whereas the one-on-one format allows people to have a natural conversation. I don't feel like I can accurately represent myself in the group format!
I had one of the group interviews as well as one one-on-one conversation, and I agree with the previous poster- the group format felt very contrived. In some ways, I think I felt more comfortable than the interviewers did. It just did not work. (And yeah, no on-campus interview from that one.)
I had two group format interviews, one of which was even recorded as one of the committee members was not there. It was actually not as bad as I was expecting - that being said, one was way more forced while the other was much more comfortable. Don't know about interviews yet, still waiting to see... but someone has to get the in person calls from these things, right?
I had one group interview that was totally scripted! They read off a prewritten script and it was totally contrived. I instantly became uninterested in that school. I know they do this for everyone because 2 of my friends had the exact same scripted conversation.
I had a nice group phone interview (4 interview committee members and me). They took turns asking questions, some of which were pre-prepared and some of which were in response to what I talked about in my previous answers. There were a couple of awkward silences while people decided who would ask a question next, but otherwise, it was pretty comfortable. I did end up interviewing there (fingers crossed for an offer!) and the in-person interview was also very low stress, so maybe what we're seeing here is more about the personality of departments than a problem with the group interview as a technique.
Is it common to not receive your interview schedule until you arrive? I've had two interviews and I didn't receive my schedule for either until the day I arrived. For one of them I didn't even know what day my job talk would be (for the other, I knew the day but not if it would be in the morning, afternoon, etc.). Has this happened to other people, or is it more common to receive your schedule before you arrive? It's stressful not knowing who I'm meeting, when my talk will be, etc.
For the one interview I've had, I got my itinerary via email the day before the interview (though I did have to call and push for it a little bit). I think they do throw these things together somewhat last minute, but it's messed up (imo) not to give you at least a little bit of a heads up re: who you will be meeting with and when you'll be speaking.
I also got my schedule 2 days before and had to push for it a bit, but they were on a tight schedule (they flew me out 1.5 weeks after they offered me the interview). I wish I had had more time to read papers, but if you don't know until you get there, know something about everyone in the department (especially people in your area) and prepare good general questions. I also find that most places would rather you do your talk in the morning. That way, they have something to talk to you about during your individual meetings. If you are doing your talk late in the day, you'll spend all day talking about what you are going to talk about.
I totally agree with the poster Dec 12 6:08am that the format of the phone interview (group versus one-on-one) may reflect highly on the personality of the department. Departments that feel they need to do a structured and contrived "interview-y" type group phone interview (as the poster on Dec 11 12:38pm put it) may be a very different place to work than the kind of department that does a more informal one-on-one phone interview that pulls for more natural conversation. Not the type of place I'd want to be!
On my last interview, I received my itinerary on the morning of the first day. All I knew in advance of my visit was the day and time of my job talk because it was posted on the department's web calendar.
Does anyone else have multiple interviews scheduled in January? I have some interviews back to back. I know I am very fortunate, but I am concerned about the possibility of trying to schedule interviews. I was caught off guard with a call today (no phone interview, just straight to campus interview) and they wanted me there on the days that I was already scheduled to go to other schools. I didn't know what to do so I had to explain my situation. The person on the phone was extremely helpful, but mentioned that s/he would not tell the other committee members about my other interviews. Has anyone else had this issue? Is it bad to tell them you have other interviews? I felt a bit awkward, but the person was understanding (however I get the impression that it is not good to tell them about scheduling conflicts). Any advice or similar experiences?
Personally I think it's great that they know you have other interviews - makes you more desirable and competitive in their eyes. Be prepared though to answer during the visit how you rank them with your other interviews.
I agree with the response on December 17, 2008 5:53 AM. Just like you know that every school you're interviewing at is interviewing other candidates, every school knows that you're interviewing at other schools. The good thing about this is that it sometimes encourages schools to work more efficiently to get an offer out (especially if they know you already have an offer on the table and are feeling pressure to make a decision).
I've even heard of people creating the illusion of additional interviews by not responding to emails/phone calls for a few days, then saying something like "I'm sorry I was unavoidably out of contact for a few days last week." Although that seems to be taking it a bit too far...just be honest.
I'll admit that I have misled schools a bit on other interviews. One school sent me an email to do a phone interview the next day (a friday). I responded that I was "travelling" and would need to do the phone interview on Monday. The travelling part was true, but I neglected to mention that I was travelling to a wedding. I know they thought that I was at another interview. I don't feel bad about it. They do all sorts of things to make you think they are elite and impressive, why shouldn't you do the same?
My understanding is that you can mention things like "my husband works for a company that has offices all over the country, including this city" during the interview (it lets them know you are serious about relocation and have thought it through) but save things like "my husband needs you to help him find a job" for after you receive an offer and you have some leverage.
Recall that it is illegal for schools to ask you about your marital standing (unless you bring it up). That being said, schools with quality hiring offices will often say "I don't know what your marital standing is, but we do have an excelent spousal relocation office that can help him/her spouses/significant others find a job."
If you're at all nervous about broaching this topic, I would recommend waiting until you get a verbal offer and are in decision-making mode.
Both my spouse and I are on the job market this year. In fact, we are both in the same area of psychology, so we are applying to the same jobs. We asked a number of faculty members about this exact issue. Some of them told us not to mention anything until one of us gets an offer (one person even told me I should take off my ring at the interview). However, a number of people, including the chair of our department, advised us to tell them sooner than later. The chair even mentioned that, from his/her perspective, it is better to tell them as early as possible (e.g., before leaving the interview) so that he/she can try to “find” something for the spouse. We decided to take this latter approach. In fact, we told people during our phone interviews (at least for the schools that are located in small towns). This approach didn’t seem to scare too many people off. I got three interviews and my spouse got one. For the places I visited, one person at a small liberal arts school said that they probably couldn’t find a position for my spouse for a couple of years; however, they again still invited me out for an interview. Another school (R1) said they were glad that I told them early so they can look for a position for my spouse. Although they ended up offering the job to someone else, the chair told me during the interview that if I were to receive an offer they would be able to accommodate my spouse (i.e., he/she did indeed “look” around for a position). The final school (also a R1) offered us both tenure track positions in the department.
Of course, I realize there are probably some people on search committees that might be scared away by our approach – though, it is illegal for schools to discriminate against applicants because of marital status – it didn’t seem to hurt us too much/at all. I actually felt better knowing that they “knew” during the interview. I think it would have been hard to not talk about my spouse at least a little bit during the 15+ hours of the interview - Not because I am a freak who is too obsessed with my spouse, but because my research gets really boring to talk about after about 15 minutes.
My partner and I are also in the same field looking for tenure-track jobs. If you don't mind sharing, how many publications do you each have and do you already have your Ph.D.s or are you ABD? I have an offer but haven't brought up my partner yet and feel uncomfortable doing so, but it sounds like you had a lot of success with it. I don't know if either of our qualifications are amazing enough for the university to go through the trouble of finding my partner a position. How did you bring it up during negotiations? I am only just starting to negotiate salary and start-up now and I am rushed to make the decision, so I am afraid to bring it up because it might make the negotiations even more difficult.
We don’t have our PhDs yet. We have been told that we are “competitive” by a number of faculty members but I don’t think that should influence whether you should or shouldn’t tell them about your spouse - if you get an interview (even a phone interview) you are also “competitive” for that position. If you are in the negotiation phase I would definitely tell them about your spouse. From what I have been told, this is one of the few times were you have any sort of “power” -They can’t take away the offer so I don’t think it would hurt to ask. We decided that if people on the search committee were going to be upset with our situation, we probably wouldn’t be happy in that department anyway. Though, I know how stressful this process is so I understand if you don’t want to take a chance on anything. Does anyone else have other suggestions?
I really agree with your approach about being open and honest with a department if personal things are asked or hinted at - because if you are and they don't like it, then maybe that's not the department for you. True, they can't ask you about personal things but I really don't mind discussing it with search committees or with individual faculty. For me, it's almost a good test of how a department will fit with me in seeing their reaction to my personal life.
And I agree about the other poster who has an offer - yes, definitely tell them about your spouse. You have an offer and so you're really now in the driver's seat to some extent.
Since we are talking about spouses, does anyone have any advice for a same-sex couple? I have a couple of interviews coming up and I tend mention my family in conversation. We have a young daughter and would be interested in schools, etc. My partner does not think it would be wise to talk about my family, but I think it would be a good time to check out the atmosphere of the department. Any advice? Similar situations?
I would highly suggest being open about your situation, it's best to know if your colleagues (or a dean!) have any problems with your situation before you move your life. Generally speaking universities are very liberal (excepting universities that want you to respond to their "mission statement" ;) ) but it's better being safe than sorry. Worst case scenario, you don't get the job because they are homophobes. But seriously, better to know that ahead of time rather than 6 months into a job that will not grand you tenure. On a side note, when my spouse was an undergrad at a (very) liberal arts college, one of the professors didn't come out until he received tenure. (He literally ran through the halls shouting, they gave me tenure and I'm a fag!) But if I were in your situation I'd be upfront from the get go honestly.
Best of luck everyone! (I'm still waiting to hear if choice #1 of big state school turns them down so I can accept the position....)
I don´t personally have a same sex partner, but I have friends who have been in your situation. From what I have heard from them, there is absolutley nothing to worry about. No one seemed to care at all about their same-sex partnership and treated the situation like any other spouse who would need to relocate to the area. Most universities will welcome the diversity.
On the positive side, the partner also needing an academic job situation seemed to work better for my homosexual friends than my friends with a serious (but unmarried) heterosexual partner. The universities seemed to not take them as seriously because they were not married, but had no government-sponsored way of judging the seriousness of the homosexual couples.
In my limited experience, even the Psychology Departments at relatively conservative universities tend to be quite liberal. Thus, I wouldn't be too concerned with brining it up at the dept. level.
Upper administrators, on the other hand, may be more of a crapshoot (e.g., typically older, possibly from a not-so-liberal discipline). Plus, department-level decisions are made in the open so someone would have to come up with a bogus argument as to why they shouldn't hire you or run the risk of alienating his/her peers by stating homophobic reasons. Deans, on the other hand, can torpedo a department's decision for any reason they want; thus, if he/she is a homophobe, he/she can exercise his/her prejudice in private without being held accountable for it.
Lastly, perhaps you should think about contacting the University's LGBTA society to see if they can give you any advice (even steer you toward allies in the department who you know you can speak freely with).
Extra bit of advice on online application submission. I found out that one school had received none of my application materials even though I had correctly uploaded them all to their HR site. It's the standard employment application software used by lots of schools - create a username/password, upload documents...etc. - but for whatever reason did not work. Anyway, you may want to particularly follow up on these online apps as compared with mailed hard copies. Not really the the department's fault but it still sucks.
Looking for some advice. Is anyone else doing multiple job talks one after another. I have some that are so tight that I can't even make a flight in time and will have to drive to the new location (all in different states). I am concerned about being completely exhausted but want to present myself in the best light. I tend to rely on caffeine but am afraid I will crash. Any other suggestions or just grin and bear it!
I was really shocked at how exhausted I was after each interview. Although it's obviously not physically taxing, traveling and (especially) constantly having to be "on" are things that I am really not used to (being a grad student and whatnot).
Thus, I would do everything in my power to make sure I have at least a day (ideally more) between each of my interviews. Otherwise, hope that you sleep well in strange places and don't count on getting any work done (or really even keeping up with emails)...good luck!
Lastly, if you can afford to do so, I would also recommend only doing on-sites at places you're sincerely interested in. This is not only good for your own sanity, but also only fair to the hiring institution.
Is there a polite/ acceptable way to turn down an interview? I recently decided not to pursue several jobs to which I applied because of the geographical area (areas particularly hard hit by the economic situation and thus less likely to accommodate my spouse's career). I had bee planning to email these places to deactivate my applications, but had not yet, and today received an interview offer. Obviously its better to let them know now, but does anyone have experience turning down interviews and have advice? It is a small field and I don't want to burn bridges by upsetting anyone.
RE: Politely turning down an interview: I think precisely what you just said in your post would be appropriate. Be honest, straightforward, and don’t make a big scene out of it.
That being said, are you sure this is a good idea? Do you have another job lined up? If not, do you have a fallback plan for next year if nothing else comes through? After all, searches are continuing to be canceled to this day.
I'm not an animal researcher, but some of my friends are. In their cases they negotiated for their animals to be "taken care of" despite the outcome of their carreer at the university (dont'd get tenure, lack of funding, etc.). Some animals, especially monkeys, live for a very long time. In their contract, the university stated that they would be responsible for moving them to another lab or sanctuary should the researcher not be able to continue.
I know some people have negotiated to delay their contract for a year. For example, start in Aug 2010 instead of August 2009. Let's say I'm in a position where I would need to do this, when do you bring this up and how do you approach the subject?
From what I've heard, most departments are quite understanding of the need to defer a year. During the negotiation process, I would just say "I'm really excited about this job and I'd love to make this work. Right now, I believe that it would be best for myself and my family to have a little extra time before I begin. I think an August 2010 start date would be best." From what I've been hearing, most deans would be thrilled to not have to shell out the thousands of dollars in start up right now.
For Clinical people: If you aren't yet licensed, have you been able to negotiate time in your contract for hours towards licensure? How should I handle this situation?
I didn't provide an estimate of start-up during my interviews, but rather let the Dean and the department members discuss "typical" start-up and other sources of internal funding. This is a nice way to see what the financial climate is like at both the departmental and university levels, and should provide you with enough information about whether or not it would be an amount you could work with to get your lab running...
Honestly, I think it's a better idea to wait until there's an offer on the table to lay down your start-up expectations. It's sort of like telling them what type of salary you want during the interview. Unless they press you for an estimate, it's just not the right time...
I was asked about both salary and start-up during an interview and the start-up figure I gave was 55k higher than what they ultimately offered. But, I was made an offer, so I don't think the very high start-up impacted me negatively. However, I did ask for unreasonably low salary, so maybe they laughed at me and thought that made up for the large start-up request. :)
I just had a phone interview two weeks ago and was told they would let me know "shortly" whether or not I was invited for an on campus visit. I don't know how many other candidates had phone interviews scheduled (the position is an assistant-level faculty position at a private four-year institution). How long should I wait before I contact the school to inquire about the status of the job and the hiring process?
I disagree. At this point in the hiring season I think it's okay to contact them, tell them you're still interested, and say you just want to get a feel for what to expect. If you express enthusiasm and don't put pressure on them, I don't know what the harm would be.
62 comments:
I had my first phone interview last week. I was so incredibly nervous I could barely speak! Anybody have good advice about dealing with phone interviews?
I had my first interview last week as well. Based on my own fumbling mistakes, my first advice is to clarify any question you don't fully understand before starting to answer it... haha. That was an embarrassing moment.
I can't offer any specific advice, but I did feel the same way when I had my first phone interviews. I do think it gets easier, much in the same way that I used to be much more nervous about the first day of a class or about giving a talk than I do today. While they (phone interviews, talks, etc.) are still stressful, the degree of stress for me is more manageable.
I would say that while every phone interview is different, there is likely to be some benefit from thinking about the questions you were asked in past interviews, and rehearsing answers to those questions and related questions. You may have to come up with a new answer in your interview, but it has helped me to have a set of "stock" answers, much like a politician, that you can improvise from.
I benefited greatly from user forums on the Chronicle of Higher Education site. I found some lists of commonly asked questions, and prepared for those types of questions. This helped me feel more prepared (an important calming step for me), and during my phone interview they did ask some of those very questions (or derivations of them). The easiest example that is virtually guaranteed to be asked in some form: "Why do you want to work here?" These are good things to think about whether they are asked directly or not.
I found it helpful to make a "cheat sheet" that I printed out and had in front of me during phone interviews. For example, I had a list of main talking points for a few of the more common questions (e.g., why are you interested in our dept/school?).
I also gave a list of frequent phone interview questions to my significant other and practiced answering them over the phone.
I just had my first phone interview with a liberal arts school today. Most of the questions were what I expected ("Why do you want to work here?" "What is your teaching style?" "Tell me about your research program and how it would fit here.") but one thing I was not prepared for was very specific ideas about courses I would teach. Not just whether or not I would teach Course X, and what would qualify me to teach Course X, but how I would structure the course, what topics I would and would not cover, and what I would do in class both during lectures and lab sections. I think I ultimately gave the same answers I would have given had I had more time to prepare, but just in case this is something you haven't through through, I recommend taking the time.
What does one wear to an interview? Are pantsuits (for women) still frowned upon? I'd like to think that "looks" don't really count during an interview for an academic position -- but I have a feeling that "looks" still do.
During an interview, is it appropriate to ask how many other candidates they are considering?
RE: 11/22 7:18pm: What to wear
I had a campus interview earlier this week and I (a woman) wore a pantsuit. Female job candidates who have interviewed at my current university have also almost always worn pantsuits. So, I don't think they are frowned upon at all. I only wore a suit one day; the other two days (both half-days) I just wore nice slacks and a conservative, professional blouse.
Regarding on-campus interviews...
I was asked almost NO questions. Nearly every person with whom I had an individual meeting (deans, professors) said, "I'm here to answer your questions. So what questions do you have?" I began to run out of questions! (which is a bad thing, at least based on all the interview websites that advise you to never say all your questions have been answered.) Has this happened to anyone else? Is it unusual to be asked almost no questions and instead be encouraged to do the asking? I'm assuming the campus interview was mostly a "personality interview" because they knew enough about my credentials based on my vita and phone interview, but I have never heard of this before and am curious if other people have been asked almost no questions.
I would say wear what you are comfortable in. For an interview a couple of years ago I wore a suit and was very uncomfortable and it showed. For an interview a couple of weeks ago, I wore a comfy dress and pant-suit and was more at ease.
Re the last poster - yeah at my interview a couple of weeks ago, at almost every individual meeting everyone asked "do you have any questions for me". It was annoying after a while because I felt like they didn't really prepare for me (ie reading up on my research, etc)...and it was simply to fill the time. And that wasn't reflective of their lack of interest in my because I was the top candidate. I ended up asking them the same questions - I also had prepared questions for junior vs senior faculty for those one-on-one meetings which helped when they turned it on me.
I do think there is something to assessing your personality and how you'll fit with the department - which is again, why I say, wear something you're at ease in and is somewhat professional. You don't want your clothes to stress you out.
Re: What to wear...
Thanks for the clothing advice... I will opt for a comfortable pant suit. I'm hoping for the day when jeans and tennies are staple interview garb.
Should one be concerned about visible tattoos or piercings during interviews?
Regarding tattoos and piercings, I would imagine that if it could be distracting it might be a concern...?
... and by the way, I say that only because if I were giving a talk, etc., I would want people focused on my work... not my clothing, hair, tattoos, etc.
How do you all handle cover letters? Totally form letters? A mix of form and original? Write each from scratch? Do committees even care about the cover letters?
I kind of mix and match, but it takes lots of time.
My cover letter is mostly a form with a few sentences throughout that are customized to the program. For example, I make a generalization about something I am looking for in a school, and then I follow that up with a sentence that refers to some specific aspect of their curriculum that I find appealing -- I fill in a different aspect depending on the school. I would say my cover letter has about 3 of these "fill in specifics about the school" spots.
Note that this only works if you are mostly applying to similar types of schools. If you are applying to large universities, liberal arts schools, and community colleges, I wouldn't use the same cover letter for each. At least change the order in which you talk about research vs. teaching (teaching first for liberal arts and community colleges, research first for research universities) to reflect the differing priorities. If you have time, you might make a form for each kind of school -- at a research institution, you might emphasize your interest in working with graduate students and postdocs whereas at a liberal arts school, you'll want to talk about how undergraduates fit into your research plan, and so on.
In my teaching statement, it is all a form (except for changing one school name to another) until the end, when I do a paragraph that is completely customized to the department. The research statement is all form, but again, this only works because I am applying to only one kind of school.
Although I do not have inside information to corroborate this, I would argue that the cover letter generally does not matter. If you have a stellar vita, the world's most generic form letter will not count against you; if your vita is not strong enough to put you in consideration for a given job, a 100% customize letter is not going to suddenly put you in the mix.
My approach (which has seemed to work well) has been to spend a little time customizing letters for schools that I am a) very interested in and b) think I have a legitimate shot at, but send out essentially generic form letters to everywhere else.
Whew! I need a space to let out my nervous energy. I had a couple of "phone calls" with the chair of the department, but today was my first phone interview with six committee members sitting at a table listening to me on speaker phone. My heart is still beating fast! I believe I represented who I am, but of course it is hard to get a read on their responses to my answers.
Being interviewed by 6 people over the phone sounds cruel. (Maybe "cruel" is too harsh a word, but it still seems extremely unpleasant.) I am so happy I've only had one-on-one phone interviews.
Yes, I've had both group and one-on-one phone interviews and the one-on-one interviews have led to invitations for job talks, while the group ones have not. The group phone interview is such a stilted, unnatural mode of conversation. It forces the interviewer to ask "interview-y" questions which are contrived, whereas the one-on-one format allows people to have a natural conversation. I don't feel like I can accurately represent myself in the group format!
I had one of the group interviews as well as one one-on-one conversation, and I agree with the previous poster- the group format felt very contrived. In some ways, I think I felt more comfortable than the interviewers did. It just did not work. (And yeah, no on-campus interview from that one.)
I had two group format interviews, one of which was even recorded as one of the committee members was not there. It was actually not as bad as I was expecting - that being said, one was way more forced while the other was much more comfortable. Don't know about interviews yet, still waiting to see... but someone has to get the in person calls from these things, right?
I had one group interview that was totally scripted! They read off a prewritten script and it was totally contrived. I instantly became uninterested in that school. I know they do this for everyone because 2 of my friends had the exact same scripted conversation.
I had a nice group phone interview (4 interview committee members and me). They took turns asking questions, some of which were pre-prepared and some of which were in response to what I talked about in my previous answers. There were a couple of awkward silences while people decided who would ask a question next, but otherwise, it was pretty comfortable. I did end up interviewing there (fingers crossed for an offer!) and the in-person interview was also very low stress, so maybe what we're seeing here is more about the personality of departments than a problem with the group interview as a technique.
Is it common to not receive your interview schedule until you arrive? I've had two interviews and I didn't receive my schedule for either until the day I arrived. For one of them I didn't even know what day my job talk would be (for the other, I knew the day but not if it would be in the morning, afternoon, etc.). Has this happened to other people, or is it more common to receive your schedule before you arrive? It's stressful not knowing who I'm meeting, when my talk will be, etc.
For the one interview I've had, I got my itinerary via email the day before the interview (though I did have to call and push for it a little bit). I think they do throw these things together somewhat last minute, but it's messed up (imo) not to give you at least a little bit of a heads up re: who you will be meeting with and when you'll be speaking.
I also got my schedule 2 days before and had to push for it a bit, but they were on a tight schedule (they flew me out 1.5 weeks after they offered me the interview). I wish I had had more time to read papers, but if you don't know until you get there, know something about everyone in the department (especially people in your area) and prepare good general questions. I also find that most places would rather you do your talk in the morning. That way, they have something to talk to you about during your individual meetings. If you are doing your talk late in the day, you'll spend all day talking about what you are going to talk about.
I totally agree with the poster Dec 12 6:08am that the format of the phone interview (group versus one-on-one) may reflect highly on the personality of the department. Departments that feel they need to do a structured and contrived "interview-y" type group phone interview (as the poster on Dec 11 12:38pm put it) may be a very different place to work than the kind of department that does a more informal one-on-one phone interview that pulls for more natural conversation. Not the type of place I'd want to be!
On my last interview, I received my itinerary on the morning of the first day. All I knew in advance of my visit was the day and time of my job talk because it was posted on the department's web calendar.
Does anyone else have multiple interviews scheduled in January? I have some interviews back to back. I know I am very fortunate, but I am concerned about the possibility of trying to schedule interviews. I was caught off guard with a call today (no phone interview, just straight to campus interview) and they wanted me there on the days that I was already scheduled to go to other schools. I didn't know what to do so I had to explain my situation. The person on the phone was extremely helpful, but mentioned that s/he would not tell the other committee members about my other interviews. Has anyone else had this issue? Is it bad to tell them you have other interviews? I felt a bit awkward, but the person was understanding (however I get the impression that it is not good to tell them about scheduling conflicts). Any advice or similar experiences?
Personally I think it's great that they know you have other interviews - makes you more desirable and competitive in their eyes. Be prepared though to answer during the visit how you rank them with your other interviews.
I agree with the response on December 17, 2008 5:53 AM. Just like you know that every school you're interviewing at is interviewing other candidates, every school knows that you're interviewing at other schools. The good thing about this is that it sometimes encourages schools to work more efficiently to get an offer out (especially if they know you already have an offer on the table and are feeling pressure to make a decision).
I've even heard of people creating the illusion of additional interviews by not responding to emails/phone calls for a few days, then saying something like "I'm sorry I was unavoidably out of contact for a few days last week." Although that seems to be taking it a bit too far...just be honest.
I'll admit that I have misled schools a bit on other interviews. One school sent me an email to do a phone interview the next day (a friday). I responded that I was "travelling" and would need to do the phone interview on Monday. The travelling part was true, but I neglected to mention that I was travelling to a wedding. I know they thought that I was at another interview. I don't feel bad about it. They do all sorts of things to make you think they are elite and impressive, why shouldn't you do the same?
Does anybody have any suggestions about when in the interview process one should mention a spouse who is also looking for a job?
My understanding is that you can mention things like "my husband works for a company that has offices all over the country, including this city" during the interview (it lets them know you are serious about relocation and have thought it through) but save things like "my husband needs you to help him find a job" for after you receive an offer and you have some leverage.
Recall that it is illegal for schools to ask you about your marital standing (unless you bring it up). That being said, schools with quality hiring offices will often say "I don't know what your marital standing is, but we do have an excelent spousal relocation office that can help him/her spouses/significant others find a job."
If you're at all nervous about broaching this topic, I would recommend waiting until you get a verbal offer and are in decision-making mode.
Both my spouse and I are on the job market this year. In fact, we are both in the same area of psychology, so we are applying to the same jobs. We asked a number of faculty members about this exact issue. Some of them told us not to mention anything until one of us gets an offer (one person even told me I should take off my ring at the interview). However, a number of people, including the chair of our department, advised us to tell them sooner than later. The chair even mentioned that, from his/her perspective, it is better to tell them as early as possible (e.g., before leaving the interview) so that he/she can try to “find” something for the spouse. We decided to take this latter approach. In fact, we told people during our phone interviews (at least for the schools that are located in small towns). This approach didn’t seem to scare too many people off. I got three interviews and my spouse got one. For the places I visited, one person at a small liberal arts school said that they probably couldn’t find a position for my spouse for a couple of years; however, they again still invited me out for an interview. Another school (R1) said they were glad that I told them early so they can look for a position for my spouse. Although they ended up offering the job to someone else, the chair told me during the interview that if I were to receive an offer they would be able to accommodate my spouse (i.e., he/she did indeed “look” around for a position). The final school (also a R1) offered us both tenure track positions in the department.
Of course, I realize there are probably some people on search committees that might be scared away by our approach – though, it is illegal for schools to discriminate against applicants because of marital status – it didn’t seem to hurt us too much/at all. I actually felt better knowing that they “knew” during the interview. I think it would have been hard to not talk about my spouse at least a little bit during the 15+ hours of the interview - Not because I am a freak who is too obsessed with my spouse, but because my research gets really boring to talk about after about 15 minutes.
RE: last post.
My partner and I are also in the same field looking for tenure-track jobs. If you don't mind sharing, how many publications do you each have and do you already have your Ph.D.s or are you ABD? I have an offer but haven't brought up my partner yet and feel uncomfortable doing so, but it sounds like you had a lot of success with it. I don't know if either of our qualifications are amazing enough for the university to go through the trouble of finding my partner a position. How did you bring it up during negotiations? I am only just starting to negotiate salary and start-up now and I am rushed to make the decision, so I am afraid to bring it up because it might make the negotiations even more difficult.
We don’t have our PhDs yet. We have been told that we are “competitive” by a number of faculty members but I don’t think that should influence whether you should or shouldn’t tell them about your spouse - if you get an interview (even a phone interview) you are also “competitive” for that position. If you are in the negotiation phase I would definitely tell them about your spouse. From what I have been told, this is one of the few times were you have any sort of “power” -They can’t take away the offer so I don’t think it would hurt to ask. We decided that if people on the search committee were going to be upset with our situation, we probably wouldn’t be happy in that department anyway. Though, I know how stressful this process is so I understand if you don’t want to take a chance on anything. Does anyone else have other suggestions?
Re: Dec 18 at 7:04
I really agree with your approach about being open and honest with a department if personal things are asked or hinted at - because if you are and they don't like it, then maybe that's not the department for you. True, they can't ask you about personal things but I really don't mind discussing it with search committees or with individual faculty. For me, it's almost a good test of how a department will fit with me in seeing their reaction to my personal life.
And I agree about the other poster who has an offer - yes, definitely tell them about your spouse. You have an offer and so you're really now in the driver's seat to some extent.
Since we are talking about spouses, does anyone have any advice for a same-sex couple? I have a couple of interviews coming up and I tend mention my family in conversation. We have a young daughter and would be interested in schools, etc. My partner does not think it would be wise to talk about my family, but I think it would be a good time to check out the atmosphere of the department. Any advice? Similar situations?
Re: Same sex couple.
I would highly suggest being open about your situation, it's best to know if your colleagues (or a dean!) have any problems with your situation before you move your life. Generally speaking universities are very liberal (excepting universities that want you to respond to their "mission statement" ;) ) but it's better being safe than sorry. Worst case scenario, you don't get the job because they are homophobes. But seriously, better to know that ahead of time rather than 6 months into a job that will not grand you tenure. On a side note, when my spouse was an undergrad at a (very) liberal arts college, one of the professors didn't come out until he received tenure. (He literally ran through the halls shouting, they gave me tenure and I'm a fag!) But if I were in your situation I'd be upfront from the get go honestly.
Best of luck everyone! (I'm still waiting to hear if choice #1 of big state school turns them down so I can accept the position....)
I don´t personally have a same sex partner, but I have friends who have been in your situation. From what I have heard from them, there is absolutley nothing to worry about. No one seemed to care at all about their same-sex partnership and treated the situation like any other spouse who would need to relocate to the area. Most universities will welcome the diversity.
On the positive side, the partner also needing an academic job situation seemed to work better for my homosexual friends than my friends with a serious (but unmarried) heterosexual partner. The universities seemed to not take them as seriously because they were not married, but had no government-sponsored way of judging the seriousness of the homosexual couples.
In my limited experience, even the Psychology Departments at relatively conservative universities tend to be quite liberal. Thus, I wouldn't be too concerned with brining it up at the dept. level.
Upper administrators, on the other hand, may be more of a crapshoot (e.g., typically older, possibly from a not-so-liberal discipline). Plus, department-level decisions are made in the open so someone would have to come up with a bogus argument as to why they shouldn't hire you or run the risk of alienating his/her peers by stating homophobic reasons. Deans, on the other hand, can torpedo a department's decision for any reason they want; thus, if he/she is a homophobe, he/she can exercise his/her prejudice in private without being held accountable for it.
Lastly, perhaps you should think about contacting the University's LGBTA society to see if they can give you any advice (even steer you toward allies in the department who you know you can speak freely with).
Extra bit of advice on online application submission. I found out that one school had received none of my application materials even though I had correctly uploaded them all to their HR site. It's the standard employment application software used by lots of schools - create a username/password, upload documents...etc. - but for whatever reason did not work. Anyway, you may want to particularly follow up on these online apps as compared with mailed hard copies. Not really the the department's fault but it still sucks.
Looking for some advice. Is anyone else doing multiple job talks one after another. I have some that are so tight that I can't even make a flight in time and will have to drive to the new location (all in different states). I am concerned about being completely exhausted but want to present myself in the best light. I tend to rely on caffeine but am afraid I will crash. Any other suggestions or just grin and bear it!
RE Multiple Interviews:
I was really shocked at how exhausted I was after each interview. Although it's obviously not physically taxing, traveling and (especially) constantly having to be "on" are things that I am really not used to (being a grad student and whatnot).
Thus, I would do everything in my power to make sure I have at least a day (ideally more) between each of my interviews. Otherwise, hope that you sleep well in strange places and don't count on getting any work done (or really even keeping up with emails)...good luck!
Lastly, if you can afford to do so, I would also recommend only doing on-sites at places you're sincerely interested in. This is not only good for your own sanity, but also only fair to the hiring institution.
Is there a polite/ acceptable way to turn down an interview? I recently decided not to pursue several jobs to which I applied because of the geographical area (areas particularly hard hit by the economic situation and thus less likely to accommodate my spouse's career). I had bee planning to email these places to deactivate my applications, but had not yet, and today received an interview offer. Obviously its better to let them know now, but does anyone have experience turning down interviews and have advice? It is a small field and I don't want to burn bridges by upsetting anyone.
RE: Politely turning down an interview: I think precisely what you just said in your post would be appropriate. Be honest, straightforward, and don’t make a big scene out of it.
That being said, are you sure this is a good idea? Do you have another job lined up? If not, do you have a fallback plan for next year if nothing else comes through? After all, searches are continuing to be canceled to this day.
Does anyone have any guidlines for requesting start up funds for a small animal lab? What exactly can I ask for (and what should I be asking for)?!
Re: Animal Labs
I'm not an animal researcher, but some of my friends are. In their cases they negotiated for their animals to be "taken care of" despite the outcome of their carreer at the university (dont'd get tenure, lack of funding, etc.). Some animals, especially monkeys, live for a very long time. In their contract, the university stated that they would be responsible for moving them to another lab or sanctuary should the researcher not be able to continue.
Can anyone give me information on how I should calculate "summer salary" when I am negotiating?
I know some people have negotiated to delay their contract for a year. For example, start in Aug 2010 instead of August 2009. Let's say I'm in a position where I would need to do this, when do you bring this up and how do you approach the subject?
From what I've heard, most departments are quite understanding of the need to defer a year. During the negotiation process, I would just say "I'm really excited about this job and I'd love to make this work. Right now, I believe that it would be best for myself and my family to have a little extra time before I begin. I think an August 2010 start date would be best." From what I've been hearing, most deans would be thrilled to not have to shell out the thousands of dollars in start up right now.
For Clinical people: If you aren't yet licensed, have you been able to negotiate time in your contract for hours towards licensure? How should I handle this situation?
During my interview, I had given an estimate of my startup cost to the dept. chair. It was a pretty high figure.
Does a high startup estimate impact the job candidate negatively? Also, what is the typical time period for startup funding?
I didn't provide an estimate of start-up during my interviews, but rather let the Dean and the department members discuss "typical" start-up and other sources of internal funding. This is a nice way to see what the financial climate is like at both the departmental and university levels, and should provide you with enough information about whether or not it would be an amount you could work with to get your lab running...
Honestly, I think it's a better idea to wait until there's an offer on the table to lay down your start-up expectations. It's sort of like telling them what type of salary you want during the interview. Unless they press you for an estimate, it's just not the right time...
re: period for startup funds
mine was supposed to be everything i need to run my lab for the first three years. i imagine this varies by institution, though (i'm going to an R1).
re: start-up
I was asked about both salary and start-up during an interview and the start-up figure I gave was 55k higher than what they ultimately offered. But, I was made an offer, so I don't think the very high start-up impacted me negatively. However, I did ask for unreasonably low salary, so maybe they laughed at me and thought that made up for the large start-up request. :)
I just had a phone interview two weeks ago and was told they would let me know "shortly" whether or not I was invited for an on campus visit. I don't know how many other candidates had phone interviews scheduled (the position is an assistant-level faculty position at a private four-year institution). How long should I wait before I contact the school to inquire about the status of the job and the hiring process?
RE: February 27, 2009 7:39 PM
I wouldn't contact them unless you have a competing offer.
I disagree. At this point in the hiring season I think it's okay to contact them, tell them you're still interested, and say you just want to get a feel for what to expect. If you express enthusiasm and don't put pressure on them, I don't know what the harm would be.
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