Finally...

So, nearly seven weeks ago I interviewed for a job. A friend of a friend was on the search committee and told my friend that (and I quote) "Moya kicked butt from beginning to end." She raved about my diverse interests, energy, suitability for the post, etc. My friend said it was clear that I appeared to be the favored candidate. I got my hopes up and waited. Spring break came and I began to realize this was about the time they'd contact the successful candidate with an offer. But then my phone didn't ring so I'd check to make sure that it was working, which it was, and that the ringer was on--of course it was. Along with a couple of other events--the health insurance fiasco and having to pay over $2,000 in federal taxes, waiting to hear from the job ruined my break. I couldn't concentrate on my work and didn't feel like having fun. By the time it was over, I realized it was all but inevitable that they had offered the position to someone else and that person had accepted. I was angry that they had wasted my time, that the loose-tongued member of the search committee had spoken out, knowing her words would find their way back to me, and furious that yet again, I'd likely come a close second for a job. In a different, less tight job market, things may have been different. Asking around, my friends confirmed the difference between first and second is luck. Mine has clearly not been so good.

So, then the waiting game became surreal. People would ask if I'd heard yet, I'd say no. At this point, it was more a question of how rude could the college be? How thoughtless were these people who'd seemed so nice a few weeks earlier? What would the letter say when they finally rejected me?

Conventionally, most academic jobs in the humanities get 100-350 applications. Half or more can be dismissed as they come from candidates without the necessary qualifications (people who haven't yet finished Ph.D.s, people in the wrong discipline or specialty, even people who are too senior for that hire). But usually that still leaves 50-150 perfectly credentialed scholars, many of them better qualified than people working in the hiring departments. Perhaps 10 can be shortlisted and 2-3 interviewed so (speaking from my experience on the other side of the table), the situation looks a lot like American Idol where people are dismissed for all manner of reasons that have little to do with talent or performance (wrong song choice? read wrong dissertation choice, buried too deep in a show where 13 perform, read so early in the search we think an ideal candidate will come along).

Most places don't even bother to reject the people who don't make it to a shortlist (or even a long list of 40). Some will, but this comes very late--often seemingly an afterthought months after the hire was completed. For these, it seems email notes are acceptable.

Those who make the short list--supplying extra materials, getting a phone interview--usually get a letter. Often this is standardized but a little nicer. It doesn't say much more than we liked meeting you and it was tough to make a decision but we went in a different direction. Plus there will usually be a line about how the application pool was so highly qualified that even getting this far was an achievement. Getting these, most people squirm, maybe yell out something to the effect that if I was so great, why didn't you hire me? Then the letter is summarily torn, dropped into the recycling bin/bag/box and the reader briefly fumes, getting on with life and thinking about how annoying it is to have to go through all this again next year.

If you make it to the final 2 or 3 and get an on campus interview, things are different. The stakes are higher and this should be reflected in the post-interview communications. Usually, the lucky candidate gets a phone call. Some places also make a habit of calling the unfortunate runners up, a task chairs clearly hate but one that shows some respect for the person who just missed getting a job by a hair's breadth and goes home empty handed. Some places opt for a more customized (again) yet still somewhat standardized form letters. Generally, these include lines about how much the committee enjoyed meeting you, how very tough indeed the decision was, and how ultimately, much as they respected your scholarship, they chose to go elsewhere because of department needs.

Usually, these letters/calls are made within a month of the final interview, often far closer. Of course, the first and second runners up are kept waiting until everything is signed and cleared with the winning candidate in case there are problems and they need to go back to a fall back option (the only exception here is when the committee agree that somebody isn't suitable for some reason and they get a mercifully early rejection).

So, finally today I heard from the college. I received a form email rejection of the kind you send in a mass mailing to the candidates you didn't consider. This was after keeping me hanging for six weeks and five days in which I have gone through all manner of emotions, obsessing, calls to friends, and various stresses. I knew if I got this position, I would have had to resign from my full time but temporary line after all my classes had been filled. I didn't want to make things difficult for my current employer, but I needed to make sure I had a job, so I couldn't mention anything. This added to my guilt, but obviously I am pleased I didn't speak out. I am so angry with this school that rejected me right now and angrier still with the rudeness, obliviousness, selfishness and, yes, inability to communicate properly or act professionally that pervades so many academic search committees. Sure, I'd have been slumming had I been given that offer and accepted the post. But slumming is better than itinerant employment, especially when, as usual, higher education in the humanities is the first item cut in every state budget and faculty hiring freezes pervade private universities who still protect their often bloated higher administration.

Sorry about the rant. But getting this down makes me feel a little better.