What Candidates Are Doing Wrong, Part III of III: "Don’t Forget the Basics"

As part of our new Bloom series, we ask the academic community for their thoughts on various topics related to the labor market and academic careers.

 

"Who are the members of the search committee?"

 

What do you see candidates doing wrong???????? Do you wish they had a greater grasp of what you're saying?"

To that end, I give you today's installment: "Don't Forget the Basics: The Low-Hanging Easy-Picking Strawberries of the Job Search." Basically, we're going to talk about some of the most basic aspects of the job hunt... However, they are important!

Remember to go back and read "Do Your Homework,Please" from last week. PLEASE.”

And Part II of III: "We're not just animals! We're people!" During the interview and campus visit, it's all about the importance of establishing personal ties.

To keep you up to date, we'll be posting new Bloom Series From the Front questions each week. For next week's question and a link to contribute your knowledge and guidance, go to the bottom of the page.

As a side note, we ask responders to include any personal identifying information in their own words that they think is relevant to their replies. In order to ensure anonymity, we do not modify these. While some of the identifying language has perplexed us, we won't restrict it if it doesn't offend anyone.

As a starting point, let me remind you to "Just Apply For the Fucking Job" since... well, you never know.

 

Apply! Don't turn down a job opportunity because it's in a state you don't want to reside in. Because of the high cost of living, I nearly missed out on a position that is virtually my ideal job—research support, collegial department, and a great quality of life.

 

 

Due to concerns about developing community or finding specific types of relationship while relocating from one unattractive region to another, my disclosure that I'm female, Caucasian, and married to a guy is necessary. Even still, the student body at this university is incredibly varied in ways I never imagined. At least for a few years, or possibly for seven or more, you didn't understand that many cities and towns weren't as horrible as they seemed.

(**Asst. Professor, Humanities **Caucasian, Female, Married to Man)

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It's time for two replies from previous articles, because they're gold in terms of your cover letter and application package. Core JTTT beliefs are re-emphasised: Don't send anything more than has been requested! Keep to the page and time restrictions! Send the file in PDF format!

 

1. Do your homework on the university/college/program you're applying to. If you don't do this, your materials will reveal it to us.

 

2. Make sure you just provide the information requested and stick to the page limit.

  

3. In order to avoid confusion, all documents must be uploaded as PDFs (not Word or anything else).

  

4. Using the terminology of the job ad, explain why you're a good fit for the position (this helps us when we are on packet 134 of 278).

  

5. If you're talking on the phone, zooming in, or using Skype, pay attention to the time. We have 30 minutes and six questions for you, are you ready? " GREAT!” Stay on track by doing the arithmetic and keeping up with the pace. Don't forget to provide the committee with a few?s!

6. Interviews on campus might last all day, so be cheerful and upbeat the entire time. Those of us who have been on the market understand and remember, while others have completely forgotten (How on earth could you ever forget that day).

 

7. We prepared for students to be awkward, technology to malfunction, or the power to go out during a teaching demonstration or research talk. Show us you're adaptable, engaging, and quick to come up with new ideas. End on a high note!

8. Our goal is to find out if you can be a good social and work colleague. If you're on campus, you've already passed our academic fit test (There is a lot to do and we need help). It would be great if we could just shoot the s**t for 45 minutes on Thursday after work at your workplace. People that can perform both of these things would be ideal for the job. We are all flawed beings (well, most of us).

 

9. During the interview procedure, meals are included.

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You should always keep in mind that your Cover Letter is the most significant part of your application because a) beyond your CV, it explains what you've written and what you're planning to publish in a clean and simple manner, demonstrating your portability - even if you are still ABD! It's also a place where you'll be able to briefly discuss the topic of FIT.

 

Make sure your cover letter stands out. Keep in mind that, in addition to yours, I may have to analyze 50 or more application packages. It takes me around 15 minutes to scan through your application, and my first stop is your cover letter, which you spent hours putting together and editing. Don't let go of my attention!

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Despite the fact that we've heard this before, we're getting a lot of applications. Organize your application so that the hiring committee can quickly identify the essential aspects connecting your profile to the job description.

 

Try to seem both tenuous and interested in the position. This has come up during search committee conversations at the exclusive SLIAC where I work. Make it apparent in your cover letter if you're just starting out and don't have a lot of publications. Don't make us feel like you're interviewing us during the phone interview or campus visit, even if you're contemplating whether or not you want the job. "If you don't show a genuine interest in the position, we will consider your application less seriously and move on to the next candidate.

 (*Assistant Professor, Humanities **white cis woman in her 30s)

 

You should always keep in mind that your Cover Letter is the most significant part of your application because a) beyond your CV, it explains what you've written and what you're planning to publish in a clean and simple manner, demonstrating your portability - even if you are still ABD! It's also a place where you'll be able to briefly discuss the topic of FIT.

 

Make sure your cover letter stands out. Keep in mind that, in addition to yours, I may have to analyze 50 or more application packages. It takes me around 15 minutes to scan through your application, and my first stop is your cover letter, which you spent hours putting together and editing. Don't let go of my attention!

 

How? Why should I hire YOU for this position? Work your way through the job posting line by line, making sure you address every aspect. If the job description calls on you to address diversity, you best do it. Get to know the people in the department you're applying to and use their names in your cover letter. If you send a generic cover letter to [insert university name here], you're almost guaranteed to get a "no, thank you."

(**An Assistant Professor in STEM and a mixed-race female.)

  

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In general, be more specific about how you fit into the position. In order to be effective in this search, we can't provide anything more specific than "successful applicants will..."

Read the whole job posting to see if there are any specific concerns that need to be addressed, and don't write a generic response!"

Make sure to include keywords from the description of your scholarship in your ad so that the committee may easily find you! To far, we have not implemented HR employee screening. Ask your friends who have work in the real world for advice on how to get the most out of the adverts. There are just too many candidates for each position to spend time sifting through your cover letter, CV, and other supporting documents to see if you match the mold. It would be strange to have your cover letter read like, "I'm an energetic go-getter who is super psyched about being a part of your cast of notables and scholar scholarship on the beautiful setting of your pristine campus," which is the norm in academia. Instead, make sure that your non-academic friends/family members help you with the “jazzier” parts of your cover letter. And make sure you use the correct address. If you're not sure who to write your letter to (the committee chair), submit it to the faculty search committee or even the department chair. 

(**Black cis-woman of Generation Z who earned her Ph.D. from a "top" R1 school and is currently teaching at a university that serves the city.)

 

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Two CV points on the necessity of recent publications, grouped to illustrate which have been published and which are still in progress, should be provided before moving on to the next step of the application process.

 

"When including publications on a CV or cover letter, don't mistake accepted or published articles with ones that are still in the works." (** assistant professor of social sciences in her mid-30s, she is white and female.)

  

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“Our committee (sadly) does not even examine applicants who do not have a few recent publications and university teaching experience.” (*At a big R1 state university, Assistant Professor of Social Sciences, 33, who is white, male, straight, and married.)

 

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The next step is the interview. Practicing is the first response of respondents.

 

Practice, practice, practice interviewing, is my suggestion. To the point that you're sick of it, keep practicing and getting feedback until you get it right.

One individual in particular stood out among the roughly 30 persons I interviewed that year. He was articulate, gave excellent examples, and established rapport with the interviewer via sincere exchanges that demonstrated his genuine interest in the job and his lack of nervousness. He took advantage of the situation to get to know us better and tell us more about himself.

 

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The adjunct hiring committee for my department's academic English program at an R1 university, which caters to overseas students, was led by me for many years. Pre-screened applicants from HR were sent to my department for review, which included interviewing the candidates, filling out evaluations based on my assessment of the candidate's performance, and sending the documents to my department's HR representative. In addition, I oversaw assigning additional interviews to groups of two or more members of the interview panel. Skype was used for all the interviews. They were confident, had non-distracting histories, good questions, and responses that were both confident and thorough but not unduly so. Those applicants stuck out to me the most. The greatest grades went to those who appeared to be well-prepared. Ideally, I wanted people who could work well with others in a department with a high level of turbulence in communication, or at the very least, relate well to the other faculty members.

My goal was to find self-starters who could thrive on their own with little or no supervision, as well as instructors that students could rely on and trust.

Teaching and light administration tasks were not enough for me. I was searching for persons with foreign teaching expertise or language learning experience, as well as those who could connect to the problems of living and studying in another culture.

(*NTT, Humanities **white heterosexual married female)

 

 

 

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Before, I practiced probable interview questions and responses in my head. In the context of an interview, "questions" refers to any and all questions that may arise. I prepared a list of questions in the form of bullet points to make it easier for the interviewers to follow along. When answering the questions, I took my time and proved that I was familiar with the institution's or department's history and background, as well as with that of the entire state, just as the locals are. I prepared a few snappy lines to use in the interviews, but I tried to keep them as close to my own understanding of English as possible—that is, without using too many obscure idioms. Even if some of my statements may have grammatical errors, I attempted to appear confident that I know what I'm talking about. It was important for me to illustrate how my experiences and upbringing were relevant to my possible job inside the United States, even though some of them were based outside of the country. I even used a word from my home tongue and clarified it in one occasion.

SEE TO IT THAT YOU ARE COMFORTABLE WITH YOURSELF

If you're being interviewed, it's a sign that your resume is strong enough to warrant a meeting. If someone asks you a question on a topic you aren't acquainted with, you may honestly answer that you are currently studying about it. Journey To Tenure Track can help you prepare for interviews and will ensure that you go on to the next step if you practice with American friends who might point out any ambiguities or vagueness in your answers. "Go for it!"

(**Asst. Professor, Social Sciences, 37, white, female, married)

 

 

A reminder that a successful interview is a two-way conversation! You're truly eager to answer additional queries.

A follow-up question is only asked if you have not answered the initial inquiry or if we believe you have further evidence to support your case for employment. Make the most of the situation, don't worry about what you've done in the past, or worry that you're doing a poor job. We're looking for someone to fill this position, and it may be you.

A tenured professor in the field of stem cells (*Female, 37 years old, newly tenured, many contracts employed as a UK academic)

 

Of course there are gendered aspects to this. Even if rambling is a regular mistake, a too humble terseness is nearly as bad in its opposite. Don't let the fear of becoming a "imposter" hold you back.

If you're a woman, you should try to answer things completely rather than skipping to the point. The candidates who are too brief or modest miss out on the opportunity to answer follow-up inquiries. I recommend finding out how many questions there are and how much time is allocated. Please use it more than once in a sentence.

(*Tenured Professor, Arts/Music/Theater **White, heterosexual female)

 

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Things like eye contact and body language are vital in conveying your PEER status, thus it's important to keep these things in mind. Even though you are still enrolled in graduate school, you will not be considered such during the interview. (see JTTTs recommendations on this topic).

Look me in the eye!" In addition, refrain from acting like a grad Student

(*35-year-old white woman who works as an assistant professor of humanities in the United Kingdom.)

 

 

 

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Lastly, in keeping with last week's #Bloomseries theme, keep in mind that the search committee and everyone you meet are, after all, people! Despite the importance of scholarly/teaching information, it is also important to build relationships with students.

 

 

 

The "whole person" is important to my department, which means we want to know about your beliefs and humanist interests even if they aren't directly related to your research or academic background.

(*Humanities Graduate Student, Married White Female)

 

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Many thanks to everyone who took the time to fill out the survey. In the meanwhile, we'd like to introduce you to a new Dispatches Question for you:

 "When it comes to journal publishing, academics often make a number of mistakes. When it comes to scholarly journal publication, what do you wish your peers knew about the process?"

 

Come here and offer UP YOUR SUGGESTIONS. We eagerly await your response!

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SIMILAR POSTS:

What Candidates Are Doing Wrong, Part III of III: "Don’t Forget the Basics"

WHAT CANDIDATES ARE DOING WRONG Part II of III: "Interpersonal relationships: "We're not just animals! We're people!"

WHAT CANDIDATES ARE DOING WRONG, PART I OF III: “DO YOUR HOMEWORK, PLEASE. PLEASE.”