Yes, I'd like some cheese with that

My department is currently running a search, and I am NOT going to talk about how it's going or the candidates in any kind of specific way; that would be inappropriate, and besides, this is a purely self-centered post about how it feels to be on this side of a search - the hiring side.

And before I go further, let me note that I would MUCH RATHER be on the hiring side than on the applying side, and the whining that's about to ensue here should not be taken to suggest that I think I have it bad like someone who's job-searching does. Just so that's clear.

I should also say that while I am on the hiring side, I'm not a major player. I'm not on the official search committee, the members of which have the most direct input into the outcome. And while I know that I'm more than welcome to air my opinions when we do make a final decision, and that my senior colleagues are good people who listen to what others say, I also know that I am one of the more junior members of the department. It's not so much that the senior faculty here don't care what junior folk think; it's more that I've been here the shortest amount of time and don't have the same understanding of the department, the campus, and the needs of both that my senior colleagues do. Moreover, the field we're hiring in is rather removed from my own, so I don't have the same investment in this hire that I might have in some other fields.

That being said: Goodness, the hiring process can be disheartening.

I'm sure you job candidates out there do NOT need me to tell you this. But it's disheartening from the hiring side as well.

First, there's the inferiority complex. Candidates have the luster of the new and fresh, and therefore look much more sparkling and exciting than - well, than you. Scanning their c.v.s can be an exercise in sadomasochism. You yourself were never as talented, as published, as polished as these people at their stage. The sense of inferiority manifests in different ways depending on a candidate's field. Americanists often finish their degrees more quickly than those in other fields (oh my god I'm so slow!!). Non-western historians have often mastered the most dizzying array of languages (oh my god s/he can speak languages using three different scripts!!). Modernists study things about which the general public actually cares, or at least of which they've actually heard (oh my god my work is so irrelevant!!). Oh, sure, this profession isn't easy for ANYONE and everyone has their own problems. But still. If you're me, you see only problems in yourself, and candidates, after all, invest a tremendous amount of time and money to make sure they appear to have no problems.

Even if you have a stronger sense of self-esteem than I do (which is likely), if you feel any ambivalence about academia, the hiring season can bring that to the fore. If you're hiring someone in a field for which there is a serious glut of scholars (in history, one example is twentieth-century U.S.), you face the depressing prospect of bringing in ~ 3 candidates, all of whom are incredibly good at what they do, all of whom desperately want this job, and realizing that those candidates you don't hire may well NOT get a job this job cycle. This is a really terrible feeling. (Again, it's worse for them than me, but it's still unpleasant.) It's a feeling that makes you wonder what you're doing in this soul-sucking profession. Conversely, if you're actually hiring in a field which is hot, for which there is demand, you have to convince the candidates that they really want to work where you do. This may entail putting a more positive spin on your academic context than you're actually feeling. And there's something sort of disturbing and disorienting about singing-and-dancing to convince a candidate that they want your position when you know so many people struggling to get any position at all. (This is obviously not the candidates' fault; it's just a weird academic reality.)

I realize this is a really whiny post, and that job searches are not intended as some kind of cosmic message to me about my own position in this profession. But you know, sometimes they do feel like that.

Comments

[Tiruncula]

Oh, I so hear you on the intimidation factor of the shiny new candidates. I look at them, and the process, and I think I would never have gotten this job through the front door, I'm such a fraud, what am I doing here? And most people would tell you my ego's usually in ok shape :)

[betty]

can i just say that i totally agree with everything in this post? after a horrible 9 month job searching process that ended in a job i stmbled into (for which i am still only hired as a temp - i'm told permanent status and health insurance are on the way, though) i am so happy to be on the hiring side. we are searching for a semi high level position and that person would eventually be my boss - so i get to have some input into the search even if i'm not on the committee. it's very enlightening to see this side of things, and overall i'm glad i'm over here.

i've also been dealing with grad school admisions some and this is where my own inadequacy feelings come into play since i can't even compare to the search candidates. but some of the grad students we are interviewing (we are sort of second tier) have better records than my friends who graduated from my grad school (a presitgious uni in my field). it's amazing. and humbling.

[Pilgrim/Heretic]

Yeah, but don't forget - your department went through this not so long ago with the search for your position, and out of all those shiny impressive people, they chose YOU as the very best one.

[What Now?]

I was so glad last year, when I was on a hiring committee, that all of our top candidates ended up getting hired somewhere (and actually in many cases better schools than mine), but I still wonder about the fabulous candidates who didn't make it into our top slots for campus visits. I want them all to have gotten jobs also, but I know that's a pretty slim possibility. I did find it really depressing, although one thing I got out of it was the determination never again to take it personally if I didn't get an interview/campus visit/job offer. I know how I felt about the candidates to whom we couldn't offer jobs, so I have to assume that there are folks on hiring committees who feel the same way about me when my application goes no further.

[hermance]

I appreciate your recognition that your post might sound as if you are saying that being on the hiring side is even really comparable to being on the applying side. I just wanted to say that--what distinguishes this post from what one so often finds on the Chronicle's discussion forums--is that you're not making comments about the hiring side that *reflect poorly on the applicants.* Actually, is't the other way 'round in many ways in this post. You're actually saying that they seem impressive, and that is a real part of the difficulty of hiring. I thought this post was insightful, interesting, and honest. As a lurker, I just wanted to jump in and say how much I enjoyed its perception.

[Jeannette]

Goodness, I don't even have to anything to do with the market to identify with the inferiority complex. (I am a good academic after all; nursing my inferiority complex along with my cup of coffee.) Especially the *sigh, my work is so irrelevant*. Not only to write about old stuff, I write about music. And Old Music is frightfully irrelevant. My friends are writing cool theses and dissertations on the Velvet Underground and Shape-Note Singing on the American Identity; and I'm studying old manuscripts that no one should care about!! So then I feel the need to write a paper about rap or popular music just so that I sort of feel cool and show people that I'm not totally irrelevant.

(Oh my, do I see a blog post coming? You touched a nerve.)

[apparently]

Interesting post. I'm on the job search side at the moment and when I get rejected I tend to be embarassed. I think , oh no, person X in my field thinks I am an idiot. It is good to know that in fact they might feel bad and want me to get another job (rather than wanting me to drop out of academia all together which tends to be my gut reaction).

[PhilosopherP]

Sitting on the committee itself increases these kinds of feelings -- trust me.

The first time around I really did wonder how they ended up hiring me -- until I got to the interviews. At that point, it became a bit more clear as to who fit in with us and who didn't. I saw that it was much more about that illusive 'fit' than it was about qualifications.

I also saw that who is or is not on the committee also makes a huge difference -- from how the applications are ranked to who is called for an interview. A couple of more forceful/persuasive people going one direction or another makes such a huge difference.

Sadly, I can't really see a viable alternative.

[yankee,transferred]

As part of my job I am constantly interviewing and hiring. It is exhausting and discouraging. I know what you mean-the people who I don't hire will likely remain unemployed for a while. It doesn't feel good. What is even worse, and I've had to do this 6 times in the last 2 years, is firing, which really stings, even when the employee is begging for it. The world of academia is so different (lucky for you, in some ways) from the corporate world.

[Bardiac]

It's stunning to know sometimes that we can choose from three absolutely fantastic people in on campus visits, but we can always only choose one. And so often it's not really about how good the people are, because they're ALL outstanding, but about how they'll fit in some way, how they'll be able to teach this other class, too, or whatever.

In my department, at least, I see people shaking our heads in dismay at knowing how difficult the search is even for the best candidates.

[tony grafton]

Thanks so much for this post, NK, and to all the respondents. Year after year, when my students don't get jobs (and that does happen), I have to convince them not to internalize the rejection and decide that they aren't amazingly talented. It will be a huge help for them to read what's being said here by people who are relatively close to them in career stage and experience.

[Oso Raro]

Insightful as always. There is an intriguing discussion thread going on right now on the academic wiki over whether a particular job has an inside candidate or not, with a lot of back and forth, that has made me reflect on how terrribly shabby the hiring process is in academia. The shiny new candidates, with their fangs barely hidden by their huge, plastic smiles, are of course an illusion. The power dynamics of the search process privilege the committee and its star chamber, which of course you know. But the theme of competition is compelling, and something I have been thinking about for other reasons. I think the notion of mentorship and collegiality here is important, that the hiring of a new person is an opportunity to expand and challenge one's horizons, a task I'm sure you're up to. The rest of the profession I'm not so sure.

[K (formerly LiL)]

I'm on the job search side this time too. I've a friend who's on the hiring side. It all sucks. The part I dislike the most is getting to a certain point in a search, like to the interview, or knowing you almost have the campus visit, and then not hearing for a really long time. I keep thinking if it all went faster, that would be easier to deal with. But this way - too much time to be anxious.

In my case, I'm doing this crazy thing of geographically limiting my search, for personal and partner reasons I'm being very un-American about academia and decided that where my home is is where I want to work. For some reason this made me feel confident enough to actually get on the job market. The good news is it doesn't appear hopeless - though I fully expect to have only temporary things for a couple years at least. in which case the excruciation will go on for a while.

In some ways, I think the very worst part of the process is the conference-interviewing phenomenon, which should just be scrapped, as far as I'm concerned. It's miserable for the candidates and it looks pretty miserable for the search committee as well. Not equally so because - well - unlike most of the candidates, they have jobs.