Dear Una74: Thanks so much for updating and tidying all the time. You are awesome.
You're welcome:)Una74 18:18, May 23, 2010 (UTC)
# MLA (or Phone) Interviews You Have Lined Up[]
0 interviews -- and I'm ABD (x0); and I'm PhD in hand, employed in academia (x3 VAP, x1 postdoc, x1 adjunct); and I'm PhD in hand, not employed in academia (x0); and I'm an Assistant Professor (x0); and I'm an Associate Professor (x0)
1 interview -- and I'm ABD (x1); and I'm PhD in hand, employed in academia (x0); and I'm PhD in hand, not employed in academia (x0); and I'm an Assistant Professor (x1); and I'm an Associate Professor (x1)
2 interviews -- and I'm ABD (x2); and I'm PhD in hand, employed in academia (x2); and I'm PhD in hand, not employed in academia (x0); and I'm an Assistant Professor (x1); and I'm an Associate Professor (x0)
3 interviews -- and I'm ABD (x2); and I'm PhD in hand, employed in academia (x0); and I'm PhD in hand, not employed in academia (x0); and I'm an Assistant Professor (x0); and I'm an Associate Professor (x0)
4 interviews -- and I'm ABD (x4); and I'm PhD in hand, employed in academia (x2); and I'm PhD in hand, not employed in academia (x0); and I'm an Assistant Professor (x0); and I'm an Associate Professor (x0)
5+ interviews -- and I'm ABD (x4); and I'm PhD in hand, employed in academia (x1); and I'm PhD in hand, not employed in academia (x0); and I'm an Assistant Professor (x0); and I'm an Associate Professor (x0)
Congrats to the ABDs with 5+ interviews-- that's pretty impressive! Good luck.
R: Thanks very much!
Una74 04:32, December 3, 2009 (UTC)
Thank you![]
Nicely done, whomever updated/edited the list to include call back/interview/etc details! 65.94.156.197 19:51, October 14, 2009 (UTC)
requests[]
Hi All: This is my first time on the market. I am curious as to how you receive the "request for additional materials": email? posted letter? phone call? Thanks!
R: The request for additional materials I received came via email. Of course, that was also an electronic application.
R: I've had them via snail mail and via email. I think a call is very rare.
R: I've had one by mail and two by email so far this year. Not sure if I'm recalling this correctly, but I'm pretty sure that I had two by email last year. Based on my rather limited personal experience, I'd guess that they usually come by email these days. I've never heard of anyone getting a call for this type of request.
Adding a Category?[]
How do you add a job? Loyola University of Chicago is hiring at the associate professor level in Shakespeare/Textual Studies. A: Category added.
I second this question. I'm wondering if anyone else applied for this job at Campion College (http://www.campioncollege.sk.ca/about-us/employment-opportunities/English_Lit), but can't figure out how to add it into the list of jobs on the wiki. Can anyone help me out?
A: Category added o main page. Wish I had seen this job earlier . . .
Another request to add a category: Goodwin College, hiring one of the most general(ist) ads I've ever seen, posted HigherEdJobs.com around March 11 or so. Will admin please post? Thanks.
A: Goodwin job seems like a better fit for the Generalist page (no mention of early modern)--now posted on Generalist page.
Struck Out[]
Last year, I had four MLA interviews. This year? I struck out -- not a single invitation. Anyone else have this experience? It's a bummer.
My experience has been exactly the opposite. Last year, I had zero. This year? 4. Don't let it get you too down, OP; it's such a crapshoot in so very many ways.
- It's important to know that 1) it IS a crapshoot (as stated above) and 2) it's a crap economy. This came out today: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/12/17/mla It's pretty bleak, but nothing we don't already know.
Sorry to hear it, OP. I know a number of other people--some of whom are exceptionally qualified--who struck out this year as well. I also know a bunch of job seekers who only have one MLA interview. It's a tough market out there right now. The competition for each and every job is more than keen, especially since there are so few open positions and such a backlog of underemployed academics. I wish I could say I think it will get better soon, but I'm increasingly alarmed by how things seem to be going. The turn to greater reliance on part-time contract and casual workers (who are typically underpaid, have no benefits, no job security, etc.) isn't just an academic problem, though; it seems to be a general trend in a number of fields and professions.
- For those who "struck out" last year: what did you end up doing this year? Adjunct? VAP? Postdoc? Do you think it made you a better candidate this time around? Just curious as I prepare my own "Plan B." Thanks!
I had a couple of MLA interviews last year and even a campus visit, but I was still ABD and came out of the whole process empty handed. In retrospect, I think of the whole experience as sort of a dry run. I didn't have much teaching experience at all, and I think that fact (plus the undefended diss) wasn't working in my favor. I wound up adjuncting in the spring term while finishing the dissertation and have been doing more adjunct work since then. I'm garnering considerably more interest (and also feeling increasingly confident and competent) this time around, so my answer would be: yes, I am a better and stronger candidate this year than I was last year. As a sidenote, *most* people I know who have finished recently are finding work as adjuncts rather than VAP positions (of which there seemed to be relatively few advertised for the 2009-10 year) or postdocs (which are becoming increasingly competitive to land in this current job market).
- Thanks. This is my first year on the market and I am ABD. I have lots of teaching experience, both in my grad program and previously as an adjunct, but I feel like I just wasn't at the right stage to communicate myself and work confidently earlier in the Fall. I've had some nibbles with requests for additional materials (which has been validating), but I have no idea what I am going to do next year. I am keeping my fingers crossed for a fruitful postdoc season!
- This is my third year on the market (second with degree in hand), had one interview last year, this year had six requests for more information, but none of them turned into interviews, so i struck out like the poster above as well. Trying to adjunct, but I'm in California, so...there's pretty much nothing out there for adjuncts either. I managed to get a course for fall but nothing turning up for winter or spring. I'd be interested in hearing more about the ABDs with 3-5 interviews - what kinds of particular specialties they have or what the magic is. But then it's true that it is somewhat of a crap shoot.
- I'm an ABD with 5 interviews. I think part of my success this year is the fact that I have a Shakespeare-related dis. but also have a secondary specialty in medieval lit. There were a few jobs that wanted a candidate with a background in both. I also have a good deal of teaching experience, espeically teaching composition. Almost all of the schools that have shown interest in me are 4-4 loads where all faculty are expected to teach comp. I also made sure that each cover letter I wrote was tailored specifically to the school. I will admit that I'm not a research powerhouse, so I think it's my teaching experience and broad training that helped me out this go-round. But, then again, I had the exact same credentials last year (I dragged my ABD out because I had some teaching sections left on my contract) and got nothing. C.r.a.p.s.h.o.o.t. Hang in there, folks who've struck out. Give it one more go, formulate a plan B, and don't base your self-worth on this ridiculous career choice we've all made.
- Well, folks, I am the ABD with nada (who posted above) and just to show you that you never know-- I received a request for an interview yesterday. So, it looks like it's not totally over yet. I have heard from folks that they get calls on Christmas Eve... so, there's a chance!
- Hooray for you, ABD with uno! Hope springs eternal!
Correlation between requests for additional info and MLA interviews[]
Q: This question may be impossible to answer, but I'm wondering if anyone knows what sort of correlation there is between getting a request for additional materials from a search committee and getting an MLA interview with them (i.e. based on your experience and what you know of others' experiences, does such a request lead to an interview 25% of the time, 50% of the time, 75% of the time, 99% of the time?). Do search committees tend to ask for additional materials from many, many candidates, or is a request for additional materials a reasonably good indication that you're in the running for an interview in December?
A. I'm not sure about all schools, but last year Wake Forest requested additional materials from about 50 people. I was one of them, but I did not get an MLA interview. (Their search eventually failed.) I think that schools often target a smaller group than WF did last year. I had four MLA interviews last year, but none of those had asked me for additional materials. I guess the real answer is that there's no telling. (This is my third year on the market, btw.)
- Interesting. You say that you were asked to interview at MLA by four schools, which did not ask for additional materials. I assume that they didn't have all of your materials from the initial application? It gives some hope: if we haven't heard anything, that schools might still be interested without receiving the additional materials...? Maybe I am just thinking wishfully!
-- Yes, four schools, no additional materials. However, these schools all asked for a lot upfront. For instance, some asked for a statement of teaching philosophy, transcripts, writing sample, letters of rec., etc., along with the initial application. So I'm not sure what else they would have wanted. They were not R1 institutions -- mostly SLACs -- but they were good jobs. I would have been happy to take any one of them. If you're going to be asked for interviews, you will probably hear from people starting the first week of December -- maybe even later. The first call I got last year was December 5, but the last call I got was on Dec. 18. It's nail biting season -- good luck.
--- Thanks for responding. I am not entirely hopeful, as it's a rough year. Plus, I'm ABD, and, I think, a bit early for the market. I've had two schools express interest, so I feel fortunate in just that. We'll see what happens. Good luck to you as well!
-- I've been on two search committees. One asked for 40 dossiers and interviewed 8 people, the other asked for 15 and interviewed 10. I think it depends on so many factors: the applicant pool, the dynamics of the search committee, &c. Sometimes a committee doesn't know what it's looking for until it sees it. Other times, a committee knows exactly what it's looking for. And in the worst case, the committee can't agree. Plus, each school and each dept. has a different method of evaluating applications. In my dept., the initial application had to get 3 "yes" votes out of 4, in order for us to send out a request for additional materials. Then we evaluated the full dossiers much more thoroughly as a group and decided together on a list of between 5 and 12 candidates to interview at MLA. But I think other depts probably do it differently. Hope this helps!
-- Thanks for this. It helps clarify that there is no single answer, so I can stop stressing about not knowing it.
Getting antsy and added some new categories to the top of the page...[]
I'm jumping the gun here a little bit, but I figured that with Thanksgiving Weekend drawing to a close, we might as well get organized and ready to report interview stats and details. To this end, I've added a couple of new categories at the top of the article page regarding interviews and counts. I hope nobody minds; feel free to change the format if you dislike what I've set up there. A: I've moved stats to this Discussion page (new category above) 12/2.
R: I'm getting antsy myself. Is it just me, or does it seem like not that many schools have asked for additional materials? Seems like the majority of them are just going to ask for interviews. Either that or all of the folks they've asked for materials either don't use the wiki or don't contribute to the wiki.
R to R: None of the four schools that interviewed me last year asked for additional materials, for what it's worth. Usually the schools that will do that are the ones who only ask for a CV and letter initially.
Seems like a lot of schools still need to call to set up interviews. It's Dec. 10... what are they waiting for? I know, I know... it's the end of the semester. Well, some of us would like to know what's up. Just saying...
I hear you. Such a stressful time for all concerned.
I agree; it seems like most of the jobs I've applied for have yet to make a move as far as scheduling interviews goes. But--last year, I had two MLA interviews, and I'm pretty sure that both were scheduled on December 15. So there's still plenty of time. I'm betting that most of the remaining schools will be in touch next week.
Idea for collecting stats on how many job seekers actually use this wiki[]
In the interests of further data collection about the current state of the job market (and also to determine what percentage of job seekers are using this wiki), I have an idea. What if we list all of the jobs here so that wiki-users can indicate which ones they've applied to; this way we can get a count of how many applications there were per school from wiki-users. Then, if anyone hears any definitive information regarding the total number of applications that a particular school received (in a rejection letter, search update, etc.), we can post that number so as to get a better sense of the percentages. Does this make sense?
Albion College (# of wiki-user applicants: 7 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: 200+)
Allegheny College (# of wiki-user applicants: 5 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
University of Arkansas at Little Rock(# of wiki-user applicants: 7 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: 200+)
Assumption College (# of wiki-user applicants: 9 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
Bemidji State University (# of wiki-user applicants: 4 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
Carnegie Mellon University (# of wiki-user applicants: 9 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
Clemson University (# of wiki-user applicants: 8- total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
Coastal Carolina University (# of wiki-user applicants: 7 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
Dartmouth College (# of wiki-user applicants: 9 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
Drake University (# of wiki-user applicants: 3 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
Duquesne University (# of wiki-user applicants: 7 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
Fu Jen Catholic University (# of wiki-user applicants: 0 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
University of Haifa (# of wiki-user applicants: 0 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
Indiana U-Purdue U, Indianapolis (# of wiki-user applicants: 3 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
Ithaca College (# of wiki-user applicants: 8 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
Kent State University (# of wiki-user applicants: 4 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
Lake Forest College (# of wiki-user applicants: 9 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
Lehigh University (# of wiki-user applicants: 5 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
Linfield College (# of wiki-user applicants: 4 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
Loyola University Chicago (# of wiki-user applicants: 3 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
Loyola Marymount University (# of wiki-user applicants: 6 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: 130)
Manhattan College (# of wiki-user applicants: 10 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
Mary Baldwin College (# of wiki-user applicants: 5 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: 125)
Miami University (# of wiki-user applicants: 3 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
Muskingum University (# of wiki-user applicants: 5 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
Nazareth College of Rochester (# of wiki-user applicants: 8 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
University of Nebraska (# of wiki-user applicants: 7 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
New York University, Gallatin School (# of wiki-user applicants: 4 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: 450)
Northeastern University (# of wiki-user applicants: 7 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
Oklahoma State U (# of wiki-user applicants: 6 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
Pomona College (# of wiki-user applicants: 6 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
Ramapo College (# of wiki-user applicants: 6 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
Reed College (# of wiki-user applicants: 5 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
Rhode Island College (# of wiki-user applicants: 4 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
Saint Joseph's College (# of wiki-user applicants: 9 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
Sam Houston State University (# of wiki-user applicants: 0 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
South Carolina Beaufort (# of wiki-user applicants: 8 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
University of Tennessee, Chattanooga (# of wiki-user applicants: 6 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
Union College (# of wiki-user applicants: 8 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
University of Victoria (# of wiki-user applicants: 4 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
Wake Forest University (# of wiki-user applicants: 5 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
Washington University (# of wiki-user applicants: 6 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: c. 135)
Whittier College (# of wiki-user applicants: 6 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)
Xavier University (# of wiki-user applicants: 8 - total # of applications known to have been submitted: ?)