BackStage

Boston this year was filled with whale watching, a short meeting with the Scatterplot people (hey, you all left before I had enough to drink to get up courage to talk), and the ASA job interviews. Here is a tutorial on how to do it (just my experience folks!):

1. When you register for ASA you have to also register for the job service. This costs a bit extra.
2. Go onto the ASA website and you create your profile. This will be what the contacts for the universities searching will see. This includes a CV. So update that. Actually, I updated mine about 10 times before ASA as I got feedback and advice on how to do a CV at my fellowship and sent things out for publication.
3. Part of this is the calendar. This is where you put down when you will be available for interviews. I only allowed one day for scheduling (Saturday for me). I think this is a good approach, but it depends on how many interviews you want to do. I would do NO MORE than 10 in a day. I actually would suggest around seven. If you want to do more interviews than that, I suggest more days. I had ten. The schools seemed to like to schedule them back to back. This will be a problem. I suggest if you get two in a row, you block the twenty minute block before and after these two. This will give you time to review notes (more later on notes).
4. Check obsessively to see what new jobs are being posted. Read the descriptions. If it fits you, look at the websites of the hiring universities and see if the department interests you. If so, apply.
5. Now check your email obsessively to see if they have agreed to interview you. Some may ask you for more information via email. Basically, I would write a sort of cover letter giving them more information about me.
6. After each interview is scheduled, research that university. Create a cheat sheet that has short descriptors of the university, the job, and the people who are interviewing you (what they published, research, etc.). Think about what they want you to teach, and come up with a statement (at least in your head) about how you would approach it and what books you would use.
7. While some R1 schools will be there, the majority of the schools will be teaching schools. Therefore, think about pedagogy. Think about what you enjoy about teaching and challenges you will face. Think about approaches to classes you will be expected to teach. Come up for answers to questions like: If you could make your ideal schedule, what classes would you teach? What are the biggest challenges in teaching? You will be asked these things. You will also (as suggested above) be asked about text books and other assignments you will use. You may be asked about how you would teach first generation or minority students. You will be asked about the classes that you think you could teach outside of what they are asking for. If you name a class, be ready to talk about what you would include in the class — again, naming books you would assign (I know I’ve said this a lot, but I’m surprised about how much it came up, and how happy they seemed when I gave them examples of books I would assign when not explicitly asked).
8. Have answers to where you are in your dissertation. Some people suggest bringing a timeline for dissertation completion. One of the big things they are trying to figure out is if you’ll be done. I didn’t do a timeline because I didn’t have enough time between my fellowship and ASA, but I think it is a STELLAR idea.
9. Research 1’s will ask you what your next steps are after your dissertation. I told them about two grants that I want to pursue. One I have pursued but got rejected in late stages and the other that I want to develop. Make sure that if you go the grant route you can talk about it in some detail: what the project is, how much you think you will ask for, the theoretical issues. I think I captured some attention just because of my second grant idea that is more in a development stage. Yet, because I have a related paper I’m working on, I was able to get into discussion about it that captured the interest of interviewers. One of them asked me to define “agency” as my grant covers that concept. So, be ready for that kind of thing. Seriously, reminded me of when I was asked to define “structure” during my prelim defense. So, be ready for that kind of question if you bring it up.
10. There seemed to be three types of schools that interviewed me: (1) teaching schools that were really looking to interview and make some preliminary decisions on those they liked; (2) schools that really didn’t know why they were there; (3) R1 schools that just wanted to get a sense of who was out there. The first type always had more than one person at the interview. The second just had one. The third varied.
11. Remember, you are also interviewing them. Always have questions ready to ask. I generally had a tenure question (what’s the process) and teaching load question. But, it varied what I asked depending on what they covered previously. I also varied depending on if it was a teaching school or a research oriented school. If I just needed to ask a question, I may ask a teaching school what support they had for developing teaching skills. I asked Research 1’s about supports they had for grant writing. Because I was also interviewing them, I may have crossed three universities off of my list (not sure about one yet).
12. Think about the geography of the schools. I had more than one question asked to me about whether I thought I could live in the area, or… why I wanted to. I also had to address questions about how I could adapt my research (on new destinations) to other areas… or if I would fly back to this midwestern state to research.
13. More than two or three interviews in a row is a mistake. I actually went to the wrong table at one point. I forgot where I was during the interview, because I was in the middle of five in a row. NOT GOOD. I made up for it I think, by joking, but it wasn’t great. I also didn’t have time to review my carefully prepared notes between interviews. Bad, because sometimes I couldn’t remember what the research of the interviewers were. The jobs I REALLY wanted, this was not a problem because I know who is there and what the research is. But, we all know, we may not get that one job that we are really excited about.
14. THE PROCESS: You get there a little early (five minutes is more than enough). You sit with other scared looking graduate students. A two minute warning bell goes off (not kidding). Then a longer bell goes off. You jump up and run around looking for your table number (same number as the employment number). You introduce yourself, shake hands, and then start. Bring copies of your CV. Although they should have them, they may not have printed them off. I also brought my business cards (printed for a snowball qualitative study)–but I don’t remember if I gave any of them away. ON DRESS: I wore a suit, but what women wore varied from slacks and a nice shirt, to dresses, to suits. Men tended to be in suits or slacks and nice shirts with ties. I guess wear what you think is appropriate and you will be comfortable in. But, I don’t think you can go wrong dressing as formally as you can.
15. Know that during the rest of ASA, you will run into those that interviewed you repeatedly and in awkward situations… on the elevator for example. Be ready for that.
16. Pay attention to how they close the interview. Some will say outright that they would like you to apply. Some of them will say it in such a way that you know that they just say it, others will seem to really mean it. I don’t know if it matters in the long run, but seems to give some insight.
17. Finally, take notes. If they mention knowing someone you work with, definitely note that — especially if they seem to really like that person. Guess who you can ask to write one of your letters? Furthermore, remembering details like who is a 3-3 and who is a 2-2 will get difficult later.

Hope any of that was helpful.