Comments on: The Perfect Candidate

By: tsk

tsk — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

you’s a history ho!

have fun “gladhandling”, remember it’s $50 in addition to your normal fee.

of course, i haven’t entered the real job market yet myself, so look for a “code whore” label above my head real soon.

By: Ikram

Ikram — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Gladhandling and ‘visibility” are necessary for getting a job in ay field, not just the one you have chosen. I don’t think the academic job market is unusual in these areas, I think academics looking for jobs have unrealistic expectations. Everybody has to play the game.

By: Brian Ulrich

Brian Ulrich — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I think the need for connections and such bothers academics more because our job market is so tight. If I were a stock broker, I might not get the exact brokerage firm I wanted, but would still wind up somewhere. In academics, you might wind up in shadowy adjunct-land.

Good luck with this! With any luck I’ll be there in a couple of years.

By: sepoy

sepoy — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

First of all, there is the slight glaze of “my research overcomes my personal grooming” factor. as an academic, i am more sympathetic to the argument that my research agenda and my credentials should be enough to judge me. not who i know.

Secondly, as Brian states, we don’t have that many jobs and the abyss of adjunct-land terrible to contemplate. of course, i should qualify that by saying those of us in m.e. or s.a fields have a better chance lately than someone who does early modern europe. so, i count my blessings.
still the job market is insanely competetive and positions are scarce at top-tier schools – and at the UofMyDreams…none after this hire for a long while – barring some godly intervention.

i am buying an italian suit and kissing babies, no matter what.

By: Andrew Reeves

Andrew Reeves — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Look on the bright side. You’re not in a field like medieval studies in which when a professor dies/retires, the position is simply eliminated.

By: Kiddo

Kiddo — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

hmm strike n+1 against doing a Ph.d.