From the other side at AALS . . .
posted by Rachel Godsil
It has been a decade since I slept poorly at the Wardman in November – and I must admit to having some unpleasant flashbacks. Last night, like 10 years ago, I got lost on my way to an interviewing suite. I still find the bar scene a little anxiety producing. So – to those of you interviewing today – many of us on the other side of the couch do have empathy for you!
Needless to say, I acknowledge the difference. We on the interviewing side are happily (hopefully) ensconced as academics – a position that is frankly worth running from hotel suite to hotel suite. We are (hopefully) happy to talk about the benefits of our particular institution. And it has been fabulous to read the scholarship of those on the market.
I thought I’d post this morning mainly to wish you all good luck — and to explain why I am not posting anything substantive until next week. And a quick tip: when you are given the opportunity to ask any questions – find a question that allows for an interesting and idiosyncratic answer. I promise that every school will have an identical answer to the ubiquitous “what support does your institution have for junior faculty.” We all have colloquia, research stipends, and collegial sharing of documents. We all generally do try to give junior faculty reasonable teaching loads, etc. And if we don’t do any of these things, we won’t acknowledge it here!
November 6, 2009 at 5:34 am
Tags: academia
Posted in: Uncategorized
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Responses (1)
Mike Zimmer - November 6, 2009 at 10:33 am
Back in the day I was hoping to get into law school teaching, the “hiring hall” was held during the AALS convention. My year it was at what is now the Intercontinental Hotel on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. So, there were all these people, laughing, happily looking for old friends, finding the bar, etc., then there were those of us behind the potted palms with copies of our resumes standing ready to pop out and try to glad hand someone, anyone. I don’t know if a separate meeting is better or not, I hope it is.
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