From the Other Side

It has been an interesting adventure to be on the search committee for a new colleague. I very recently got my position (which is a discussion for another time), but suffice to say, it is very close to me. An academic interview in the physical sciences is at least a day long. It involves shuttling between all of the faculty in the department (and some outside the department depending on interests) for 30 minute blocks. There are several ways to approach these sessions.

1. You can just listen. Most academics are able to fill 30 minutes talking about themselves and their science.
2. Talk the whole time about your experiences and basically don't let the professor get a word in edge wise.
3. Mainly let the professor control the discussion but make sure to ask a few questions that either come up or are things you want to know about the department. If asked questions, make sure to answer completely, but keep it short.

Interesting to observe, we have had candidates in each of these categories. About the candidate who talked the whole time, I wrote on my "score card," that he didn't listen much. This came out in his interview talk as well.

Speaking of the interview talk, that is another piece of the process. This is typically an hour long talk about the science the candidate has done. Some candidates talk about work from their first post doc appointment, or their second, or some mixture, but rarely do the candidates talk about their Ph.D. work. We did have one of the later in this round, which I thought was unusual. In addition, our candidates have to talk about their proposed research and teaching. One piece of the application packet is a teaching philosophy, so the candidates will have thought about the basics, but sometimes not the specifics. Before you actually get up and teach, it's hard to say what specific examples you may use. I think it's unfair to ask these types of questions. I don't think I could have answered these well when I was interviewing, but I wasn't often asked.

Finally, there is a chance for the dean, who will make the hire official, to interview the candidate. This was perhaps the piece of the interview I was most intimidated about, but in reality, it wasn't too bad. I was always surprised that the dean had read my whole file, unlike some of the faculty.

In addition to the formal pieces of the interview, there are always meals that are typically shared with faculty. I have been on dinner duty and have had at least one dinner with each of the faculty candidates. It's fun in the sense that I get to go out and try new places without the expense, but it's also really restrictive to my time. It makes the evening a no go for getting anything else done. I often work into the evenings and on those nights, I have to leave at the designated time no matter what I'm in the middle of working on. It makes me less productive.

Overall, it has been an interesting experience. But I hope not to have to do it again anytime soon.