Download Surviving Your Academic Job Hunt: Advice for Humanities PhDs by Hume PDF

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Just say you want to make a couple of points first, do so, and then thank them for the interview. Brainstorm with friends and fellow job hunters. Generate variations on the questions and answer them. Ask yourself questions and answer them as you walk, work out, sit in the car, shower, sit on the toilet, or stand in line at the cash register. Whenever possible, answer the questions you are asking yourself out loud. You need to get used to the sound of your own voice, and you need to engage the part of your brain involved in speaking—a different part from one that silently compiles answers.

In your general anxiety, you will find it all too easy to overlook socks, the necktie that goes with the conference suit, or an alarm clock (hotel wake-up service is not always reliable, especially when the hotels are fully occupied and the staff harried). January and February 16) Send E-mail Thank You Notes for Interviews and Follow Up on Any References or Materials You May Have Promised to Send This is your chance to remind them which candidate you are. If, for instance, you feel you answered one question badly, you can say you realized later what had been behind one of their questions, so you can now offer an answer more to the point, and then give it.

Since the department had not made the information available in a timely fashion, the enterprising and desperate job hunter was reduced to getting it by bribing a bell captain with a twenty-dollar bill. Most departments are more responsible and helpful, and not all job centers produce the frustration that so many hunters have felt at the MLA on account of the number of job candidates the center has to serve. Such centers at smaller conferences may offer a very different experience: e-mail facilities, the chance to see old friends and meet rivals for your jobs, and a good opportunity to network.