Isn't this job business all about who you know? I mean, you may be the most qualified person, but then somebody walks in and gives somebody the Sigma Tau Omega handshake and whammo, they get the job, right? So, don't take it personally, you just have to keep at it. Don't you? Don't listen to me ... in the name of all that is holy, do not listen to me. You know better. All I am saying is that eventually, you'll talk to some people who will like you and then they'll start looking out for you and then you'll slide in somewhere. That's how this stuff works, right?
Sort of. But sort of not. Contacts are important, but in the academy, if anything, having a "patron" makes the other people in the department despise you, since they don't want to give another "vote" to that person... It is arbitrary and related to internal politics and stuff that's hard to explain.
In this case, the job basically was to BE the department. So they probably wanted someone who could teach courses that I don't have enough experience teaching. I was lucky to get as far as I did. This comes down to what I think my basic problem is: I don't have a background in what the academy wants to hire.
This sounds like you're creating yourself a horrible no-win situation. It helps to have friends, but at the same time, you want to look like a lone-wolf, but not too much ... etc. Is it possible to get it right?
Well, someone will get the job. So I guess it's possible! I just didn't tell them what they wanted to hear, somehow.
I was just saying that there might not be any particular "pull" in knowing somebody to help get you an academic job. Or at least that it is more complicated than in the real world, where knowing the right people is a big step up.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2002-02-22 01:42 am (UTC)Re:
Date: 2002-02-22 05:07 am (UTC)In this case, the job basically was to BE the department. So they probably wanted someone who could teach courses that I don't have enough experience teaching. I was lucky to get as far as I did. This comes down to what I think my basic problem is: I don't have a background in what the academy wants to hire.
no subject
Date: 2002-02-25 10:32 am (UTC)Re:
Date: 2002-02-25 10:36 am (UTC)I was just saying that there might not be any particular "pull" in knowing somebody to help get you an academic job. Or at least that it is more complicated than in the real world, where knowing the right people is a big step up.