More Tales from the Odd World of the Academic Job Market

Even though I have the unexpectedly early and very exciting job interview lurking on the horizon (deep breath Sparks, deep breath) that does not mean anything is remotely certain for me. Being on the academic job market is a bizarre and disorientingly surreal experience. There are no guarantees that a Ph.D. will secure you a job, and at times it feels like there is very little rhyme or reason to the process itself. What makes review committees favor certain candidates over others? Indeed, what they are looking for on paper and in person doesn't, from what I've learned, always seem to correspond. How does one prepare for these scenarios? In some ways, you can't. You just need to be able to adapt and go with whatever situation you are thrown into.

Needless to say, I'm still a bit baffled by it all but soldiering on doggedly in my determination to land a job.

Thus, I have been continuing to send out myriad applications for other positions in the hopes of securing additional interviews down the road. Because, let me be honest here folks, I HAVE to leave Gainesville this summer. I can't do another year here. As much as I love my department and my network of friends and colleagues, I have hit my restlessness threshold. Like Monkey, I have been a nomad all my life. I think it might be genetic because my father is exactly the same way. We never stay in one place more than a few years. And Gainesville is just too remote and residential for my overall predelictions. I can last far longer in an urban area without losing interest and enthusiasm. But I've pretty much exhausted all that Gainesville has to offer and my feet are itching to move on.

Some of the places I've applied to jobs are in better locations than others. Like many other job market newbies, I'll very likely be waiting down to the wire before I hear anything about potential MLA job interviews. Right now I've been receiving the slew of Affirmative Action response cards and "acknowledgement of application" letters from places that I've sent materials to. But yesterday I received an unusual email request from another BIG NAME SCHOOL asking for a writing sample (they are famous enough that they only requested a CV and cover letter call for applicants as part of the initial application). This is of course a really good sign of interest, but their request was not quite what I'd been expecting. While most schools ask for a publication sample or a chapter of the disseration as the standard request, this school is asking for A FULL MANUSCRIPT of my dissertation. As you might imagine, this freaked me the hell out because 1) I don't have the full manuscript completed, as I'm not going to be defending until April, 2) What does this mean? Do they merely want to ascertain how far along I really am? Or is there some other reason?

Honestly, a complete manuscript is a helluva lot to read. Review committees typically don't want to read submissions of more than 30-50 pages because they have to read a lot of them. Even my committee chair noted that this was a very unusual request, but wasn't sure what to make of it. Basically, I will send them what I have with a cover letter explaining the status of the two chapters that remain to be written. We'll see what happens.

I've been encountering some really odd or atypical things in my first job market search, which just goes to show that even the helpful information your colleagues can provide you with in advance will not necessarily anticipate what you may find.