And so it begins again

I have just completed my first application packet of the new season. Mary is kindly proof reading it for me. Carleton College - just south of Minneapolis - has an application deadline of 9/18. That seems wildly early to me. Maybe the have an adjunct they want to hire and want to keep the numbers down. Or maybe they want the kind of applicants who are paying attention and quick off the mark. Still, that's almost an entire year between application deadline and start date.

I was at the UFVA conference a week ago, networking and mingling and contributing and trying to position myself as a collaborative and engaged member of the professional community. I think it went well. I gave a presentation that had decent attendance. I was told by friends that I came across well. And over the rest of the days I had different people talk to me about the issues.

I also had a chance to sit with Charles, my advisor from BU, and Nina my mentor from GW about what to take away from last year's job search. At the end of the day we decided that I'm a strong candidate and I just need to keep at it until I find a school where it clicks. I also got to talk to the woman who was the head of the search committee at Webster, and a woman who was on the search committee at Buffalo and they were both very encouraging. They both thought I had done well and there's just always more going on than you can ever really account for.

So I am planning no major changes to my approach other than broadening what I apply to. Last year I limited my applications to tenure track positions. This year I will consider lecturer or visiting assistant positions as well. Charles from BU and Charlie from Fitchburg both said even though it's temporary, a 1 year full time position that you have to move for is better on the CV if not entirely better financially (due to the expense of moving, etc) than a year of adjuncting. Sigh. Lessons learned.