A good start to the new year

At this point I think everyone knows, but just for the record: I have a job!!!!! I'm so glad that's resolved. The process of job hunting was very bad for my emotional and mental well being. And it's a job that I expect I will settle nicely into and enjoy. I may well never have to job hunt again. (I should probably change the name of my blog now.)

So to kick off the new year, yesterday I went on a hike with Katie and Brenda.

While everything is still possibility and happiness

I have survived the gauntlet of interviews between Thanksgiving and Finals. Here is the semester's end recap.

Questions from a skype interview

He started out introducing everyone and saying we had 15-20 minutes, but in fact we spent almost a half an hour.

My current schedule

At Mom's request, but it helps me to keep track as well as well. I'll keep updating it as necessary until we finally get to Christmas.

Update on the job hunt

So here's the current stats:

• 27 jobs on my spreadsheet
• 5 are lecturer
• 22 are tenure track
• 23 applications finished
• 4 with deadlines that aren't until December or later
• 3 first interviews so far
• 1 invite to a campus interview, but I declined
• 2 waiting to hear about whether I passed that step
• 2 are schools that I had campus interviews with last year
• 6 are within about 3 hours of Albany

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.

Not the news I was hoping for

I've actually known this for more than a week, but I've been keeping myself distracted from it. The final count was applications 27, first interviews 6, campus interviews 5, offers 0.

I have a plan B. They have offered me 4 classes at Fitchburg for the fall semester. 2 sections of the class I taught this semester. So that's good because the prep work is already done. Also I enjoyed the class. I think I'm going to be a better writer personally by way of teaching writing. I can constantly remind myself of all the things I'm always reminding them of. Then there's an Avid editing class. That's good because I've taught plenty of editing, but never taught Avid so that will be appealing to a certain type of school when I get around to doing applications next year. And then there's Introductory Production which is, in most fundamental ways, very similar to classes I've taught in the past. But also will be very different because they're mostly shooting film. So again, it's something I've done but never taught, and also a little bit stuff I'm going to have to learn. I've never edited film, but boy am I looking forward to learning it this summer so I can teach it this fall. I'll probably buy myself a few rolls of 16mm film and borrow their camera over the summer so I can practice shooting and editing. That will be fun.

Ghost Tours has been getting screenings. And certainly there are worse things then spending a summer on Cape Cod writing and working on films.

Here, have some more gratuitous sun and moon photos.

Spring = Waiting

It's been more than a month since I updated. I can tell you that at first that was because I was crazy busy - March was nuts - and then because I keep thinking I'll have News any minute now. I do not have news. At this point I don't know when I'll have news. I thought I'd recap the job hunt a bit. See if I can figure out any lessons learned in case I have to do it again or so I can give others advice.

I also have some photos at the end because the job hunt is not a happy place, but the beach certainly is.

And another one

Today was a school in Texas. Considering I got in a major car crash two days ago due to the 8 foot high snow banks making it impossible to see, Texas sounds kind of nice. It was a half an hour phone interview. Apart from the fact that I don't have to dress for it the phone interview is not my preference. Skype interviews you can sort of make eye contact, you can see how they're reacting. And they can see you. I think phone interviews are worse for rambling answers. You have to just stop talking and trust that they will understand that was the end of your answer. If they can see you you've got that "I am done" look rather than the "I'm thinking about it" look.

Another day another interview

I feel like I'm getting good at this, but I do wonder how practiced one wants to become. We'll see if I can go 3 for 3 on turning first interviews into campus visits. I felt like it went well enough, but there's too much depending on things outside of my control to really know. I would like it too anyway. I didn't finish it up thinking, ugh I don't think I'd fit in there.

Results from UCM

I just realized that I didn't update here what happened after the phone interview with the University of Central Missouri. Last week they flew me out for a campus interview. Decent school, friendly people, in a town so small the nearest movie theater is 40 miles away. I'm back to waiting for them to respond again. It's quite possible they had an internal candidate. They were specifically looking for someone to teach cinematography and they did have an adjunct teaching that class in the past, so if he's got the qualifications (possible, but not guaranteed, I couldn't have applied for openings at GW back when I was an adjunct for them) the job really should go to him. But we'll see. I rocked the interview, so whatever happens I won't go back thinking oh I wish I'd done X or Y differently.

In the meantime I've gotten an email from another school asking for a first interview. I gave them my schedule for when I'd be available, but it's been more than a week now and I haven't heard anything else. I have nudged them once, but I don't want to be a pain. And there's a third school who had asked for additional materials so I'm waiting to see if that will turn into an interview.

Job hunting, it's all about the hurry up and wait.

teaching and hopefully more teaching

Two big things for this week: I started my class at Fitchburg, and I had an interview at the University of Central Missouri. Both went well.

Onward to the other 19

Close but no cigar. I got a call today. "It was a really difficult decision. Everyone loved your presentation and class demo. We appreciate all the effort you went to to come out here. But we've decided to go with one of the other candidates."

Sigh.

I didn't really want to live in the desert. And I was somewhat concerned that they weren't going to be able to pay me what I'm worth. But I had been hoping that it would be my decision to make.

Still, it was good practice. I feel like I did everything as well as I could. That's just how these things go.

Fingers Crossed

Definitely over thinking was not required.

Time to stop over thinking

Today I had an "interview" at Fitchburg State (in northern Massachusetts). I put it in quotes because we're still working through the bureaucracy, but they anticipate sending me a contract in a couple of weeks. Anything could happen, of course, but it was less "prove to us you can teach" and more "this is your classroom, and here's who to talk to if you ever have computer problems." They were all lovely and welcoming. Answered my questions about the class and what to expect and what they expect from me. There are three sections of the class. I'm teaching 2 and the woman who developed the class is teaching the third. She sent me her syllabus. That takes a lot of pressure off me for reinventing the wheel. She wasn't there today, but I'll catch up with her the next time I'm around.

First Campus Interview

Well this is exciting and scary. I just got my first invitation for an on campus interview. I may be asking people to help me practice again. I got my preferred date. And also have confirmation that I'll only see them on the one day, which takes some pressure off on the whole shopping thing. I'm taking the red eye back so that I can have the whole day there on Tuesday. I think I might meet with a realtor. Not that I necessarily want to buy as soon as I get out there, but it would be a good way to learn the area and also get a sense of the cost of living.

Also my first rejection

I got my first rejection today. It was for a job that was the longest of long shots, teaching in New Zealand. They've got to have people that they don't need to relocate from quite so far away. So I don't mind it at all and it's kind of good to get the first one of those out of the way. This is a process. This will not be my last rejection. And ultimately I only need one of them to say yes.

And closer yet

I had my first academic job interview. To be honest, it wasn't all that different from other job interviews I've had (or conducted) in my life. I'll jump to the end. I rocked it!!!

My future self is one step closer

So far on my Academic Job Hunt spreadsheet (yes it's color coded and organized by due date), there are 15 jobs. By the end of the season I might get up to 20. I don't know if we've peaked yet. I'm too new to the process.

UFVA

I wanted to write up my reactions to the conference while I'm still here and it's fresh, and sort of live. I am REALLY enjoying it. No, I'm not going to leave here with a job. The bureaucracy of university hiring means that was never going to happen. And honestly, it's not likely that someone I meet here is going to remember me when they're sifting through their stack of 80 applicants for 1 job over the winter. But it's still always good to make contacts. And it's been very good to sort of practice talking about it. What I've been doing, what my background is, what I'd like to be doing.