I really do appreciate the schools that email me early on saying they don't want me. Although the rejection email I got today was weird because this school requested letters from my references. Does this mean my references wrote bad ones? My guess would be 'no', but I'll never know. GMP from The Academic Jungle commented on a previous post of mine writing that I shouldn't read too much into the letters. I didn't fit in their department, whether because of pedigree, research background, research interest, teaching interests, or all of the above. Here's what's interesting: I have an 'in' at the university, and they've let me in on some details:
The people they're bringing in are all in a specific field that I'm not in. I applied to the position because it was a broad posting. If you're looking for a specific type of candidate, why waste your time on a broad posting and reviewing applications that aren't tied into what you're looking for? You're wasting your's and all the applicants' time. Secondly, all the finalists are in an underrepresented demographic. My demographic is underrepresented, but these are in the stratosphere of underrepresentation (I've never typed underrepresented so much!). The university wants to diversify, so that's their deal, but I've never once hired with sex, race, tattoos in mind. I find the best candidate. I'm sure there are other factors at play, this is just what my 'inside person' told me.
This particular school is an R1 with a department that I'm not a fan of. However, I adore the city. I could see myself settling down in that college town. I guess it's not meant to be. I still have other opportunities, and I’m going to nail those interviews!
I decided to add an extra category to the job count: Outright Rejections. Though it'd be a fun addition. The slash shows how many schools I applied for so far.
Outright Rejections (their loss): 3/29
Phone/Skype interviews offered: 10
Phone/Skype interviews accepted: 3
1st campus visits offered: 0
1st campus visits accepted: 0
2nd campus visits offered: 0
2nd campus visits accepted: 0
Offers: 0
