7 in 7

And not the good kind that gets you tipsy. 7 flights in 7 days, two locations and a lot of can't get there from here made last week very busy. But the latter half of my trip was filled with life's greatest pleasures, and enough good energy to recharge any gal's spirits. Family and Friends: two departments in which I am truely blessed, and I'm not sure either group really knows how important they are to me.

Why all the flying this time? Interviews. The last two of the season. I am very happy to not have to tell anyone how wonderful I am anymore. I am thrilled to move past focusing all my energy on the job hunt and actually do some real science for awhile. I've been refraining from really discussing the academic interview process on the blog, but the more I think about it the more I want to talk about it. The good and the bad.

The academic job hunt is a unique process that takes ~ 1 year to complete, the process itself will most likely be the topic of another post, but the interview, a key component to the process it the part that has taken over the last several months of my life so it's what I'll talk about today.

Academic interviews are not like any other interview process I know of. They are a unique beast all unto themselves, and although the process can vary slightly from institution to institution, I have now done 7 in total, so I feel that I can comment about the process in good faith. The interview itself can last anywhere between 1.5 and 2 full days, often depending on the travel schedule of the candidate, if you get a later flight, they'll grill you longer. These days often last a full 12 hours. On one occasion I was picked up at the hotel for breakfast at 7am and dropped off post-dinner at 9:30pm. This was the most extreme case, but 12 hours should be expected. Every meal is part of the interview. You are never not interviewing. I even know one guy who was followed into the men's room and questioned while he was taking care of business. Mark one down in the column of pluses for females being a minority in science: I was allowed to pee in silence.

The funny thing about this very long process is that the amount of information you give out, probably only fills the space of 2 or 3 hours. Every person you meet with asks the same questions, by the end of day two you are a skipping record, "I would like to teach X at Y level, and teach a graduate course in Z", "initially I will seek funding from source A because my current research topics are in their funding priority list, but I plan to expand to sources B and C by taking my research...blah blah blah". You will answer the same question at least 6 times over the course of each day, unfortunately to at least 6 different people. Advice to any academics out there who may be in the position to plan an interview: group sessions are more effective, give those candidates a break, answering "what would you like to teach?" a dozen times is a waste of time. I know academics are busy and all, but seriously, it's easier on everyone. The funny thing is, everyone knows how exhausting it is, and the canned questions are interspersed with: "how are you holding up?", "are you tired yet?" and "I know we've packed you're schedule, but..."

I think it's really an endurance test, He/she who is perkiest at the end wins.

But, alas, I make it sound awful, and it's not all bad. Other than the exhaustion, it's really quite fun. You meet other people, who may be potential collaborators, and future colleagues, hear fresh perspectives on your research and in general get to really share what you love about your work, which is greatly amusing. Plus you get to learn about a new University, a new town, a new culture, and there is plenty of good stuff that goes with it. If it works out right it can be just as exhilarating as it is exhausting. I guess that's kind of the truth for anything in life that's worth doing.