Tips for Navigating the Job Market Part III: Tackling the Interview

User Rating: / 0
PoorBest 

Hello OMTers!

 This is the third instalment of the “Tips for Navigating the Job Market” series. Here is what our four successful candidates from last year had to say about Tackling the Interview:

1.       How did you prepare for the interviews?

SIMONA: I read the main papers/books written by the interviewer.

ADAM: I practiced my job talk several times in front of members of my Department.  It is also a good idea to invite other faculty and students from other departments (strategy, sociology, psychology …).  Those individuals will likely ask you different kinds of questions, which is great practice. 

A wonderful suggestion from my advisor was to create a “stumpers file”, which is basically a list of questions that others ask of you that you struggle answering and things you think are problematic with your own work.  Over time the idea is that you work on coming up with really solid answers to those questions.  I literally wrote out detailed answers to some of my “stumpers”, which not only helped me feel more prepared to field questions but also aided me in the writing of my dissertation. 

Try to find someone at the school with whom you can get some “insider information” prior to interview.  At the job I wound up getting, I was very fortunate to have three different individuals give me some great tips on who I was meeting with and what their interests and concerns are.  That really helped me think about the types of questions I’d be asked in the one-on-one’s as well as during the job talk.

SHON: I do not consider myself particularly talented at public speaking, so I rehearsed my job talk 30 times before my first interview in front of a mirror in the basement of our house, and then 2-3 times in the hotel bathroom the morning before every presentation.  This gave me confidence to focus on the questions the audience asked during the presentation.

 ALEXSIOS: Mock presentations can be useful for practice. Try getting a good night’s sleep (not always easy, especially if you are interviewing in a different continent and are jet-lagged). Dress up. California style might be OK in CA, but it’s not OK in most other places. It’s safer to overdress than to under-dress, despite the fact that most people in the audience are likely to be in jeans.

2.       Please describe your experience of the interview process. What are the general stages and timeline of the process?  

ADAM: Be prepared for a very long day (or two days).  It is a bit of marathon, so it is important to control your emotions and not get too excited or anxious.  Many people told me to just try to have fun with it.  To think about it more like an opportunity to present your work to a new, (relatively) captive audience.  That is so much easier said than done, however. 

Typically, you will have a series of one-on-one interviews throughout the day with a job talk somewhere in the middle (or possibly at the end) of the day. The one-on-one’s were not as nerve-racking as I expected.  I got asked a few tough questions in those, but for the most part these were much more cordial conversations about research.    At some schools you will have an opportunity to meet with some of the doctoral students.  I found this to be a really nice experience.  Not only is their less pressure because those are your peers, they are also a great source of information about the department. 

The one thing that I was a bit taken aback by was the fact that I felt most people were genuinely glad I was there and were excited about my work and the prospect of me being in their department.  I went into it thinking it was my job to sell myself to them.  And while that is still true, they are also trying to sell their department to you.  And given the stress and anxiety about the interview/job talk process, it was reassuring to have a sense that I wasn’t the only one trying to put my best foot forward. 

SHON: Time speeds by when interviewing. Most interviews take place from November to February. I really enjoyed the interview process. I was able to meet talented people across a variety of fields, receive valuable feedback on my work, and become acquainted with other institutions. So while it’s stressful, try to enjoy it and take advantage of making new colleagues.

ALEXSIOS: Timelines vary a lot. The presentation can be the first thing in the morning, or some time in the middle of the day (e.g. lunch time). You might have one dinner, two dinners, or no dinners with faculty. Basically, there are no norms.

The faculty that interview you may often play good cop – bad cop (this, of course, can be because of differences in personalities more than a strategic thing). Rest assured that you are evaluated in both cases. And remember that a good and convincing answer to a bad cop can get you much closer to getting an offer than the much easier chit chat with a good cop.

3.       What are the most common questions you were asked during the interviews?

SIMONA: What is your dissertation about? How would you define yourself as a scholar? Any restrictions when it comes to location? Have you ever taught …?

ADAM: Several people asked (both in interviews and during the talk), what I see as the major contribution of my work.  If you are in a place that very much values theory, be prepared to answer questions about your contribution to theory. 

I was also asked questions regarding what I plan to do next, or what the next step was in my research.  Have a game plan and be able to articulate a few post-dissertation research ideas.  Ideally, a few of those will be things in which your interviewer (or others in the department) could be involved. 

You will also be asked somewhat vague questions like, “What can I tell you about our department?”  Have some questions prepared for them as well.  I came up with a list of questions to ask interviewees prior to the job talk and that proved to be helpful. 

SHON: What courses can you teach? How do you feel qualified to teach this course? How has your previous experience as an instructor or TA helped you in teaching this course?

ALEXSIOS: Apart from questions on your research and teaching, some other common questions are: Why do you want to come here? If we make you an offer, how likely are you to take it? In terms of research, where do you see yourself 5 years from now? Such questions are not super useful for either side (of course you will say that the school you are visiting is your dream school), but you still need to come up with a convincing and not too overblown response.

4.       Is there anything you did that, in hindsight, you would like to change? Or, is there anything you wish you had done?

SIMONA: Worry less – it is a stressful process.

ADAM: Obviously, we all wish we had more publications going into the market.  But of the things one can control at the time, I wish I had been more proactive in contacting schools and scholars at schools in which I was interested. Being proactive like that does not come easily to me, but it is something on which I should have worked during the job market process. 

SHON: I wish I would have circulated my job-talk paper to more individuals outside of the OMT field for feedback. Many departments where you’ll interview include a mix of management-trained scholars, economists, social psychologists, as well as sociologists. Having academics from other fields review your paper can help you identify limitations you may have overlooked.