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- Rice university’s nsf advance
- Rice university’s nsf advance
- How to stand out in the interview
Panel discussion presented by Qilin Li and Fred Oswald at the 2011 NSF ADVANCE Workshop: Negotiating the Ideal Faculty Position, A Workshop for Underrepresented PhDs and Postdocs in Science, Engineering and Psychology September 18-20, 2010
Interviews are a grueling process
- Hard for both interviewee and interviewers
- Time, energy, interaction, evaluation on both sides
- Department wants to know if you are right for them
- You want to know if department is right for you
Short time frame
- Will interact with a number of people
- Want to stand out — in a really positive way
- ALWAYS BE “ON”!!!
- Even in casual meal sessions, you are being evaluated and judged
- Do not “let down” at any time during the process
How do you present yourself?
- Handshake is important first impression
- Firm, but real (really shake the hand!)
- Not too firm — may hurt!
- Your level of interest and information is important
- Gather information about the department (more later)
- Gather information about the institution (more later)
The campus visit
- Most important step in determining whether interview becomes an offer
- Remember that not everyone you meet will have “studied” your application
- Allows you to interact with those who will make the offer decision
- Varies between institutions (full professors, entire department, role of dean/provost)
Before the visit
- Learn about the institution/department/faculty
- Web pages are a wonderful resource, including family leave and P&T information
- Ask colleagues who may know someone there
- Ask for a copy of the department’s strategic plan (not having one tells you something!), the school or college’s plan, the institution’s plan
- Agenda for your visit
- Ask for the agenda a little before your visit
- Prepare for those people on the agenda, but realize that agendas change, so know something about the entire department
- If you don’t get the agenda before you arrive, that tells you something!
- Ask for 30 minutes of preparation before your seminar
- Ask to meet with graduate students
- Think about what you will wear
- Clothes should be
comfortable for you (but not too informal) and make you feel like you look good
- You will be wearing them for the entire day
- Do
not wear clothes that make you look like you are a graduate student or on a date
- Think about what you will carry with you
- You’ll be lugging it with you for the entire visit
Talking points
You will want to meet with graduate students to assess the quality of the program.
What happens on the visit?
- Formal presentations: Exude confidence!
- Departmental seminar
- Presentation on your research plans
- May vary among fields
- Visits one-on-one with faculty, chair, sometimes dean or provost
- For these shorter visits, an “elevator” speech that summarizes your work is important
- Practice this with friends before interviewing
- Have questions prepared to fill the time
The visit
- Interview visits are a marathon event
- Do your homework
- Research area, role in the department
- Ask Chair and others about research areas prioritized for the future
- Ask individuals you see about their teaching, what the courses are and how the students are
- Ask Chair about anticipated future teaching needs of the Department
- Ask the same questions, as appropriate, of everyone on your schedule
- Consistency or lack thereof is information
- Ask about the promotion and tenure process and criteria
- Ask about expectations for generating extramural research support and supporting graduate students
- Ask about the teaching load
Source:
OpenStax, Rice university’s nsf advance program’s negotiating the ideal faculty position workshop master collection of presentations. OpenStax CNX. Mar 08, 2012 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11413/1.1
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