Tweet
Surfacing for Air (Briefly)
My horoscope for today: "You may be ready to do something extraordinary with artistic projects or in areas of self-expression, but feel as though you don't have enough resources to set things in motion."
Hmm
I know, updates are a month behind, and I apologize. As most of you know I am in the middle of job interviews. The last interview is coming up at the end of next week, and then I should be able to breathe again.
To give an idea of how professors are hired, it goes something like this. I arrive in the evening and meet the chair for dinner. After 3 hours, I get to go to sleep (around 11) only to rise again and start meeting people at 8 AM. There are meetings with various faculty members all day, without a break - you eat lunch and dinner with faculty. You will be quizzed on your subject area, on how your work relates to the person you're talking to's work (and they may or may not be in your area), and how you see the future of the department. You are usually also asked about how you'll fund your research, about your family life, and about your hobbies and interests. The iea is to find out what kind of a person you are and how good of a scientist you are. Usually you are done by around 9:00 or 10:00 at night, at which point you can go back to the hotel and collapse. The next day goes roughly the same way. Somewhere in there, you have to give a one-hour talk (including a few minutes of questions) on your research, which should be the best and slickest talk you've ever given. Then you usually fly home late at night after the second day. It's very tiring. The previous interview I not only interviewed but also drove to and from the interview -- I was pretty tired.
So the good news is that I am close to surfacing again. The bad news is I'm still sitting on a lot of good work that you folks have done. Just a bit longer to wait. Hang in there.
Hmm
I know, updates are a month behind, and I apologize. As most of you know I am in the middle of job interviews. The last interview is coming up at the end of next week, and then I should be able to breathe again.
To give an idea of how professors are hired, it goes something like this. I arrive in the evening and meet the chair for dinner. After 3 hours, I get to go to sleep (around 11) only to rise again and start meeting people at 8 AM. There are meetings with various faculty members all day, without a break - you eat lunch and dinner with faculty. You will be quizzed on your subject area, on how your work relates to the person you're talking to's work (and they may or may not be in your area), and how you see the future of the department. You are usually also asked about how you'll fund your research, about your family life, and about your hobbies and interests. The iea is to find out what kind of a person you are and how good of a scientist you are. Usually you are done by around 9:00 or 10:00 at night, at which point you can go back to the hotel and collapse. The next day goes roughly the same way. Somewhere in there, you have to give a one-hour talk (including a few minutes of questions) on your research, which should be the best and slickest talk you've ever given. Then you usually fly home late at night after the second day. It's very tiring. The previous interview I not only interviewed but also drove to and from the interview -- I was pretty tired.
So the good news is that I am close to surfacing again. The bad news is I'm still sitting on a lot of good work that you folks have done. Just a bit longer to wait. Hang in there.
Comment