Job Situation

This morning I printed out a list of all the teaching jobs I applied for and posted it in the kitchen. (Movie Dictator wants to know what the future might bring.) So far, I have applied for 26 jobs (and some fellowships), and got rejected from 3. Any day now I expect a whole batch of rejection letters to appear in our mailbox. The teaching positions are all over the place: East Coast, West Coast, South, Pacific Northwest. I’m open to just about anything -- though I did avoid Midwest.

As many of you know, applying for teaching jobs is a long and torturous process. You look for openings. You send out applications. Some colleges want everything at once: your CV, your recommendations letters, your writing sample, your creative statement, your statement of teachings philosophy, your statement of Christianity (no, I’m not kidding). Others keep it minimal at first and then follow up with requests for extra info. Then there are initial interviews. Many of them happen at the MLA Conference (which takes place between Christmas and New Year, the worst and most expensive time to travel). Some initial interviews happen over the phone. Then, if you’ve been picked as a finalist, you get invited for a campus visit, also known as an all-day interview. You might be asked to teach a workshop, a lit class (full-length or abbreviated), do a reading or a lecture, meet with various people, go to lunch and/or dinner during which you’ll be carefully scrutinized. It sounds hellish, but the one time I did it, I actually had fun – though preparing for it was a nightmare.

So what happened this year? Not much so far. The MLA was in Philadelphia, and I traveled there in December and had 4 interviews. I thought they went well. How do I know? I don’t. All I know is, the people were lovely and friendly, the conversations were good, the questions made sense. I enjoyed every interview. (The only thing I didn’t enjoy was the general confusion of the conference and running around – in heels! -- from one hotel to another.)

I also had two phone interviews, and these are always tough. You’re talking to a group of people. They are on a speaker phone. You’re on your cell phone. You can’t see their facial expressions or reactions to what you’ve just said. They can’t see you. Phone interviews make me feel like a fake. An incoherent, fumbling immigrant.

It’s been a month since the MLA, and I haven’t heard from any of the places that interviewed me. Which is not a good sign. Of course, it could just be a delay, something to do with budget. Movie Dictator likes to point out to the inclement weather in California. But I have to be realistic (without being pessimistic), and the truth is, I probably didn’t get picked.

I try to stay positive though. This year is somewhat unusual. Many job postings appeared late. Some colleges are planning to interview at AWP conference (end of February, Atlanta). The response time is also strangely slow. I mean where—where—are my rejection letters? So the process continues, there’s still hope – i.e., 23 places that haven’t responded yet. After a couple of weeks of obsessively checking my e-mail and phone, I decided I have to stop worrying. Something will happen. Something will come through. I don’t know what or where. I can’t predict it. But something will. I just have to believe this and set the whole issue aside and not to think about it. I’ve got a life to live, a new book to write, a class to teach, fiction to read, a blog to play with, and Movie Dictator still hasn’t shown me all the Fawlty Towers, and there’s still a couple of seasons of Absolutely Fabulous left, not to mention all the Kubrik films, which we barely tapped into, and Kurosawa, and little known Korean flicks. So stay tuned for more updates.