Job Interview Questions

One of my regular e-newsletter readers asks the following questions:

"I have recently been shortlisted for a faculty position (just finishing a post-doc) and am very excited about the position. My questions are:

    1) A question about appropriate dress - is a jacket necessary?  The last time I interviewed I wore my jacket for the first meeting and then carried it around for the rest of the day.  I wore it for the dean's meeting later in the day -- it was a real nuisance and made me self-conscious.  So it is really necessary?

    2) Is it appropriate to take out a note book, to both refresh my memory of specific questions I have for specific panel members, and to make notes to answers I get?  Or is this a "no no."

    3) As an internal applicant, is there anything I should consider/do differently?  Everyone knows me so it's hard to flip myself into an "applicant" and interview situation when I have had casual conversions with these people numerous times.

My answers are below -- but I've posted these questions to get ideas from readers in the academogosphere.  I'm curious what you think.

Here are some of my thoughts on the topics:

1) I think that the first guide to appropriate interview drag is COMFORT.  If schlepping the jacket around makes you uncomfortable, by all means leave it behind.

I think that a slightly more formal look for a dean is a good idea -- since he or she probably dresses a bit more formally than most professors.  However, it is rarely possible to change your outfit for a single appointment -- and jumping into a telephone booth to turn into Super Interviewer would be weird.  My solution, dress for the Dean rather than the meeting with the grad students or the junior profs.

Personally, I need to wear layers when I am giving a presentation or having meetings.  When the spotlight is on my performance my temperature seems to rise slightly and I have to avoid getting hot.  I always need short sleeved tops when I'm giving a presentation in front of lots of people -- even in the dead of winter I have on something cool under a jacket - which I remove in the first few minutes of my talk if not beforehand.

2) I would think that a notebook is fine.  But you might want to make it a small one rather than a standard 8X11 size.  What would be the downside?

3)  Internal candidates do need to act differently and they will automatically get different questions.  The questions you need to ask need to be more specific and saavy than your non-internal competitors.  You need to make sure and talk about scholarly interests, accomplishments, and directions of future research that colleagues in the department might not know about.  If you give a formal job talk (and I hope that you do) it would be good to make references to the related research of other members of the department.  You might also prepare questions for faculty who are attending your talk: ie. "I've talked about x, you study y, how do you think that specific-aspect-of-y relates to my assertion about specific-aspect-of-x?"

 

I think any comments about this reader's questions could be really helpful to many job-seekers out there....

For example, what do you think, Dean Dad? (If you post something on your own blog, let me know so that I can link to it.)

Comments

[Dean Dad]

I think you're on the money. My general advice for interview clothing is to be a little dressier than on a normal day, but don't wear something for the first time on an interview. Break it in first. This is especially important for shoes, but it would apply to just about anything.

I'm a big fan of people bringing written questions. Whatever you do, don't show up to either the faculty or dean's interview without some questions prepared. Show forethought. Even if you already know the answers, you're showing that you're both thoughtful and serious.

As an internal candidate, don't assume anything. This is especially true with the dean. Go in loaded for bear, and don't make the mistake of resting on your laurels.

Good luck! (and thanks for the name-check, Mary!)

[Martha Crunkleton]

Good luck on your interview! I suggest wearing the jacket. In-house candidates are in a particularly difficult position during interviews. There are always too many presumptions and assumptions about you. For example, people may assume they know what you are working on in your research and not ask about it, etc. It is v. important that inside candidates look better than candidates who are new to the committee and the university.
On the sartorial question, I second the comment about wearing things you have worn before, esp. shoes. Also, it is important to wear a jacket and tie when meeting with the Dean.
One of the ways that academics have to make sure they are taken seriously in job interviews is to dress professionally, not like undergraduates or graduate students.
Good luck!