correlation between positions in different areas but at same dept/university

Summary:

are searches correlated or largely independent?

correlation between positions in different areas but at same dept/university

stats_nerd (guest) 03 Feb 2015 15:30

Do people on here know if, in general, the statuses of two positions in different areas (e.g., clinical vs. neuro; developmental vs. social) at the same university are correlated? In other words, if University A states that they have interviewed or made offers on a position in clinical, but nothing has been updated for a neuro position, can one assume that the University A neuro position probably did something similar? Or are the positions and search committee timelines different?

On the one hand, faculty members are busy and may only want to have one "season" of interviews. On the other hand, faculty are busy and might divide up the work (you take clinical and I take cognitive), so they have two search committees that could have very different timelines.

anonymous (guest) 03 Feb 2015 16:01

I would assume the correlation would be insignificant in most cases. From what I've been told, committees for different jobs at the same university are made up of different people and are largely independent. But as with everything, it depends on the institution.

anon (guest) 03 Feb 2015 16:43

Completely independent in my experience but I would wager the the correlation is a function of the size of the department. Smaller departments most likely can't divide the work as well as larger departments.

devanon (guest) 04 Feb 2015 19:42

I interviewed this year at a university that was making two hires in different areas, and the (small) department had one search in the fall and one in the spring, but this was pretty clear from their application deadlines.

anonbanon (guest) 04 Feb 2015 22:06

The only time I've seen this matter is when a department was worried there would be a spousal accommodation issue with one hire, so they held the unrelated position open in case they needed to use those funds to hire the spouse of the top candidate for the other search. It sucks for all involved when there is a feeling (or truth) that a search got cancelled or a line got lost to accommodate a spouse who was potentially not right for the line they ended up costing the department.

BeenThere (guest) 06 Feb 2015 19:10

They are completely separate. Think about it. A department cannot possible run all the interviews simultaneously. The candidates for each area are generally invited in closer proximity to each other. So. One area might do all their interviews in a 2 week span. Then another area will bring out their candidates. They don't happen at the same time. That's my experience.