Scheduline Campus Interviews

Scheduline Campus Interviews

Anon (guest) 07 Nov 2010 16:30

I have two campus interviews scheduled and one university where I am close to a campus interview (in the final stages of phone interviewing; they are trying to cut it down to their final three for campus). I applied to about 40 places and the places I have heard from thus far are all ones with the early deadlines. Given how competitive the academic job search is (and I am still a graduate student so no post doc), I honestly thought I might get one or two bites. However, things are looking a bit more positive. OK, here are my questions:
-How do you all recommend managing the scheduling for campus interviews? In other words, if a favorite university contacts you for a campus interview, but you have already scheduled other campus interviews on their selected dates? Do you ask them for another date? What's the accepted etiquette?
-If things are looking positive is it ever advisable to decline campus interviews at less favorable universities? This seems like a gamble since other places might not work out.
-Finally, do most people get the impression that a lot of the same "final three" are interviewing for the same positions at other similar universities/programs/positions?

anon (guest) 07 Nov 2010 17:04

First of all, congrats, it's great you're getting positive responses.

I would not decline campus interviews, unless you have an offer in hand from a place that you prefer. I know someone who declined several interviews and then ended up not getting an offer from the places he did interview.

I think the etiquette is that once you've accepted an interview on a certain date, you are committed to that. Sometimes schools give you a choice of several dates. Or you could ask the favored university for an alternate date, explaining the situation.

anon and on and on (guest) 07 Nov 2010 17:20

Congratulations on the positive news!

I would only decline a campus interview if there's no way you would ever actually want to work there, since you'd just be wasting your time and the university's time. (Of course, that begs the question of why you applied in the first place …) Crazy stuff can happen - someone else might be a better fit, a preferred position might be delayed because of a lack of funding, you might accidentally offend someone on the committee by not asking about their research, etc. If you already have a good offer in hand, then you might want to consider turning down interviews, but I'd take everything up until that point.

I also agree with the other anon about interview dates that you've already agreed to. Not only might having other interviews make you look more appealing to the second place, but it might actually be a strike against you if word got out that you bailed on the first place (because no one likes the person that backs out of commitments like that).

Anon (guest) 07 Nov 2010 22:59

Thanks to you both for the feedback. I have a follow-up question based on what "anon and on and on" said - "having other interviews makes you look more appealing" - if you are invited for a date on which you already have another interview scheduled is it better to say that specifically or be vague and say you already have anothe obligation?

Anon (guest) 08 Nov 2010 13:53

I would say it specifically. Because most other obligations (teaching, etc.) I think would be superseded by an interview. If you just say you have an obligation, it might seem like you only want to come at your convenience. If you tell them it's another interview, it shows you're in demand like anon and on and on said, and also shows you're not trying to be difficult, it's a commitment you can't break.

anons (guest) 08 Nov 2010 14:54

Congrats on the multiple interviews. What area are you?

I agree with the others. Accept everything! Most places will give you several options and you can either say you have another interview scheduled or say something like "family obligations." For my current campus invite I was given 4 possible dates. I had to tell them that I was going to be out of town for one of the times, but could do all the others. They were completely accomodating. We do all have lives outside of this job search (I have several commitments between now and March that cannot be cancelled).

Anon (guest) 08 Nov 2010 19:43

Anons: My area is clinical but I applied broadly to clinical, counseling, community, applied social, etc. Thanks for the input!

anons (guest) 08 Nov 2010 20:26

My pleasure :-) I also applied pretty broadly too (developmental, social, and open positions). Best of luck!!

Data (guest) 08 Nov 2010 19:53

Any data out there (or educated guess) what percentage of people who land interviews for faculty positions are offered a position at one place or another?

Anonymous2 (guest) 10 Nov 2010 00:26

If you are one of three people interviewed for a position, your probability of receiving an offer are roughly 33%. If you have two interviews and are one of three people at each, your chances are still about 33%. Of course, if you are competing against the same people then your chances improve because if one of your competitors receives and accepts an offer, then that person is no longer a competitor for another position. As far as I know there is no data on this because basic probabilities are sufficient to explain this situation.

another anon (guest) 10 Nov 2010 01:07

Anonymous2 - maybe I'm no good with probabilities, but why are your chances unchanged if you're interviewing at two places? If you flip a coin, it's 50% heads. If you flip it twice, the chances of landing at least one heads is 75%. I believe the purely random chance if you have two interviews as one of three candidates at each place (and the fact that you have two doesn't speak to your desirability etc., and the other 2 candidates are not the same for the two places) is 5/9.

vd 10 Nov 2010 02:18

I agree with "another anon" that the probability is 5/9. Here is how I arrived at that number: The probability of not getting the first job is 2/3. The probability of not getting the second job is 2/3. The probability of not getting either job is then the product of those probabilities: 2/3 x 2/3 = 4/9. The probability of getting at least one of the jobs is then 1 - 4/9 = 5/9. The more interviews you have, the higher your probability of getting at least one job offer.

dev.anon (guest) 10 Nov 2010 20:16

But if each job interview is an independent observation, then having a second job interview doesn't improve your chances of getting either position. If you flip a coin, the chances of getting a heads is always 50%, regardless of what you flipped the trial before. Right??? Applying for jobs has taken up too much energy that I don't think there's room in my brain to figure out these kinds of problems!

another anon (guest) 10 Nov 2010 21:40

No. The chances for either flip is 50%, but the chances that one of the two flips will be heads is 75%. Think of it this way:

Applying to job A:
You, L, and M

Applying to job B:
You, N, and O

Here are the possibilities for who gets the jobs:
You and N
You and O
You and You
L and You
M and You
L and N
L and O
M and N
M and O

That's a 5/9 chance that you'll get at least one of them.

wow! (guest) 10 Nov 2010 22:48

I just love that this is a discussion post ;) And, my opinion is that it is conditional probability.

Anon (guest) 11 Nov 2010 01:17

I think it's hard because you have to take into account that person A accepted job A and now they are off the market.

anon (guest) 12 Nov 2010 20:06

This is a funny post! Can I complicate it further?

I say you can't calculate probability, because you do not know the starting chance/probability. A coin does not care whether it lands heads or tails, so it's purely chance, but a program may have a preference for one side or the other. Given program priorities and biases, your original probability is not likely 33% just because you are one of three interviewees. It MAY be 33%, but it may be more or less than that to start. ;-)

Anonn Y. Mouse (guest) 12 Nov 2010 20:14

I agree. I think the original poster who suggested we can just use probability to figure out how many people who get interviews get jobs is assuming that all open positions get filled. But this is not the case. After you interview, departments usually make 2 decisions: First, for each candidate is that candidate acceptable and Second, a rank ordering of the candidates that are acceptable.

Anon (guest) 12 Nov 2010 22:32

I love this! I usually go into the interview thinking I have a 33.3 or 25% chance based on how many are being interviewed. I just look at each one individually.