Brief Phone Interviews

Summary:

What are SCs looking for in 15-20 minutes?

Brief Phone Interviews

1applicant (guest) 12 Nov 2010 23:32

I've had the good fortune to have multiple phone interviews so far, and they have all asked me for a one hour time block for an interview. It hasn't always lasted that long (e.g., 40-50 minutes), but it seemed to be the typical time frame. However, I recently received a request that asked for a 15-20 minute time frame, which seemed a bit short. It's throwing me off a bit in terms of what types of questions to expect (and the pressure to shorten my responses).

Anyone out there have some advice/insight?

oy vey (guest) 13 Nov 2010 12:10

practice giving answers that are brief and to the point. It is important to be able to expound on your work at length, but an equally important skill (e.g., grant writing) is to be able to give the concise bottom line. Punchy and brief…

Also, offer to elaborate on any point they'd like to hear more about.

1applicant (guest) 13 Nov 2010 17:51

Thanks for the advice! It's from a more teaching-oriented school than the others (and I have a lot of publications in addition to teaching experience), so I was wondering if it was to just ask "Are you sure you want to work here? Why?"

guest (guest) 15 Nov 2010 14:28

I had one of these, and it actually ended up being a pre-call from the department head before I had the traditional extended phone interview with the committee. It was just the department chair making sure I was still interested in the position and then him explaining the process from here on out. Maybe it's that?

dev.anon (guest) 16 Nov 2010 18:28

I had a similar experience with a brief phone interviewand, like guest said, the call was more about seeing if I was still interested in the position before extending a campus interview invite.

1applicant (guest) 16 Nov 2010 19:58

Thanks for the advice everyone! Just had the phone interview and it was pretty much like the others; a conference call with 3 SC members to whittle down a list of 6 down to 3 for campus invites. I think they just underestimated the time, as it actually took about 40 minutes. They also noted the salary towards the end; it was pretty low for such a high cost-of-living area, so I'm wondering if they were hoping to get some candidates to self-select out.

dev.anon (guest) 16 Nov 2010 22:56

That's the first time I've heard of salary being mentioned that early in the process. Interesting…

Anon (guest) 16 Nov 2010 23:03

Maybe a state school where they have no ability to negotiate? And are hoping people will self-select? I can imagine this in places like California right now….

1applicant (guest) 17 Nov 2010 00:09

This is the second time I've had interviewers mention a general salary range at the end of the phone interview (and of course I never ask, sticking with good phone interview etiquette). Both were at schools in high cost-of-living areas on the east coast, but one was a small private SLAC while the other one was a big state school. The SLAC actually asked me what my range was in a phone interview (which I thought was illegal, or at least unethical) and I had to work really, really hard to play naive and wiggle out of it until they finally told me their range. The most recent one (state school) gave a rough estimate but implied it was negotiable to some extent.

I don't know…is it me? Do I somehow evoke inappropriateness (or candidness)? :)

bitter (guest) 12 Dec 2010 18:17

I had a school send me an email asking me if I was still interested 3 days after the application deadline - but as I understand it, it was exactly this: checking to make sure if I was still interested… after I learned about their ridiculously low salary range. No point in short listing me if I'm not. I went on to have a phone interview after that.

This was a small college in a medium cost-of-living area (same cost of living index as where I currently live, but the salary is 10k less). On the bright side, it sounds like a pretty fantastic fit, so I dunno, maybe I will take the salary hit if they offer it to me.

Re: Brief Phone Interviews

da_dude_abides 12 Dec 2010 05:22

Recently had a *brief* one. Too brief it seemed…

In the past, I've had anywhere between 30 minute and 60 minute conference call interviews. In some, more of the S Committee jumped in with follow-up questions, whereas this one was straight from a list and numbered. Five questions I believe. Then the Search Chair asked the requisite "do you have any questions for us?" I had a handful of specific institutional/ department/ administrative questions ready to go. Even after I fired 5 at them, the S Chair answered all of them. And I looked down at my watch after hanging up and it was only 25 minutes long. Wow! I was the late interview (probably no one following me), but maybe they wanted to get home on a Friday afternoon.

In any case, should I read into any of this? Wonder how it bodes for me…

Anony (guest) 13 Dec 2010 00:29

I recently had one of these shorter ones. It was just really rapid fire questions. I ended up getting the campus interview though, so I guess it went well.

As for salary: I've had two schools give me their salaries in email requests for phone interviews. They were to the point. Stating it was non-negotiable. I declined both, since my post-doc pays almost as much….cost of living or not…it was MUCH too low. I really think they did want people to self-select out….and I'm sure they realize their salaries are ridiculously low and want to be up front about it.

Anon Crazy (guest) 19 Dec 2010 23:40

Yea what the heck is with the California schools offering such low salaries? It seems crazy to move there with cost of living so hight and salaries so low.

Anony (guest) 20 Dec 2010 14:48

Does anyone feel brave enough to actually post one of these "crazy low" California salaries? I'm not particularly well-informed in this area and want to have a guidepost.