The Job Market is looking... not that bad, I have to say!
There are several jobs for which I'd be a good fit - which is to say, a Latinist at a teaching school - and several others for which I could conceivably be considered (generalist positions and such-like).
I'm not going to pretend that I'm a specialist in Byzantine history or archaic Greek lyric poetry. I suppose one could, technically, apply to literally everything and just swear that yes, indeed, though all your research has focused on Roman Emperors Who Reigned for Less than 18 Months, your true love is (and always has been) Late Hellenistic Portraiture.
And then you could turn around to say the exact opposite to another school, all in the hopes of turning yourself into who you think they want you to be.
That is not my style.
At current, there are about 6 jobs I'm looking at, in addition to a handful of fellowships. All of them (jobs, fellowships, breathing-space) are preposterously competitive. At least one hundred applicants per every post, I would imagine.
I'm trying not to think about that.
I'm also trying not to think about The Job. I'm sure everyone has "the one." That one job you've kept close to your heart as a pipe-dream ever since you started down this crazy professional path. The one that you've never really dared to let yourself imagine having, because the moment you do, you're lost in a sort of dream-like reverie, pondering what-ifs and if-onlys.
Well, The Job is open.
It's at a place I love (for innumerable reasons), with people I respect, and students with an outstanding reputation for intellectual curiosity. And they're fucking hiring.
I may not have a snowball's chance in hell at getting it as a hot-off-the-press grad student, but come hell or high water I will submit the best damned application I can to this place.
And if - in the most unlikely of worlds - I wind up with The Job, well... I'll have a lot of thinking to do.
6 comments:
Good luck!
Oh, I totally get it. Each year I was on the market, I had one job that was "the one." Fortunately, this last year, I got "the one" that I had my eye on during that cycle. I talked to one of the search committee members just today about the search that ended up in my hiring. She said they received about 200 applications. Some of the jobs I'd applied for on the east coast received 700+ applications, according to their rejection letters. So the pool varies significantly, depending on where the school is. West and east coast get the most applications. Fly-over states, fewer. But still, even the least desirable locations have stiff competition.
This is not to discourage you. This is to say that, hell, if I can get hired, so can you. It might take some time, but golden tickets aren't entirely out of reach.
By the way, if you want someone to look over your application materials, shoot me an email at fieuponthisquietlife at gmail dot com. Having been through this process a million times and gotten a bunch of interviews, I feel qualified to take a look at just about anyone's application materials. By now, I should have a PhD in job hunting.
Best of luck, Hark!
Good luck! It'll be a few years before I am even qualified to apply for my The Job. Hopefully, you will be successful in getting The Job and then continue to love it as much as you do now.
Also, as an unfortunate member of the non-grad school party, there is a minimum of 200 applications per job posting out there, so you definitely should not let that get in your way :) If you're meant to get it, it will happen!
There is a possible Post Doc with the same criteria as your "The Job" that I was told about last May. I was asked when I was planning on graduating, and it was strongly hinted that I should apply for this hypothetical, not yet advertised Postdoc. I'm not 100% sure it's The Postdoc To End All Postdocs for me, but that has more to do with life issues than the job itself, still being single and adrift so to speak (as far as the job goes, it's The PDTEAPD). If you happened to get The Job, I would have far fewer qualms for going for The PDTEAPD, since it would mean I would have adult socialization possibilities, even if you and The Wife's presence wouldn't increase the dating options any :).
So assuming I've read between the lines correctly, I'm seriously rooting for you and The Job. Seriously. Not that I wouldn't anyways, but I'm self interested now as well. heh.
Robert - Thanks! I could use it.
Fie! - Jaysus. 700+? That's obscene. And I may very well take you up on that offer...
Kathleen - Thank you! I'll keep my fingers crossed!
Procris - That would be awesome. You should do it. Definitely.
Lovely. I would be happy to help, so email away if you'd like.
And yes, I about died when I saw over 700 applicants for one job. However, there are a lot of Shakespeareans in the world. A lot. There are probably more people covering Shakespeare than any other field of British lit. I'm guessing there probably aren't as many classicists. Or am I totally wrong about that? Who knows? Anyway, it eventually worked out for me. Here's hoping it does for you, too. :)
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