Shenanigans at the APA

An anonymous commenter writes:

"Is there a blog that gives updates on the shenanigans going down now at the APA Eastern? Inquiring minds want to know!"

Yes, anon, there is, and it is this blog. So, people, give us your shenanigans, your gossip, your stories of heartbreak, and your wild conjectures about the recently concluded APA meetings.

Questions for them

When the interview is winding down, it is pretty common for the interviewers to encourage the candidate to ask them a question or two. Obviously, this is yet another opportunity to impress them or to fuck things up. So, what are good questions to ask at an interview? Should one get down to brass tacks (tenure requirements, course load, salary), or should one use the question to make oneself look good? What are good questions to ask, and which questions are off-limits?

What do you want from us!?!

This is more of a question for members of search committees than those who successfully landed interviews. The reason I'm less interested in hearing from those who successfully landed interviews is that there's a good chance that the reason you landed interviews won't ever be a reason that I'll land an interview or others might land interviews. Most of us who want jobs don't come from Leiterriffic departments. So, what can we do to compensate for that? Something? Nothing?

I'm guessing that your answer will depend on the sort of department you work for. I thought that if you could beef up your teaching portfolio, this would impress the SLAC. If you get some pubs, that would impress research departments. As you might have guessed, none of this has brought me any luck and I'm now starting to fear that for most people the answer is 'Nothing'. But, I could be wrong. So, if there is something that can be done to overcome the lack of pedigree, we want to know what it is and who this sort of thing might work on. If some of you really wouldn't hire those of us from departments that aren't Leiterriffic it would be good to know. Some of us could give up and grad students could make some informed decisions.

Fwiw, this isn't a good thread for fighting and arguing. We just need some honest answers. Also, don't take the '!?!' as a sign of bitterness or frustration. My year wasn't as bad as it has been for many. I feel pretty okay about things at the moment.

My suitcase is empty

I'm finally done grading. Now, on to interview prep, and the small matter of preparing for for my courses next semester. Oh, and holiday cheer, of course: Happy holidays to all of you!

Why, oh why, must the wiki always be down?

And can somebody who knows what they're doing fix it?

Interviews with small departments

Small departments are probably looking for someone with your AOS because they don't already have somebody who can plausibly teach an upper division class on that topic. So you can be pretty confident that your interviewers don't know much (and perhaps shockingly little) about your AOS. When discussing your research, then, should you be careful to define the basic terms and concepts in your area (even those that any 3rd year grad student should be familiar with), thus risking seeming pedantic and condescending, or should you operate under the assumption that your interviewers are familiar with the basics, and risk alienating them very quickly while coming off as a bad fit in a small, teaching-oriented department?

Skidmore?

Last night I read on the wiki that the "core search" has been canceled. But the wiki doesn't say that today. Anyone got the straight dope on Skidmore?