Video Workshop Gives Tips for Mastering Faculty Job Interviews

Katherine Friedrich

In a joint video conference on Feb. 20, CIRTL Network partners Rique Campa and Eileen Callahan showed graduate students at Michigan State University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison how to stand out from the crowd during crucial steps of the faculty hiring process - the application and the interview. The workshop was called “Securing Academic Positions: Planning, Preparation and Interviewing for Success.”

The presenters were joined by Matt Helm, from the Graduate School at MSU, and Mary Behan, a professor and dean from the School of Veterinary Medicine at the UW-Madison.

“We’re going to be brutally honest with all of you,” said Campa, who has served on search committees as a professor in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife. With extensive audience participation, the presenters analyzed the hiring process.

The audience looked at four job advertisements and brainstormed about what key information was missing from the ads. Often, important facts had been left out. But, Campa said, one can find many clues in ads about the skills and qualities search committees are seeking.

“Dissect your job advertisements,” Campa said. A thorough reading of a job ad is the first building block for a strong application. The application should address the skill sets that the ad emphasizes.

“The most important part of the application is the cover letter,” said Bob Mathieu, CIRTL Principal Investigator, who was in the audience at the UW-Madison. Writing an original and well-targeted cover letter is essential. Without a letter that expresses excitement about the position and highlights the applicant’s credentials, an application will not pass muster.

The presenters agreed. “They make their cuts quickly based on your authenticity,” Helm said.

“You want to be an insider as much as possible,” Helm said. He encouraged the audience to establish professional credibility and make personal connections by researching the work of their search committee members and their future colleagues. He also said that it’s a good idea to look up statistics about a university before interviewing there. These statistics are usually available on university web sites. “Know something about their curriculum,” Campa added.

The workshop concluded with a series of four mock interviews. During the interviews, the presenters asked several illegal questions about an interviewee’s family status and visa status. The group discussed appropriate responses to these questions.

Callahan, who works at the Graduate School at the UW-Madison, advised the audience to apply for jobs that they cared about and that would fulfill their professional aspirations. “What you love are the kinds of jobs you want to apply for,” she said. “It’s understanding what makes you want to get up in the morning.”

May 8, 2008

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