Update II: Welcome also to the readers of Crooked Timber. Please feel free to leave comments. And thanks to Henry for the link. Have a good trip.
Update: Welcome, Chronicle readers. Please enjoy our humble blog. And if you’d like, feel free to leave a comment about your AHA experiences.
It’s the most wonderful time of year. No, not Christmas silly, the AHA. Or, as I’m fond of calling it, the world’s largest and least flattering mirror. The mere thought of thousands of historians gathered in one place warms the cockles of my heart. Particularly cockle-warming, of course, are AHA interviews, the preliminary candidate screening done by most history departments at the annual conference.
For the past few years, I’ve offered our graduate students a talk in which I’ve shared a few tips about how to handle the AHA interviews they receive. And, given the nature of this blog, I thought I’d pass along some of these ideas here. If you’re not a historian, I don’t know how useful this material will be, though I expect some of what I say is exportable to the AAG, the MLA, or most other three-letter waking nightmares. That said, much of what follows is targeted at graduate students in history. Also, although this should go without saying, I can’t promise that any of this will work for you. So let me know what you think. Or, if you’ve got an idea that’s missing from my list, by all means post a comment.
Preparation
1: Bear in mind that for all of your interactions with Prospective Employer (PE) your tone should be respectful but not cowed, enthusiastic but not crazed, and humble but not obsequious. Your goal is to convey several things with this tone. First, that you’re genuinely excited about the job at PE’s institution. Even if this isn’t entirely true, you’ll have plenty of time to relay that hard fact after you’ve received an offer. For the moment, though, remember that you’re eager to get the job. Second, that you’re not scared by professional obligations, including the job market. Third, that you’re exactly the kind of person PE will want to have working down the hall from her or him for the next three decades. And finally, that you’re prepared. Eric wrote a wonderful post about this issue last week. Read what he said and takes him seriously. Even when he’s kidding.
2: Given all of that, the best piece of advice that I got when I was having my fifteen minutes of infamy following Katrina was this: don’t ever answer the phone unless you know exactly what you want to say. Hiding until you’re ready to talk isn’t an option when dealing with PE. But I do recommend, if you receive a phone call inviting you to interview at the AHA, allowing PE to say her or his piece, conveying your gratitude, and then making plans to talk again in the coming days after you’ve had time to think. In other words, let PE tell you what s/he has to say, and then reply with something like: “I’m excited about this opportunity. And I’m really looking forward to meeting with you in person. Is there a time in the next few days that we can talk, or correspond via e-mail, about questions that I might have?” Again, this will allow you to collect your thoughts, do research, and figure out which questions you do and don’t want to ask.
3: Before talking or e-mailing again, do your preliminary research. Learn a bit about PE’s department. Given that most of us apply to every job that makes even the tiniest bit of sense for us, including any job that we’d even consider taking (and likely several that we wouldn’t), we often know very little about the institutions to which we’ve applied. There’s no shame in that; there is shame, though, in not knowing about places that will interview you at the AHA. Shame typically followed by unemployment. So figure out, based on what you can learn from friends, friends of friends, or the internet, anything you can about the department: the curriculum; whether there are graduate students; what the undergraduates are like; the teaching load; where the position fits in their program; other holes in their department; whether, within reason, it’s a happy place; what their priorities are (teaching, research, a wintry mix); where the school is located; etc. The etcetera refers to anything at all you can learn using reasonable methods. No, reasonable does not include picking through the department chair’s trash.
4: After you’ve done that work, talk again with PE. You should be prepared to ask a variety of questions, including seeking clarification for what you might already know. For example, in which hotel will the interview take place? Will the interview be conducted in a suite? If so, does PE already know the suite number? And if PE doesn’t know that information, how will s/he let you know before your interview? If the interview won’t take place in a suite, where will it be? In the open-air stock pavilion that’s usually found somewhere in the bowels of the main conference hotel? That’s okay. (Not really, but what can you do?) But you’ll want to hear that news as soon as possible. Also, what day and time will the interview happen? Would PE like your cell phone number in case there are any last-minute changes? Is there a way of contacting PE at the conference should the need arise? And finally, who, other than you, will be present for the interview?
Just to reiterate, your tone should always be respectful, enthusiastic, and humble. So, here’s an an example of an appropriate way to ask the final question of those listed above: “I hope I’m not overstepping, but would you be willing to let me know who else will be interviewing me. That information would really help me prepare more effectively.” The worst PE can say is: “Sorry, we’re not yet sure.” Or: “Sorry, but I haven’t told the other candidates. And telling you who’ll be there might give you an unfair advantage.” But chances are PE will tell you. Which will allow you to:
5: Figure out as much as you can about the composition of the interview committee. No, this does not mean reading everything they’ve ever written. But you might want to know the arguments of their major works. And, at the very least, you should know what they’ve written about. As Eric said, scholars like to be flattered. At the same time, the AHA interview, in a perfect world, turns into a conversation between peers. That’s much more likely to happen if you know what PE and company have to say about the past.
6: Almost every AHA interview follows the same basic form. “Tell us about your research,” says a member of the hiring committee. Then other people on the committee follow up with specific questions about your work. After a set amount of time, another member of the committee asks some iteration of: “What about your teaching?” So be ready to answer those questions. Know what your work is about, focusing on the so-what question. You should have good, and relatively short, answers ready that explain what you’re writing about, the significance of your dissertation, your main argument, where it fits in the literature, when you plan to finish, and what you’ll be writing about next. Understand that even the most professional hiring committees will typically have at best one person, usually the chair, who knows your work. It’s your responsibility, then, to tell the rest of the committee why your scholarship is important. You want them to remember you and your project when they go to the bar that evening to talk over how the day’s interviews went. And you want them to remember the key points when they return to their department and report on the status of the search to their colleagues after the winter break.
7: You should also have a polished response explaining what you’d like to teach (recognizing that their needs not your desires should inform your answer), how you teach (methods and the difference between your introductory, intermediate, and advanced undergraduate courses, as well as, if relevant, your graduate courses), and what courses you’ve taught in the past. You should prepare an answer in which you detail how both your research and your teaching will complement what PE’s department already has on the books.
8: Practice your answers. Which is to say, find a friend, have them ask you a series of questions that are likely to come up at the AHA interview, and make sure that you have replies that are both true and plausible. And finally, please, please remember not to give answers that drone on for too long. How long is too long? More than a couple of minutes, I think, but this varies from person to person. So experiment.
9: Decide what you’re going to wear. Then pack carefully, making sure that you have all the materials you’ll want or need. About attire I have little to say beyond: be comfortable and appear professional. For me, that means wearing a suit. But that’s because suits are easy for me; they’re grown-up Garanimals. Maybe you want to wear pants and a sport coat. Or a dress. Or a kilt. Fine. Whatever. Just make sure that you feel good about what you’re wearing and that your clothes aren’t going to distract the committee from your brilliance. So maybe skip the kilt.
Performance:
1: You’ve made it through the hardest, though not the scariest, part. Now all you have to do is to figure out a way to do your best on the day of the interview. You’ll want to start by continuing to prepare, as tragic as that may sound, once you reach the conference. Make sure that you know where the interview is located. The AHA is usually spread out over many hotels that sometimes occupy several linear miles of the host city. Find the hotel and exactly where your interview is taking place. Recently, in Atlanta, there was more than one hotel owned by the same company. Several job candidates, apparently, missed interviews because they went to the wrong place. Eeek! Don’t allow such a thing to happen to you. And while we’re in full-on control freak mode, find out if the floor on which you’ll be interviewing is accessible by elevator. If you’re interviewing in the communal interrogation chamber, take a look at it in advance. Familiarize yourself with the smell of fear that permeates the place. Also, figure out how long it will take you to walk or cab or bus or teleport from where you’ll be before the interview to the interview hotel. In sum, cover all of your bases, so that on the day of the interview you don’t have to worry about any of this nonsense and can focus on substance. Speaking of which…
2: On the big day, make sure that you maximize the chances that you’ll feel good. Need a big breakfast in order to have energy? Then eat. Coffee makes you irritable? Don’t drink it. Exercise is a must for you to feel human? Go running. Need your meds in order to keep from howling at the moon? Me too. Make sure you take ‘em. In sum, take care of yourself.
3: Make sure that you’re a bit early to the hotel where you’ll be interviewed. Then, relax in the lobby until it’s time to head upstairs. (Or, perish the thought, downstairs if you’re to be grilled at the cattle call.) Might you run into another candidate for the job while you’re waiting? And if so, will the interaction be strained? Sure and sure. But be nice anyway. Bear in mind that s/he may be on a prize committee reviewing your book some day.
4: When you arrive at the interview itself, shake hands. Make eye contact with every member of the interview committee. Convey to them before you do anything else that you’re very pleased to meet them, very excited about the chance to talk about your work, and really thrilled about the opportunity the job represents. If they aren’t polite enough to tell you where to sit – not impossible in the anti-social world of the academy – ask where they’d like you to locate yourself. Then sit down. Open the bottle of water that you’ve brought for yourself. Did I fail to mention that you should bring your own water? Sorry. You should. Take out the pad of paper on which you’ll make notes, as needed, throughout the interview. I forgot to mention the pad also? Can’t you think of anything on your own? So, now it’s time to sit back, subtly take a deep breath or two, and try as hard as you possibly can to relax. The questions will begin shortly.
5: You should have practiced quite a bit for this next part. So the answers should come readily enough to you. That said, remember that you don’t want your responses to sound canned. And should PE pose a question that stumps you, there are several options at your disposal. You can ask PE to repeat a question. And if you’re still uncertain about what PE is after, or you don’t know what to say in response, you can paraphrase the question and ask if that’s what PE means. This will buy you time. Or, you can say, “Hmm, that’s an excellent question. Would you mind if I think about that for a minute?” Or, if you really have no idea what to say, admit that you have no answer. Never, under any circumstances, pretend that you know something that you actually don’t. I was once asked which five ecologists I would use as case studies in a class on the history of that discipline. I could only think of three, tried to bluff my way through the rest, and made a complete fool of myself. Don’t put yourself in a similar position.
6: Here are some strategies that, if possible, you might want to employ during the interview. Make connections between answers. “That’s a wonderful question Professor X, and it reminds me of something that Professor Y asked earlier.” It’s also nice if your answers demonstrate that you know something about the hiring committee’s work or the curriculum at their institution. “Given that you have three people teaching courses about the post-war period, it seems likely that you’d want me to teach a class on the Progressive Era. Which I’ve done before.” “I know that you, Professor Z, have written about Truman’s dentures. And I’d love to talk to you some time about the next project I’m planning, which focuses on the history of dentistry.” Or whatever.
7: Remember to convey, with body language and eye contact, to all of the members of the committee that you respect them. I’ve seen candidates crash and burn because they never looked at one member of a committee or they turned their back on another.
8: When it’s time for you to ask questions, make sure that your inquiries are innocuous but demonstrate that you’ve done your homework. “I’ve noticed that you have senior thesis requirement. Will you tell me a bit about that?” “I’m curious to hear more about the methods class that you offer your graduate students.” That sort of thing. You don’t want to ask any questions that will put PE or other members of the committee on the defensive: about sabbatical policies (there might not be any), teaching load (it might be high), pay (it could be low), and many others. Again, you want to leave them with the impression that you’ll be a good colleague – not a high-maintenance jerk – and that you really want the job. If it turns out that you don’t, the best time to decide that is after it has been offered to you. Keep in mind that hiring committees, no matter how good their home institution, are terrified that their favorite candidate is going to take a job at Harvard. Or Yale. So while you shouldn’t lie about your level of interest, you should make sure that you stress the positives. “Oh, XU is located in a pestilential swamp. Well, I had yellow fever as a child and really love alligator meat.” You don’t want to take this too far. But it’s a killer if they leave saying: “She’ll never take the job. There’s no point in bringing her to campus.” One more thing: it’s appropriate for you to ask about the committee’s timetable, when, in other words, they’re likely to be in touch about their decision.
Post-game:
1: Don’t beat yourself up about your mistakes. There will be mistakes. You’ll feel lousy about forgetting the title of Richard Hofstadter’s second book. Oh well. Move on. But don’t forget your errors. Consider how to do better next time. Make notes.
2: Share information with friends or acquaintances. This sounds counter-intuitive, I’m sure, but it’s the right thing to do. Even if you’re competing with classmates for the job of your dreams, behave like a good person. You’ll feel better about yourself. And what goes around comes around. Again, remember that your competition today may be your colleague tomorrow, the person sitting next to you on a hiring committee at a national conference.
3: Send a brief and heartfelt note of thanks to all of the committee members.
Good luck.
23 comments
December 18, 2007 at 7:57 am
ac
I once went to an AHA with my aunt (who is a historian) and my sister (who was in grad school in history at the time), but neither of them were interviewing people or up for a job, so my sister and I just went to talks while my aunt schmoozed and the whole thing was very pleasant and interesting. Not the usual experience, I take it.
December 18, 2007 at 8:01 am
eric
Since you didn’t mention flop-sweat, existential dread, fear-and-loathing, or angst, then no, not usual.
December 18, 2007 at 8:13 am
ac
I’ve been to one of those, too. With a different three-letter combination.
December 18, 2007 at 8:14 am
matt w
fear-and-loathing
That’s a great idea! Someone should Hunter S. Thompson one of these things.
Seriously,
I hope I’m not overstepping
that sounds like it’s over the line into obsequious to me (isn’t this question pretty routine?) But I have a hard time imagining that anyone will remember your performance on the initial phone calls by the post-AHA meeting, unless you make a major pain of yourself. Though who knows what evil lurks in the heart of search committee members.
December 18, 2007 at 8:24 am
Ben Alpers
I’ve always thought that there’s a kind of Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas quality to the AHA meat market, especially once one has a tenure-track job (and even more when one has tenure).
It’s easy to forget that in the basement of our lovely profession are too many PhDs chasing too few jobs. Then you go to the AHA and come face to face with the anxiety (and worse) coursing through the sea of graduate students. Yikes!
Though I suppose to give LeGuin’s fictional city some credit, only one person is being tortured to keep Omelas happy.
December 18, 2007 at 11:40 am
The Freak Show that is the AHA « The Academy’s Bench Warmer
[…] Job Market by Geschichte Grad on December 18th, 2007 Over at The Edge of the American West, Ari Kelman’s giving out a few free tips on dealing with the AHA. For those on the job market, or headed there soon, it’s […]
December 18, 2007 at 7:53 pm
Go RON GO
Vote Ron Paul for President!
Legalize Freedom!
December 18, 2007 at 8:18 pm
izzy99
Call me dumb, but it took a bit of thought to figure out American History Association versus those Aha! moments in life when stuff becomes crystal clear.
What is that word that explains people leaving blog comments for advertising purposes, I usually say spam, I see one of those RP bots already hit this blog.
December 18, 2007 at 8:23 pm
ari
I don’t think that was a bot, but I’m not sure. GRG commented in two places, and the other one, on a tongue-in-cheek post I did about the Boston Tea Party and Grover Norquist, is actually on point. Which suggests a human doing the commenting. Apparently Ron Paul has pretty devoted followers if they’re visiting academic blogs. But I guess we knew that already.
As for AHA, sorry about that. Now that you mention it, it does seem like inside baseball. Please don’t tell Senator Mitchell, but this blog is juiced.
And finally, welcome. And thanks for the comment.
December 18, 2007 at 8:57 pm
assyrian64
Hi, I linked here from TPM. You have a great blog…interesting stuff.
December 18, 2007 at 10:24 pm
ari
Thanks. That very nice of you. Do you think there were 63 assyrians before you? Just asking. Again, thanks for dropping in. You’re always welcome.
December 19, 2007 at 10:16 am
Larry Cebula
A nice and useful post. But I paused at something in the very first paragraph–do you really think that “most” institutions interview at the AHA?
December 19, 2007 at 12:09 pm
ari
That’s a great question. Let me see what I can find. But, before doing any actual research, I would say that my first instinct is, no, the majority of insititutions don’t go to the AHA to interview. Only the ones that have the money (the most important variable) make the trip.
December 19, 2007 at 1:12 pm
ari
And by the way, Larry, nice blog: http://northwesthistory.blogspot.com/.
December 21, 2007 at 8:00 am
Michael
I didn’t mention it before but I also came here originally from TPM. So far I have really liked what I have seen (as though one grasshopper really makes a difference). Keep it up.
I read through your interview advice. It applies generically to any field where there is some professionalism and intellectual endeavor. My major field of work was engineering or engineering related. When I was looking for a job this kind of advice would have been invaluable. In fact, toward the end of my full-time working life, I went through a program supported by the State of New Jersey to help professionals find employment. We went through all of the steps that you discuss and had practice interviews, resume writing help, and help with our “elevator speech.” Position seekers will ignore your advice if they have a wish to remain unemployed.
December 21, 2007 at 11:57 am
Crooked Timber » » elsewheres
[…] Ari Kelman gives tips to job candidates who’ll be attending the American Historical Association meeting. […]
December 21, 2007 at 9:24 pm
anonymous
I’ve done a fair number of job interviews. What is so interesting here is that there is such focus on protecting the interviewers’ egos. Find out about their work, look them in the eye, etc. I suppose there is a subliminal element there–people will like you more if you indicate an interest in them and being liked does matter–but this seems sort of amusing. Or maybe I’m deluded but I honestly don’t think this makes a huge difference. We care much more about how clearly and well someone explains his or her research and if they do so amazingly well I can’t imagine that anyone in my department would fault them for not looking them in the eye (unless they were kind of weird about it) or knowing our work. But I will say there is one member of my department who is strangely concerned about how the candidates dress. He has some kind of theory that anyone who wears a sweater instead of a suit (for some reason it has always been women) must not be taking the process seriously. Which is absurd, but there you go. So arbitrary factors like that do make a difference.
I guess one thing you could add is this process is very artificial. There isn’t much you can learn about people in a short interview. It’s almost a ritual in some respects. And most job candidates do fairly well. It can be difficult to narrow down a small number for an open campus interview. Often, it is actually things in the file that we fall back on to make our decisions. So if you don’t get the fly out, don’t beat yourself up. Fit matters a great deal. You may not have been the right fit for reasons that have nothing to do with your ability or your interview skills.
December 21, 2007 at 11:40 pm
ari
Thanks for the comment, anon. I tried to cover both style and substance in the post, as I think both matter. But even if substance matters much more, I’ve seen some wonderful paper candidates self-destruct based on an inability to connect with members of a committee. Still, I’ve never seen anyone rejected for wearing a sweater. Which seems to indicate, yet again, that the process is painfully idiosyncratic. And fit, whatever that might mean (and sometimes that’s code used to cover some pretty nasty stuff), matters quite a lot — as you say.
December 23, 2007 at 7:20 pm
jt
One thing that I have done in certain situations–conference talks, interviews, etc.–is to make a joke in the beginning that indicates that I am nervous. So, if I have a laser pointer, the first time I use it I say “This is an anxiety indicator” as I grip the thing with both hands. If it is an informal gathering, I say something like “The vodka must have calmed me down.” In more formal talks, I have other ways to joke about my anxiety. I have found that it puts me at ease and humanizes the situation.
I am trying to figure out what might work at these conference interviews. I have thought about saying, after shaking hands, “Well my palms aren’t all sweaty after all.” But I am afraid this sounds gross. Or how about, “When I was nervous at my wedding, they kept saying bend your knees so you don’t pass out. No one gave me similar advice for this situation, so I hope I don’t pass out on you.”
How does such a strategy sound?
December 23, 2007 at 9:24 pm
matt w
That sounds like a really bad idea. It’s sad, because you’ll be in a situation where it would be inhuman not to be nervous, but (I believe) search committees will be put off by obvious signs of nerves. Stay away from self-deprecation in general.
December 28, 2007 at 6:46 am
Kelly in Kansas
I would like to suggest that candidates find out about the departments PRIOR to sending applications given that letters are often the first chance PEs get an idea on whether or not you would ‘fit’ at their institution – something that should be specifically addressed in the NON-generic application letter.
Otherwise, a candidate might not guarantee that they even make it to the interview stage even if they are interested in the job.
One of our first “culling points” is letters that seem to be multi-purpose given that both sides of the equations have to be a good fit for the whole employment process to work effectively in the long run.
Lots of great advice here, in the comments, and in Perspectives so that the process isn’t something “behind the curtain”. Keep up the great work!
December 28, 2007 at 6:57 am
ari
Thanks, Kelly, for the nice words and the thoughtful comment.
December 2, 2008 at 7:58 pm
AHA interviews, redux. « The Edge of the American West
[…] I talked to the graduate students today about the AHA interview process, so I thought I’d re-post the suggestions I put up here last year. You’d think that having aged a year, and having acquired infinitely more wisdom, I’d have […]