Wednesday, April 25, 2007

I'm back!

Thank you, faithful readers! I noticed my blog traffic hasn't completely dried up despite my silence. I actually got home on Saturday night, but it's been a whirlwind of preparing for the last week of classes (after missing two weeks). I'm leaving on Sunday for the Mountain U interview. I'm freaking myself out about it because the feedback I got from both earlier interviews (the one I got the offer AND the one I didn't) was that my research talk was lacking. I made the mistake of trying to make it accessible and provide background for the people NOT in my specialization and some people felt it was too simplistic(?) So much for trying to please everyone. I am revising the talk for this trip with that in mind. I am going to spend some time on my past research (since I've been out for five years) and include specifics about future plans. Something similar happened to me 5 years ago when I got my current job. I had interviewed at two places, got no offers, and heard from one of the places that they were concerned about my statistical methods (?) This was right before coming to Small College Town for my interview, so I quickly revised some things to avoid any misinterpretation of my methods. I later realized it might not really have mattered- people just decide to fixate on things sometimes and you can't second-guess everything. However, the consistent remarks from BOTH places gives me concern, so I am adjusting to make it less accessible to the people who are not in my area (isn't that logical?)

I am NOT telling my department this time, either. They don't need to know unless I am packing up and leaving this summer. The timing of this is so strange- I am going during finals week, so if I get an offer and leave it will all be after the semester has ended. I'll just disappear and they'll find someone to teach my fall courses. Or maybe I'm not going anywhere! If this doesn't work out, I will be applying for even more jobs next year. I will be in tenure review at that point, so that will be my last chance to leave as an AP. I'll keep you posted (as if you were worried, right?)

Other than that- it's a grading extravaganza with an interview in between. I also have yet another conference the week after that (why these conferences are so bunched up this year is beyond me). I'm "recycling" some research for that one and it's a poster, so less stress than the conferences this month. Whew! I'm worn out already...

Oops! I just accidentally posted this over at Active Academic- I removed it! Sorry for any confusion- I guess I've been away from blogging too long!

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