Saturday, December 11, 2010

Bad News, Good News

Well, I've finally heard things. That's not to say that I haven't been hearing any news on the job front. I've obviously been following the job Wiki, and I've been able to track which search committees have moved forward with other candidates. I really haven't blinked an eye at any of those because, I think, they never showed interest to begin with...like, they never requested my dossier, so I sort of applied and then moved on without getting my hopes up. But, with the schools that requested my dossier, that is a little different story.

The Bad News: I was not selected for an MLA interview with The One. I got a personal e-mail from a colleague in my field (who is also a friend), which explained that ze thought this was a "collective loss" for the school and ze would've been happy to have me as a colleague. Hearing this from a friend at the school rather than the Wiki, took some of the sting out. Evidently, fate has other things in store for me, because.....

The Good News: Minutes before the bad news e-mail came an e-mail from a different school inviting me for an MLA interview! It was a school that requested writing sample, sample syllabi, etc. from the beginning stages, so there wasn't a step in the process for dossier requests. Yay team! That means they liked what they saw :) Also, this school is not located on either coast or in the NE, so I think there is likely a somewhat smaller applicant pool (double yay!). Regardless, I am happy to be heading to Los Angeles in January with at least one reason for being there.

It only takes one, right?

Wednesday, December 08, 2010

The Silence is Deafening

Oh people....how I long to hear news of an interview request.

Surprisingly, I have been completely unaffected by the jobs I see vanishing into Wiki thin air (as in they've clearly moved on with other candidates). No big deal, I just check them off my list. The torturous part is that the two schools that requested my dossier still have yet to schedule MLA interviews. GAHHHH!!! It's the end of the semester, already. What else are you people doing if not trying to figure out who to interview?!

I haven't yet been obsessive about the Wiki or the interviews, but I'm starting to feel a bit anxious about a Plan B. That is, I think my chances of landing a job in the spring market are even worse (for various reasons), which leaves us with two options: go home and *hope* something pans out over the summer or stay here for another year and *hope* we have better luck on the market next year. Yeah, um, neither of those sound appealing to me. I know we'd save lots of money, have plenty of time to focus on our work/research, and we wouldn't really be "expired produce" yet. But I want to have a HOME. A home that is mine, one that I can tear down, build onto, paint the walls of, pick out furniture for, and raise my kids in. I'm ready to put down roots and return to our "normal" American lifestyle. I feel like we've paid our dues, fulfilled our contracts, and achieved our professional goals for the time we've had here, and now it's time for the rest of our plan to fall into place: get jobs back home!

I'm making slow but steady progress on the essay that's been accepted for publication, but a sick toddler has taken up some of my work time. We leave in 9 days for the States, and I still have to finish a rough draft of this essay (I'm 1,300 words away) before next Wednesday, grade the final papers for my comp class, purchase the two "big" gifts we're getting the littlest ones, and start a packing list. This is all overwhelming right now, but if I just had some good job news, I think I could take everything a little bit easier.