Place Your Bets

So a few of you have asked about this, and I thought it'd be a good thing to bet on. Tonight, at 7:04 p.m., I told a student that I've taken a new job and won't be here in the fall. The student isn't in my department, but I'm at a university of about 2,700 students.

Anyone care to bet on how long until my students hear about it and begin to ask questions (and possibly freak out)?

The Resignation Letter

So, one detail that had fallen to the wayside of this whole New Job Business was the formal resignation letter. I'd never had to write one before, and since there are some outstanding matters between the University and myself at the moment, writing it wasn't easy.

I don't know that this is necessarily a model, but the strangeness of it - combined with a need I felt to address some things, however tactfully - made me think that maybe it'd be worth posting here.

Dear ___________,

It is with no small amount of regret that I offer my resignation as Assistant Professor in the Department of ________________ at the end of my contract year.

My time in the Department of _____________ has been extremely rewarding. The program that has been developed here is amazing, fulfilling an important role in our field and in the world. The things that I have learned while working with this excellent faculty cannot be stressed enough. The delicate balance they have struck so successfully - not content to just teach _____________ but to graft those skills to a vision of social justice - is to be commended. In the coming years, I have every confidence that you will find other departments working for a model that has been present here all along. Working with them has inspired and instructed me, and I hope to carry the seeds of this department into my future endeavors I cannot praise the department and my colleagues enough for their commitment to creating something dynamic, unique, and equitable.

My departure is bitter-sweet as _____________ is taking important steps towards becoming a university that truly represents social justice for all. Such steps are rarely easy, and it says something that the University is risking them. I hope that in my time here I have helped with those steps, and that, just as the _______________ department asks of its students, I have made the department and the University a better place. I regret that I cannot continue that work here, but I hope the University will continue with it, even when it isn’t easy, and I will follow the changes and lend what support and well wishes I can.

I wish the University all the success in the world. I’m grateful for my time here. Thank you.

Certainly, the letter is longer than it probably needs to be for a resignation. But it feels like one of those rare moments where the young, untenured faculty member has something like the attention of those above. I tried to make the point on a different issue that, unfortunately, sometimes the only voice university structures allow young faculty is heard in the quiet syllables of feet on pavement. My leaving isn't entirely about that - though it certainly is a part. But the lesson is important.

It is probably entirely unrealistic to hope that anyone actually pays attention to these things, but since the letter was to be sent to the V.P. and my Dean, it seemed worthwhile to take the shot that things the school has been struggling with are important - and not easy - but that it shouldn't be taken as a sign that it's okay to quit on them.

Job Tracking - Addendum and Part of a Conclusion

We've been on break here, and I've been enjoying staying off the computer and the radar generally. But there have been a few things worth noting for those following the job tracking posts. First, all the money that I'm going to get for reimbursement has come in, and second, there have been more rejections.

So, without further ado, here a link to the last job tracking post and here are the updated numbers:

Total # of academic jobs applied for/# of jobs identified: 23/25
Total # of non-academic jobs applied for/# of jobs identified 0/0
COST OF THE SEARCH
Total spent in U.S. dollars on applications: $192.90
Average cost in U.S. dollars per applications: $23.94
Total spent in U.S. dollars on travel, etc: $357.78
Total amount in U.S. dollars reimbursed: $339.97
WHERE THE CALL CAME FROM:
The Chronicle of Higher Ed: 9
HigherEdJobs.com: 0
Other online service (listserv, etc): 14
Friend/Colleague: 2
Personal Research: 1
THE JOB IS IN THE DETAILS
Total number of paper submissions: 19
Total number of e-submissions: 4
Total weight in pounds of application packets: 22.13
Total number of recommendation letters requested: 48
Total number of requests for references: 5
Total number of "proof of teaching excellence" packs : 9
Total number of requests for Teaching Philosophy :11
Total number of research packs: 13
Total number of transcripts requested: 3
WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING
Total number of acknowledgments of receipt: 21
Total number of confirmed reference contacts: 0
Total number of phone interviews: 2
Total number of conference interviews: 0
Total number of on-campus interviews: 2
Total number of offers: 2
Total number of rejection letters: 16
Total number of canceled or unhired positions: 2

The first thing to note about the reimbursement, is that I didn't get the full amount I spent. This may have been because of regulations on percentages of particular types of costs or it may have been some other problem. More importantly, it took roughly a month and a half for the reimbursement to happen. That's one of the real pains about this process - particularly if you're doing multiple job interviews on limited funds. This year, the costs weren't too bad for me, but imagine you're going from one coast to another as a grad student, you can imagine what a pain this will be.

Ooh, I Bet You Wonder How I Knew

Apologies to Marvin Gaye, but "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" seemed true for the topic of leaving an academic job on so many levels. The question I've been meaning to get to about the job search has been the question of how it impacted things here, at the school I'm soon to depart.

Ash asked some tough questions in her comments on the previous job tracking post:

...what kinds of reactions you're getting from colleagues, students, family etc.

Is it even possible to control the spread of information at a SLAC, where everyone seems to know everyone else's business? If nothing else, how do you keep friends/well-wishers/whoever from spilling the news on Facebook before you're ready to tell the world at large?

Dealing with life after the job offer has been one of the most confusing and difficult parts of the process for me. As I've said before, I love my department, so there's a sizable risk in leaving that the place I land won't be the community I have here. I'm rolling the dice in that regard, though the hope is that more resources, better pay, and an environment I think I'll enjoy more will make up for any problems.

The short answer to those questions is: you can't stop the grapevine, but you can contain it now and then.

Keeping a lid on things was tough. My roommate teaches at the same university, for starters, and most of my friends in the area do as well. And it's impossible to keep them out of the loop. Compound that with the fact that at least one person in your department is likely to serve as a reference for you if you're at the point I'm at - untenured and trying to leap from my first tenure-track job to another. And if they're halfway observant, the people you work with know the signs anyway: short, unexplained trips are a pretty big tip-off, for example, particularly if they aren't happening at conference season for your discipline.

I actually think, to what extend you're able, it's better not to try and be secretive about the process, though there are certainly times it is better to. I let the senior faculty know awhile back that I was looking for a job, in part because I needed letters but also because I like this department and my hope is that I leave in as good a shape or better than I found it, and one thing that means is that they've got to have time to prepare for my absence. I also tried to let them know why I was looking to leave: that the salary here wasn't enough, that being here made it harder to deal with aging parents, and that the resources I need aren't here.

Of course, that doesn't mean you volunteer everything either. For example, I didn't tell anyone about my interviews, but I would have had they asked. I'm sure they knew that I was going - in fact, at least one colleague told me after the fact.

Where I did intentionally keep quiet about things was once I had an offer, because that was stressful enough without having to answer questions at my door. And it kept me from having to think about a counter-offer from my current school. Probably I should have been glad to have gotten an offer, as it would have helped me negotiate a better position, but again, knowing I want to leave made it seem unfair to people and a program that's been very good to me. In any case, I've been direct in asking the folks who know not to say anything - and if there were particular people I didn't want to know, then I said so directly. Here, and probably everywhere, there are a few key folks who can't keep a secret to themselves, so you've got to prepare for that. But I think you have to assume that sooner than you probably want, word is going to get out.

Even now, with word well out and about, I find talking about taking a new job awkward. There are a lot of Institutional Believers here, who can't imagine why anyone would ever leave this place, and they seem to take these things very hard. I have a colleague whose back visibly stiffens every time word of my departure is heard. The day the story broke, that same colleague seemed unable to look at me or speak to me until I broached the subject directly. I worry that others are going to take this personally as well, though so far everyone - even the rigid backed academic I just spoke of - indicate that they understand. The topic came up at a gathering a few nights ago, and it was the most awkward I'd felt in years.

And, of course, I haven't figure out how and when to tell students. It's an interesting moment, having seen colleagues leave before, that gives insight into how students see faculty. Really, in their minds, some faculty become fixtures - less a part of the scenery in their college dramas than a really important prop.

Okay, maybe that metaphor doesn't work.

In any case, they like their worlds well-defined (as we all do, really), and most of them (in my experience, at least) don't understand how academia works in anything but the most rudimentary fashion so it isn't surprising that for some students the sudden departure feels particularly distressing. And with some of them, I do feel like I'm abandoning them. I've found myself composing a sort of last will and testament to the department, a list of little things to do and watch out for once I'm gone with particular students. I think, really, I'm probably only a couple of weeks away from meaningful hand grasping and hushed words of wisdom, like some dying octogenarian in a made-for-tv movie.

Of course, they aren't tied into the same grapevine, so it's entirely possible that a lot of them wouldn't know if I don't tell them until they turned up at the start of next term to see I'd been replaced by that lovable pinch-hitter "Prof. Staff." It would almost be easier if they were privy to faculty/administration gossip, because then I wouldn't have to chose the moment (or none at all).

See, Marvin had it right: there's heartbreak attached to this, even when the decision was an easy one.

Commonalities and Reflecting on Application Packets

So one question that came up (offline) about how to follow up on the Job Tracking posts and to help make sense of this whole job process was to talk in a bit more detail about the job. I'll broaden it a bit to talk about the jobs.

Really, there isn't a lot of similarity between the two positions I was offered. One I could do; one I really wanted to do. But the approach to applying was largely the same for me in both cases. Both applications asked for the basics: a letter and a C.V. In this case, both of the jobs that gave me offers asked for contact information rather than letters of reference. Though both were ostensibly Research I positions, only one wanted samples of my research; that school also wanted statements on research and teaching. The other asked for a teaching portfolio (whatever that means).

In my case, the teaching portfolio has been something I've struggled to make work. I used to send them the kitchen sink, and as you can imagine, that seemed to do nothing. Now, I've begun to tailor my portfolios. This is possible, in large part, because here at my SLAC, I've taught a wide variety of courses with many outside of my traditional area. That gave me more flexibility in terms of the jobs I could apply for than I might have otherwise had. And I believe it accounts for why the two jobs I received offers from were so markedly different.

In the teaching portfolio, I include a short statement about each class - things I want someone to know going in (for example, I teach Research Methods and have worked to align that with another class taught in my current department, and you wouldn't know that unless I explained). Then I include the most current syllabus and the most recent class evals. I'm pretty anal about this part, because having been at a SLAC on a 4/4 load, teaching has to stand for a lot. So I chose the order of presentation carefully, picking courses that were most relevant to the position and then a single course that I thought would add something to the position that I particularly would like to bring with me.

Research packets, since it's early in my career, are easier to deal with: they get the kitchen sink approach, and a line in the letter offering a full copy of the current draft of the book if the committee would like to wade through it (unfortunately, my book doesn't have any easy to break out chapter).

The other area that I was particularly meticulous about was making sure I kept a copy of the letter I sent, with notations about what was included in teaching packets if one went. That helped in phone interviews because it often meant I had a better sense than the interviewing committee about what I'd sent and where it fit in. That made prepping for interviews - phone and otherwise - easier, because it meant I could come up with very specific questions and examples related to the programs and people I expected to talk with.

Hope that helps a little bit. I'll try and tackle Ash's question about dealing with the current job and controlling the spread of information while on the market tomorrow. As always, feel free to send more questions, and I'll try and answer them.

Job Tracking - Week 22

Thanks, everyone, for the congratulations. I assure you there's plenty more curmudgeonness, even with the thrill of a new job: think apartment hunting, a new city with new drivers, new departmental and university politics. Who knows? Maybe I'll get another roommate when I'm there, and you'll get that madness, too.

And, of course, there's still life around here for an indeterminate number of months. My department knows, but the majority of my colleagues haven't heard anything about it from me (though the grapevine works fast here). Ash asked in the comments to the last post whether the school I'm leaving made a counter offer or not. They did, or started to, but I didn't let the process go far. I can't imagine the current school has much to offer financially, and I was set on leaving.

Amusingly enough, I haven't managed to actually catch my family on the phone yet, so they don't know either (it seems a shame to leave that as a voice mail).

So, yes, some small bit of change from last week; and here's the numbers for this week:

Total # of academic jobs applied for/# of jobs identified: 23/25
Total # of non-academic jobs applied for/# of jobs identified 0/0
COST OF THE SEARCH
Total spent in U.S. dollars on applications: $192.90
Average cost in U.S. dollars per applications: $23.94
Total spent in U.S. dollars on travel, etc: $357.78
Total amount in U.S. dollars reimbursed: $0
WHERE THE CALL CAME FROM:
The Chronicle of Higher Ed: 9
HigherEdJobs.com: 0
Other online service (listserv, etc): 14
Friend/Colleague: 2
Personal Research: 1
THE JOB IS IN THE DETAILS
Total number of paper submissions: 19
Total number of e-submissions: 4
Total weight in pounds of application packets: 22.13
Total number of recommendation letters requested: 48
Total number of requests for references: 5
Total number of "proof of teaching excellence" packs : 9
Total number of requests for Teaching Philosophy :11
Total number of research packs: 13
Total number of transcripts requested: 3
WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING
Total number of acknowledgments of receipt: 21
Total number of confirmed reference contacts: 0
Total number of phone interviews: 2
Total number of conference interviews: 0
Total number of on-campus interviews: 2
Total number of offers: 2
Total number of rejection letters: 14
Total number of canceled or unhired positions: 2

I've been thinking about what to do with the job tracking posts; I'm going to largely discontinue them though I'll post about the reimbursement totals and if any of the remaining schools make offers or cancel. But I'll only put them up if those happens unless there is some demand to keep them weekly.

If there's anything else about the process in general I should cover - or that I've promised to and forgotten - let me know.

This Time I'm Really Telling

Okay, sorry for all the forced suspense. You've all certainly earned the public answer for your support. Before I forget, thanks for that and for all the advice and discussion. Now then, the moment this has all been leading up to.

For those who guessed I took the second job, you are correct.

The salary disparity between Job 1 and Job 2 mentioned in the previous post concerns me a little bit because there's a pretty reasonable cost of living question. In looking at it, Job 2 put me in a better spot - or at least put me in a spot I'm okay being in - if something goes wrong. Between the resources being given to me which will allow me to do more travel and research, and the courses I'd get to teach which are much closer to what I've been wanting to teach all along, it just seemed like the better option.

What made it a tough call, though, was that Job 1 is much closer to my aging parents. Of course, as you may have suspected from various posts, being too close to my family is also a concern. So a large part of the temptation to go that route was the ability it would have lent me to be close to them. But that felt like part of a two pronged trap, because if Job 1 didn't feel right - and there were some concerns about it, largely in terms of teaching and lack of resources - being so close to family makes it harder (for me at least) to seek out a better position.

Obviously, of course, I hope all of that is hypothetical, and that this is, indeed, the position I stay at all my days. We shall see.

Job Tracking - Week 21

Ah, job tracking posts, how they've come to measure my days. I should probably do something like this to measure grading. Maybe then I'd get it done.

Anyway, there isn't much to report since last week's last post. Two more rejections, one of which was sent to me three times (I guess they really wanted me to know I hadn't got the job). I, however, have to decide about the first job offer this week, and have heard nothing from the second school. It's funny how the process has worked because having the possibility of Job 2 has robbed the joy of Job 1 from me. I still find myself thinking "Why haven't they called?" rather than "So what? I've got a good job offer."

That said, here's the numbers for this week.

Total # of academic jobs applied for/# of jobs identified: 23/25
Total # of non-academic jobs applied for/# of jobs identified 0/0
COST OF THE SEARCH
Total spent in U.S. dollars on applications: $192.90
Average cost in U.S. dollars per applications: $23.94
Total spent in U.S. dollars on travel, etc: $357.78
Total amount in U.S. dollars reimbursed: $0
WHERE THE CALL CAME FROM:
The Chronicle of Higher Ed: 9
HigherEdJobs.com: 0
Other online service (listserv, etc): 14
Friend/Colleague: 2
Personal Research: 1
THE JOB IS IN THE DETAILS
Total number of paper submissions: 19
Total number of e-submissions: 4
Total weight in pounds of application packets: 22.13
Total number of recommendation letters requested: 48
Total number of requests for references: 5
Total number of "proof of teaching excellence" packs : 9
Total number of requests for Teaching Philosophy :11
Total number of research packs: 13
Total number of transcripts requested: 3
WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING
Total number of acknowledgments of receipt: 21
Total number of confirmed reference contacts: 0
Total number of phone interviews: 2
Total number of conference interviews: 0
Total number of on-campus interviews: 2
Total number of offers: 1
Total number of rejection letters: 13
Total number of canceled or unhired positions: 2

One thing that I'm seeing at this point in the process - primarily from having asked some tough questions on interviews, but also from communicating with friends dealing with job searches from both sides at other places - is that the economic downturn has disrupted the process in more ways than just canceled searches. Things that used to be certainties in the hiring process are now debatable points (for example, types of funding and assistance like moving expenses). Is anyone else hearing/running into this or is it only something happening in the corner of the job market my colleagues and I are in?

That probability that I'll agree to a job by the end of the week does call into question the fate of the job tracking posts, though. Is there a point to seeing this through to rejections from all of the schools I applied to? Or to reimbursement from the places I visited?

Pro/Con

So, the dilemma here is a good one: I've got one job offer that I'll be glad to take if it's the only one, and a second possibility that I like even better. Also, my shoes are made of diamonds, and people can't seem to help baking me cookies.

Okay, the last part isn't true, but really, things are pretty dang good.

But, there's maybe eventually a decision to be made. If I get a second offer, which do I take? And so, I present for your scrutiny my pro/con lists such as they are. This is mostly a sort of scratch pad for me to try and think this through, but since so much of this process has already been made visible to the Intertubes, I thought maybe this struggle could be useful (or at least slightly entertaining.

Job 1 Pros

1. close to friends
   
2. close to family
3. better pay than current job
   
4. lower cost of living than current place
5. lots to do
6. better climate than current place
   
7. excellent housing costs
   

Job 2 Pros

1. close to friends
2. far from family
3. likely better pay
4. better research funds
5. lots to do
6. excellent retirement benefits

And, of course, there's the downside.

Job 1 Cons

1. close to family
2. poor travel funds
3. poor research funds
4. less than ideal retirement

Job 2 Cons

1. far from family
2. high cost of living
3. high cost of housing

I feel like I'm probably forgetting some other things. And, of course, I'm likely over-thinking just a little since only one job is actually mine to stress over.

Job Tracking - Week 20

Okay, readers: let's take a moment to catch our breaths. A lot has happened since last week.

First, I want to say again, thanks to all of you for your advice on travel reimbursement and job negotiations. This week sees another job cancellation and the first job offer. As it turns out, I wasn't wrong in my guess that good news was around the pike. And the beginning of the week also saw me finish off the second of on-campus visits. So now I have an offer, and I'm waiting to hear from a second school. That leaves this week's numbers here:

Total # of academic jobs applied for/# of jobs identified: 23/25
Total # of non-academic jobs applied for/# of jobs identified 0/0
COST OF THE SEARCH
Total spent in U.S. dollars on applications: $192.90
Average cost in U.S. dollars per applications: $23.94
Total spent in U.S. dollars on travel, etc: $357.78
Total amount in U.S. dollars reimbursed: $0
WHERE THE CALL CAME FROM:
The Chronicle of Higher Ed: 9
HigherEdJobs.com: 0
Other online service (listserv, etc): 14
Friend/Colleague: 2
Personal Research: 1
THE JOB IS IN THE DETAILS
Total number of paper submissions: 19
Total number of e-submissions: 4
Total weight in pounds of application packets: 22.13
Total number of recommendation letters requested: 48
Total number of requests for references: 5
Total number of "proof of teaching excellence" packs : 9
Total number of requests for Teaching Philosophy :11
Total number of research packs: 13
Total number of transcripts requested: 3
WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING
Total number of acknowledgments of receipt: 21
Total number of confirmed reference contacts: 0
Total number of phone interviews: 2
Total number of conference interviews: 0
Total number of on-campus interviews: 2
Total number of offers: 1
Total number of rejection letters: 11
Total number of canceled or unhired positions: 2

Now that we're caught up,that leaves new dilemmas. Of the two schools I interviewed at, I prefer the second one, the one lacking an offer, to the first one. If nothing comes from the second school, the first school will certainly be a good fallback, so things are a win/win thus far. Both schools are 98 percent positive the funding is there, but would like to hurry their processes to make sure i's are dotted and t's crossed before anyone higher up the ladder gets wet feet. This means a few things:

1. I don't want to say anything to anyone at my current job until I have a letter in hand
2. I have to try to stretch out the talks with the school with the offer until I hear from the second school

My plan for this - I was thinking/hoping ahead - was to leave some questions from the campus interview that I could ask during this process (ideally, things that would justify some research - and hence, some time - on my part or the person I'm asking). I'm also working through a few comparisons of cost-of-living (see here for the one I think is most useful, here for the one The Chronicle uses, and here for a third which will probably disagree with each of the others). One of the things I've been trying to do is to make a list of the things I want in my future (for example, how much do I really care about owning a house?) and trying to decide whether it's possible in that job and market. Those are the sorts of things that take time.

And, of course, having the one offer is great, but because I'm more excited about the second job possibility, that's more of what I'm finding myself focused on thus eliminating of the joy and happy-dancing that I should probably doing in favor of "I wonder if they liked me?" sorts of questions.

So that's the status of things here. Your thoughts and advice are, of course, always welcome and encouraged.

Job Tracking - Week 19

Oh, dear readers, I know you've no doubt been chomping at the bit about where the job tracking post for this week is. Last week, after all, left us with ever so much suspense.

Well, fear not, gentle audience, I haven't forgotten. I have, however, dealt with one of those scheduled on-campus interviews, which gives us a leap in spending, as seen in the numbers for this week. And doing an on-campus interview certainly takes the sting out of the latest two job rejections.

So, before we continue, here are this week's numbers:

Total # of academic jobs applied for/# of jobs identified: 23/25
Total # of non-academic jobs applied for/# of jobs identified 0/0
COST OF THE SEARCH
Total spent in U.S. dollars on applications: $192.9
Average cost in U.S. dollars per applications: $19.17
Total spent in U.S. dollars on travel, etc: $248.08
Total amount in U.S. dollars reimbursed: $0
WHERE THE CALL CAME FROM:
The Chronicle of Higher Ed: 9
HigherEdJobs.com: 0
Other online service (listserv, etc): 14
Friend/Colleague: 2
Personal Research: 1
THE JOB IS IN THE DETAILS
Total number of paper submissions: 19
Total number of e-submissions: 4
Total weight in pounds of application packets: 22.13
Total number of recommendation letters requested: 48
Total number of requests for references: 5
Total number of "proof of teaching excellence" packs : 9
Total number of requests for Teaching Philosophy :11
Total number of research packs: 13
Total number of transcripts requested: 3
WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING
Total number of acknowledgments of receipt: 21
Total number of confirmed reference contacts: 0
Total number of phone interviews: 2
Total number of conference interviews: 0
Total number of on-campus interviews: 2
Total number of offers: 0
Total number of rejection letters: 11
Total number of canceled or unhired positions: 1

Before we go any further, I should set a few ground rules since the topic of interviews is out there. The first one is that I will do my best to avoid revealing anything that might suggest to someone where the interview was. Second, I don't ever have a sense of how an interview went - if no one throws anything and nothing (or no one) goes up in flames, it's about as successful as I can gauge. As you can imagine, that leaves a lot o wiggle room about how it went. So don't ask, because it's the sort of question that just eludes me and, so doing, frustrated me.

What I can tell you is this: I liked the school, and I liked the faculty. The students were hard to gauge. The job would be a challenge at this point, because I've lost focus on that topic in the four years here playing Jack-of-all-topics in a small department with big goals.

And even with those limits, there are a lot of things to talk about: appropriate questions for the interview, research presentations, teaching presentations, meeting students, do's and don't's for those conducting the campus visit, etc. I'll come to some of these on my own in the next few days, but I thought I'd toss some topics out to see if anything jumped out at all of you as something worth discussing.

One of the blog-appropriate questions that I'm not going to wait on is what is fair game for reimbursement on one of these trips. My roommate and I have been going over it - largely because he's curious whether I'd get reimbursed for putting the dog in a kennel (so far, I've only asked one school to, and they didn't, though there wasn't any discussion of it). This trip saw a lot of possible options for reimbursement: airport parking, taxis, a meal during the long flight connections, the charges for a checked bag, drinks ordered - nothing alcoholic - while at the hotel, and airport internet access so I could make the hella long layover I was given so the school could get the cheapest possible ticket. I'm curious what you, beloved readers, think about reimbursement. The only two I feel any question about are the Intertubes access and the drinks at the hotel (this feels odd to me, but I do find myself questioning it). I feel like they were necessities because while I'm not one of you odd-ball coffee achievers, I do need caffeine (particularly on days as long as most campus interviews run).

So what say you? What is fair game for reimbursement? And what topics related to campus interviews shall I tackle?

Job Tracking - Week 18

I just realized I almost forgot about this post. I must've been so busy dozing off during the season finale for "Lost, Season 4." Honestly, they made three seasons of people on an island fly by, and the season finale feels like six hours in a life raft with Ben Stein?

Anyway, job stuff: more rejections this week but not much else. Committee members, let me say this about rejections: if you demand everything and the kitchen sink be sent to you, including copies of undergraduate transcripts, then pony up the first class stamp for a written rejection letter. As the kids on Fat Albert would've have said: "E-mail rejection letters? NC. NO CLASS!"

And applicants, since we're doing a search here, let me offer you a piece of advice, too. If the call for applications asks for documents to be sent to a particular person, send the documents to that person. And whatever you do, don't just copy and paste all the information in those documents into the a single e-mail and then send them to the wrong person. And if you're going to copy and paste it into one e-mail and send it to the wrong person, at least write the person a note rather than just sending an e-mail with all your documents cut and pasted. Stop and say hi. Or explain why you shouldn't have to follow instructions. Give me a salutation or something.

I'm at that point in the job market where silly things are making me superstitious. Yesterday, I had to renew my car registration, good for another two years. As I drove away from the DMV, I thought to myself, "Well, that should guarantee me a job so that I'll have to pay multiple expensive fees to register my car this year." And then, of course, I immediately thought, "Oh crap. I just jinxed myself." So if I don't get a new gig this year, now we'll know why.

Anyway, as I said, not much change from last week:

Total # of academic jobs applied for/# of jobs identified: 23/25
Total # of non-academic jobs applied for/# of jobs identified 0/0
COST OF THE SEARCH
Total spent in U.S. dollars on applications: $192.90
Average cost in U.S. dollars per applications: $14.95
Total spent in U.S. dollars on travel, etc: $150.99
Total amount in U.S. dollars reimbursed: $0
WHERE THE CALL CAME FROM:
The Chronicle of Higher Ed: 9
HigherEdJobs.com: 0
Other online service (listserv, etc): 14
Friend/Colleague: 2
Personal Research: 1
THE JOB IS IN THE DETAILS
Total number of paper submissions: 19
Total number of e-submissions: 4
Total weight in pounds of application packets: 22.13
Total number of recommendation letters requested: 48
Total number of requests for references: 5
Total number of "proof of teaching excellence" packs : 9
Total number of requests for Teaching Philosophy :11
Total number of research packs: 13
Total number of transcripts requested: 3
WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING
Total number of acknowledgments of receipt: 21
Total number of confirmed reference contacts: 0
Total number of phone interviews: 2
Total number of conference interviews: 0
Total number of on-campus interviews: 2
Total number of offers: 0
Total number of rejection letters: 9
Total number of canceled or unhired positions: 1

There are still a few job announcements trickling in - actually more than I recall from the search last year. But a lot more of them are listed as visiting now. Last year, it didn't feel like the visiting and one-year positions started to hit until around the end of March.

More later!

Job Tracking - Week 17

We had a couple of weeks off, and as expected, there hasn't been much job movement since the big push just prior to Christmas (way back in Week 16). The only major shift since then has been one more rejection.

We're in the midst of the start of the term here, and I'm trying to put together my research for the on-campus interviews at the same time that I'm trying to redesign a syllabus and get prior-to-the-term meetings dealt with. One of the tricky moments for me is always how to handle talking with my current department about the fact that I'm on the market. My chair has been reasonable, but that was when I was just looking. Now that I'm being interviewed, I worry that's going to change. And no one else in my department knows (to my knowledge). I'm never quite sure what to do about that.

I think it is made trickier this time because one of the positions is someplace everyone in the department would know I'm interested in simply because it's near my family (of course, if they knew me better and/or were reading the blog, they'd know that being near the family is definitely a double-edged sword for me). Friends have been surprised that I've not told my family about the possibility, but I think it makes a lot of sense - particularly in a market as shaky as this one - to not let anyone count unhatched chickens.

Anyway, there isn't much to report. Here's the new numbers.

Total # of academic jobs applied for/# of jobs identified: 23/25
Total # of non-academic jobs applied for/# of jobs identified 0/0
COST OF THE SEARCH
Total spent in U.S. dollars on applications: $192.90
Average cost in U.S. dollars per applications: $14.95
Total spent in U.S. dollars on travel, etc: $150.99
Total amount in U.S. dollars reimbursed: $0
WHERE THE CALL CAME FROM:
The Chronicle of Higher Ed: 9
HigherEdJobs.com: 0
Other online service (listserv, etc): 14
Friend/Colleague: 2
Personal Research: 1
THE JOB IS IN THE DETAILS
Total number of paper submissions: 19
Total number of e-submissions: 4
Total weight in pounds of application packets: 22.13
Total number of recommendation letters requested: 48
Total number of requests for references: 5
Total number of "proof of teaching excellence" packs : 9
Total number of requests for Teaching Philosophy :11
Total number of research packs: 13
Total number of transcripts requested: 3
WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING
Total number of acknowledgments of receipt: 20
Total number of confirmed reference contacts: 0
Total number of phone interviews: 2
Total number of conference interviews: 0
Total number of on-campus interviews: 2
Total number of offers: 0
Total number of rejection letters: 7
Total number of canceled or unhired positions: 1

And with that, I'm back to syllabi. More soon!

Job Tracking - Week 16

Okay, I know I said in last week's post that there wasn't going to be a posting this week, but there was a lot of activity before I left town. So this is another pre-recorded post with the latest details added in.

More rejections. But, more importantly, two on-campus interviews scheduled. One of them required me to purchase the ticket out, a rough request around the holidays, but fortunately I stumbled into a good deal. So now I've got a few things to do over the break aside from write a conference paper, put together my syllabi and cope with the family. But it'd be poor form to complain at this point.

Here are the numbers for this week:

Total # of academic jobs applied for/# of jobs identified: 23/25
Total # of non-academic jobs applied for/# of jobs identified 0/0
COST OF THE SEARCH
Total spent in U.S. dollars on applications: $192.90
Average cost in U.S. dollars per applications: $14.95
Total spent in U.S. dollars on travel, etc: $150.99
Total amount in U.S. dollars reimbursed: $0
WHERE THE CALL CAME FROM:
The Chronicle of Higher Ed: 9
HigherEdJobs.com: 0
Other online service (listserv, etc): 14
Friend/Colleague: 2
Personal Research: 1
THE JOB IS IN THE DETAILS
Total number of paper submissions: 19
Total number of e-submissions: 4
Total weight in pounds of application packets: 22.13
Total number of recommendation letters requested: 48
Total number of requests for references: 5
Total number of "proof of teaching excellence" packs : 9
Total number of requests for Teaching Philosophy :11
Total number of research packs: 13
Total number of transcripts requested: 3
WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING
Total number of acknowledgments of receipt: 20
Total number of confirmed reference contacts: 0
Total number of phone interviews: 2
Total number of conference interviews: 0
Total number of on-campus interviews: 2
Total number of offers: 0
Total number of rejection letters: 6
Total number of canceled or unhired positions: 1

And that said, I don't expect another update on jobs until a week or two after the New Year. Hope you're all surviving the holidays!

Job Tracking - Week 15

A quiet week here, not surprisingly. One more rejection, one more acknowledgment. This will also be the last job tracking post til after the New Year, as I'll be away and won't be able to track anything sent by mail (or much by phone). I don't imagine most schools will be contacting anyone though.

More significantly, one of the positions I had in the queue I was getting set to apply for announced earlier this week that the position was canceled due to budget problems. So it's finally happened for me.

Here, as always, are the links to last week's numbers. And here are the numbers for this week.

Total # of academic jobs applied for/# of jobs identified: 22/25
Total # of non-academic jobs applied for/# of jobs identified 0/0
COST OF THE SEARCH
Total spent in U.S. dollars on applications: $191.90
Average cost in U.S. dollars per applications: $8.72
Total spent in U.S. dollars on travel, etc: $0
Total amount in U.S. dollars reimbursed: $0
WHERE THE CALL CAME FROM:
The Chronicle of Higher Ed: 9
HigherEdJobs.com: 0
Other online service (listserv, etc): 14
Friend/Colleague: 2
Personal Research: 1
THE JOB IS IN THE DETAILS
Total number of paper submissions: 19
Total number of e-submissions: 3
Total weight in pounds of application packets: 22.13
Total number of recommendation letters requested: 45
Total number of requests for references: 5
Total number of "proof of teaching excellence" packs : 9
Total number of requests for Teaching Philosophy :10
Total number of research packs: 13
Total number of transcripts requested: 2
WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING
Total number of acknowledgments of receipt: 18
Total number of confirmed reference contacts: 0
Total number of phone interviews: 2
Total number of conference interviews: 0
Total number of on-campus interviews: 0
Total number of offers: 0
Total number of rejection letters: 4
Total number of canceled or unhired positions: 1

I'll likely blog a bit between now and the return of job tracking posts, but just in case I forget, happy holidays to all of you.

Job Tracking - Week 14

I'm envious of all of you who are done with your finals and your grading. Oh so envious. Envious enough that I want to call you a choice word or two. But I won't. I'm fairly certain that earlier this term I knew grading would come back to bite me when I bit off an overload and kept assignments as they were set up before that overload. I've been fairly smart here at the end, having come up with a pretty well-defined rubric for the final project that will make commenting easier - and on this assignment I've got to because it leads into Senior Projects.

But I'm still envious.

Job-wise, things have been quiet. No new interviews set up, and one more rejection. We're at the part of the job process that is the worst for me - the part where there is possibility but not so much that it is safe to invest too much into thinking about things. I've largely handled things differently this year. Both phone interviews were with places that I know some folks, but this year I've decided no one outside of the blog and one or two friends will know anything about the interview process. This is because:

1. I hate explaining to people over and over again things like how I don't know when I'll hear, and I don't know if I'll move there, etc.
2. The more you talk about something, the more you invest in it, and I don't want to go through the wave of depression that follows the unsuccessful job search for me.

But that doesn't actually mean I don't invest. Both phone interviews went great, and I liked both schools and the faculty I talked with. But I REALLY liked one of the schools and the faculty. So much so that I've been trying to figure out the academic equivalent of having my best friend pass the department a note at lunch asking them to check yes or no whether they like me or not. If they say yes, I'll go to the dance but be too embarrassed to actually say anything to them until the last dance. If they say no, I'll go goth - so goth, film studies faculty would shun me if we ever crossed paths.

I hate the waiting.

This is the part that I need help with in the job process. I'm okay with the rejections now; there's a point where you numb to it because you've learned the numbers are largely against you. It's the near-misses that are fatal to me. And there's a lot of road left for those near-misses to happen all over again. These were just phone interviews, after all, so even if I make this cut, there's one more that has to happen.

One good thing that has come out of this process is an idea for a possible course that I proposed with one of the schools that will also work for an upcoming conference and for a recent call for papers I saw from a journal. It'd be nice to come out of this with a little evidence of research since I feel like I get so little done. In any case, enough of my angst (for this week anyway). There's grading yet to do. For anyone still making the comparisons, here's the link to last week's numbers. And here's, then, are this week's grand totals.

Total # of academic jobs applied for/# of jobs identified: 22/25
Total # of non-academic jobs applied for/# of jobs identified 0/0
COST OF THE SEARCH
Total spent in U.S. dollars on applications: $191.90
Average cost in U.S. dollars per applications: $8.72
Total spent in U.S. dollars on travel, etc: $0
Total amount in U.S. dollars reimbursed: $0
WHERE THE CALL CAME FROM:
The Chronicle of Higher Ed: 9
HigherEdJobs.com: 0
Other online service (listserv, etc): 14
Friend/Colleague: 2
Personal Research: 1
THE JOB IS IN THE DETAILS
Total number of paper submissions: 19
Total number of e-submissions: 3
Total weight in pounds of application packets: 22.13
Total number of recommendation letters requested: 45
Total number of requests for references: 5
Total number of "proof of teaching excellence" packs : 9
Total number of requests for Teaching Philosophy :10
Total number of research packs: 13
Total number of transcripts requested: 2
WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING
Total number of acknowledgments of receipt: 17
Total number of confirmed reference contacts: 0
Total number of phone interviews: 2
Total number of conference interviews: 0
Total number of on-campus interviews: 0
Total number of offers: 0
Total number of rejection letters: 3
Total number of canceled or unhired positions: 0

Interestingly, I still have no word of any canceled positions, but I expect - as is the case at my current school - that some of those decisions are being held off until after the New Year and actual budgets are come out.

If you're still grading, stay strong. If you're done, be quiet about it. Seriously.

"Hello? Is It Me You're Looking For?" - Thoughts on Phone Interviews

I've been promising hither and yon to talk about phone interviews, as I've had a few this year (and a few last year, and a lot of them way back when). I thought I'd even blogged previously about them, but perhaps not as the closest I could come up with was this.

Talking about phone interviews is tricky, for me at least. Whenever I complete one, anyone I've been foolish enough to tell immediately asks "Oooooh, how did you do?" The truth is, if I don't spontaneously combust and no one on the other end seems to, I don't know how you know how you did. One of the biggest problems of the phone interview is that you lose all manner of cues from people and are left with tone of voice and how long the silence is to determine what the outcome is. Worse, you're being interviewed in a situation with some arbitrary number of people all of whom you feel the need to focus on while they all only have to pay attention to you.

It is also difficult to tell how you did in this type of interview because the group dynamic itself is something you can't predict. I used to feel like any interview I had that didn't feel conversational was a failure. If I spent a half hour with folks on the phone, and we didn't end up talking like old friends, I felt like the interview was a failure. To my surprise, though, I got call backs from those sorts of interviews as well. The simple fact of the matter is that some groups - and some individuals - simply communicate in ways we can't predict, and so finding ways to beat ourselves up for imagined failings is the wrong path to go down.

One thing I've learned the hard way to do with phone interviews is to stop worrying about how I did and to start focusing on how they did. One of the unspoken truths of the phone interview is that it is is as much about them as it is about you. If you approach it that way, the whole game is changed.

Obviously, there are some things to do and some things to expect in a phone interview that will make life easier. The first thing is that you can make the format work for you: if you don't feel comfortable in your dress clothes, you don't have to wear them. If you don't like your office, you can ask to be called somewhere else. That's crucial, actually: you should make sure that the time and place of the interview work for you. It's okay to assert yourself, and it's okay to ask questions. On my first phone interviews, I was nervous about asking people to repeat themselves, but when I first conducted a phone interview, I realized just how bad the reception often is. Asking for clarification is never a bad idea.

You can't mistake those comforts for preparation, of course, You know that there are questions that are likely to be asked, and there's no substitute for having done some research in the beginning. Some questions you should expect include:

• Why are you interested in working here?
• What courses can you teach for us?
  
• Where is your research headed?
  
• What are your strengths as a teacher/researcher?
• What are your weaknesses?
  

And there are ways to research those things that will help strengthen your interview position. Look at the course catalog and be able to reference particular courses. Have a research statement ready to go. Look at faculty profiles and look for places where there is commonality. Have a story about a good moment in the classroom ready to go. Have a story about a rough moment that you survived planned out, too. If you have developed a syllabus for those courses, have it nearby in case they want specifics about things like assignments or books. If you haven't, be prepared to talk about what you would emphasize. Having thought about those things will take care of most of the discussion on their own. And when they're out of the way, odds are that it will be your turn.

When I helped conduct a phone interview, the worst thing that happened was for us to reach the point where the chair asked "Do you have any questions for us?" and the person being interviewed said no. It came across as lack of interest and maybe even lack of preparation. And worse, it gives up the most useful part of the phone interview for you: your (first) chance to get a sense of whether the job will work for you.

There are two broad types of questions I like to ask on interviews: questions that focus on specifics about employment and questions that focus on the fit of the department. I like to start with the specifics and end with the questions about fit.

Some questions about specifics that you might ask about:

• what is the teaching load
• what are the tenure expectations
• what research and travel support is available
• is the position definitely funded or is there a chance it might be pulled (this is my first question this year, and if there's a chance it might be pulled, my next question is what the chair's sense of the chances of that are: the longer the pause before their answer, the worse the odds)
• what are the students like (if you can't find demographics before the interview, this is a good time to ask about them)
• what are the facilities like if you have any specific requirements

Reminiscing about job interviews at a conference a few years ago, a much more experienced colleague told a story about how the university they were teaching at stopped funding office supplies. If you've reason to be concerned about that - either you're coming from someplace where that happened or you've reason to think it could happen where you're interviewing (maybe the state's budget is problematic, maybe the school is very small) - write out a tactful way to ask it and put it in this section.

Once that's done, it's time to start thinking about how to assess whether you fit in with the department. Here's where you ask some of the same types of questions you've likely been asked:

• what are the strengths of the department
• what are the weaknesses
• where is the department going in the next five years
• what sorts of programs are in place to help new faculty? housing? student loans?

Odds are, the committee is going to answer the same way you did - generally and trying to make negatives into positives. But part of what you want to do in these moments is to listen to how they try. Do they interact with each other? Are there long, awkward pauses? Are they using phrasings from an opposed point of view? Do they respond to the things you say or seem to ignore them?

With that in mind, your last question should always be about what the process is for hiring this position from the moment the phone hangs up - when (roughly) do they expect to notify people of the outcome? What will happen next? Asking those questions will help save quite a bit of anxiety for yourself in the long-run (after all, the job market creates plenty without you finding ways to help it).

Obviously, there are other questions you can ask - and you should think about things specific to your discipline or the position - but coming in with those things in place makes the chances of an interview going successfully - meaning no one spontaneously combusts - much more likely.

Job Tracking - Week 13

Let's see....the week's been quiet, at least for the week before finals. There isn't a lot of movement in terms of applications since last week. But a second phone interview, which is good. I'm plotting a post shortly about phone interviews - hopefully I'll have that out sometime tomorrow afternoon.

The bigger news is that I just got some movement on the book manuscript; both of my editors have acknowledged they are well into the thick of it and that they like what they've seen so far. They didn't say a lot, honestly, but I appreciated that they checked in and let me know how things are going and gave me a time frame for when I'd hear from them next. In a week where I've had to (sadly) resurrect my knowledge of customer service from days in the corporate world to try and explain to administration that something they need to consider when they talk about transparency is actually letting the thing being made transparent look in on an actual process.

So, on the off chance my editors (or any editors) are reading this blog: thanks for keeping in touch. It's appreciated, as it's made tackling my first book a little less daunting.

Here's this week's numbers.

Total # of academic jobs applied for/# of jobs identified: 20/25
Total # of non-academic jobs applied for/# of jobs identified 0/0
COST OF THE SEARCH
Total spent in U.S. dollars on applications: $169.97
Average cost in U.S. dollars per applications: $8.50
Total spent in U.S. dollars on travel, etc: $0
Total amount in U.S. dollars reimbursed: $0
WHERE THE CALL CAME FROM:
The Chronicle of Higher Ed: 9
HigherEdJobs.com: 0
Other online service (listserv, etc): 14
Friend/Colleague: 2
Personal Research: 1
THE JOB IS IN THE DETAILS
Total number of paper submissions: 17
Total number of e-submissions: 3
Total weight in pounds of application packets: 20.96
Total number of recommendation letters requested: 39
Total number of requests for references: 5
Total number of "proof of teaching excellence" packs : 8
Total number of requests for Teaching Philosophy :8
Total number of research packs: 12
Total number of transcripts requested: 2
WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING
Total number of acknowledgments of receipt: 17
Total number of confirmed reference contacts: 0
Total number of phone interviews: 2
Total number of conference interviews: 0
Total number of on-campus interviews: 0
Total number of offers: 0
Total number of rejection letters: 2
Total number of canceled or unhired positions: 0

So that's things here. I'm sure I'll have more to say now that finals week has started to settle things down.

Job Tracking - Week 12

Okay, well, I don't have any new job information to report really. I got another rejection, though it wasn't entirely surprising. It is probably premature to think about there being a pattern to the rejections, but so far both of them came from Research I schools. I think my time at an SLAC has pushed me past my research expiration date. It's frustrating, not because I necessarily want to be at an R1 but because I wanted to be at a school where I could do more research than I can here on a 4/4 load.

But having spent the holidays with a number of academics at bigger schools, I can tell you that I don't feel completely bad about it because of the stories I heard them telling. Every single one of them was at a name R1 - though they weren't all at the same one - and every one of them was in a department much bigger than mine. But every one of them was swimming in departmental and university politics in a way I don't have to. I do like that I don't have to spend my time jockeying for position here; I suppose the sacrifice is that I don't necessarily get to teach to my strengths or push ahead with research. It was interesting, in those conversations, to see how many people were in similar situations to myself - financially strapped, not quite so thrilled with their jobs or locations, and frustrated at how little option is available in the market. Want to watch a group of academics' ears perk up? Say, as the wine is being poured, that you're going to look for jobs outside of academia after the New Year.

And of course some of this week was spent dealing with the phone interview - making sure I knew a bit about the department and what they're about. The school doesn't seem a great fit academically, but it's a tremendous fit in terms of my personal life. So I'm trying to decide how I'll juggle that if things move to the next level.

In any case, here's last week's post, to help with this week's numbers.

Total # of academic jobs applied for/# of jobs identified: 19/25
Total # of non-academic jobs applied for/# of jobs identified 0/0
COST OF THE SEARCH
Total spent in U.S. dollars on applications: $169.97
Average cost in U.S. dollars per applications: $8.95
Total spent in U.S. dollars on travel, etc: $0
Total amount in U.S. dollars reimbursed: $0
WHERE THE CALL CAME FROM:
The Chronicle of Higher Ed: 9
HigherEdJobs.com: 0
Other online service (listserv, etc): 14
Friend/Colleague: 2
Personal Research: 1
THE JOB IS IN THE DETAILS
Total number of paper submissions: 17
Total number of e-submissions: 2
Total weight in pounds of application packets: 20.96
Total number of recommendation letters requested: 39
Total number of requests for references: 5
Total number of "proof of teaching excellence" packs : 8
Total number of requests for Teaching Philosophy :7
Total number of research packs: 12
Total number of transcripts requested: 2
WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING
Total number of acknowledgments of receipt: 15
Total number of confirmed reference contacts: 0
Total number of phone interviews: 1
Total number of conference interviews: 0
Total number of on-campus interviews: 0
Total number of offers: 0
Total number of rejection letters: 2
Total number of canceled or unhired positions: 0

Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving. More soon.

Job Tracking - Week 11

The real problem with teaching five courses instead of four has presented itself. Maybe it wouldn't always be this way, but the way my overload has worked is that two of my normal four courses are heavily stacked in terms of student workload - and hence, my grading load - at the end of the term. And it is an additional section of one of these courses that I picked up this term. Effectively, I'm in the midst of directing 44 different independent research projects. During a normal term, that number is at 30. The difference is overwhelming at the moment, and nearly everything has been lost in the shuffle to keep 44 separate student-conducted trains on the track.

I am pooped.

And so there hasn't been much done on the job front this week. But the big news is a phone interview. The school is on the edge of one of my dream locations, and I've got some interesting ties in the area, so I'm hoping that will give me some edge later on. At some point in the not-too-distant future, I'll write a little bit about phone interviews. But if there are any other interview-related topics that people are thinking about, let me know in the comments and perhaps I'll tackle one of them.

And with that, here's the week's numbers (and, of course, you can compare with last week's post by clicking here):

Total # of academic jobs applied for/# of jobs identified: 19/25
Total # of non-academic jobs applied for/# of jobs identified 0/0
COST OF THE SEARCH
Total spent in U.S. dollars on applications: $169.97
Average cost in U.S. dollars per applications: $8.95
Total spent in U.S. dollars on travel, etc: $0
Total amount in U.S. dollars reimbursed: $0
WHERE THE CALL CAME FROM:
The Chronicle of Higher Ed: 9
HigherEdJobs.com: 0
Other online service (listserv, etc): 14
Friend/Colleague: 2
Personal Research: 1
THE JOB IS IN THE DETAILS
Total number of paper submissions: 17
Total number of e-submissions: 2
Total weight in pounds of application packets: 20.96
Total number of recommendation letters requested: 39
Total number of requests for references: 5
Total number of "proof of teaching excellence" packs : 8
Total number of requests for Teaching Philosophy :7
Total number of research packs: 12
Total number of transcripts requested: 2
WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING
Total number of acknowledgments of receipt: 15
Total number of confirmed reference contacts: 0
Total number of phone interviews: 1
Total number of conference interviews: 0
Total number of on-campus interviews: 0
Total number of offers: 0
Total number of rejection letters: 1
Total number of canceled or unhired positions: 0

I'm guessing you're all also swamped at the end of the term, so here's hoping you're getting through it okay. More soon.