Recommended Guidelines for Interviews for Academic Positions
The academic job interview is an event that has caused sufficient anxiety for both interviewers and interviewees to prompt a number of publications dealing with the topic. In recent years, concern about discrimination in the hiring process has led to a heightened awareness of the possibility of discriminatory bias, whether intended or unintended, in the questions asked by interviewers. To facilitate the conduct of ethical and productive interviews, guidelines have been developed for both interviewers and job candidates.
The Interviewer
Do
- Schedule interviews at reasonable hours and allow for adequate time.
- Follow the Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines in meeting requests for accommodations.
- Leave time between interviews to review dossiers and make post-interview notes.
- Read all the information your department has requested in advance.
- Ensure freedom from interruption (silence cell phones).
- Be clear on whether the committee will accept unsolicited materials from the candidate (such as syllabi).
- Clarify the appropriate use of pronouns for all people present, including colleagues and the candidate.
- Be on time.
- Ask the candidate’s permission to take notes.
- Introduce other department members present.
- Establish and maintain a welcoming atmosphere.
- Be courteous.
- Try to put the candidate at ease.
- Be aware of your biases, whether intellectual or social.
- Ask specific questions.
- Elicit all relevant information.
- Maintain eye contact.
- Ask appropriate questions; explore areas such as education, experience, special interests or skills, familiarity with pedagogical resources, teaching methods, professional organizations, and future expectations.
- Discuss the candidate’s attitude toward teaching and research in language and literature.
- Elicit the candidate’s interest in specific job.
- Provide the candidate with clear picture of job.
- Explain the operation of the school and department.
- Describe working conditions (e.g., course load, other duties, fringe benefits, leave policy).
- Listen attentively.
- Ask follow-up questions for clarification or further detail.
- Ask the candidate if they have any questions for the committee.
- Ask the candidate if they have anything they want to tell the committee.
- Inform the candidate of probable time of decision.
Don’t
- Interview more than one candidate at a time.
- Conduct a major portion of the interview during a meal.
- Ask questions about age, socioeconomic status, marital status, children, religion, medical or disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin.
- Judge candidates on any criteria that are not professional, scholarly, or intellectual.
- Discuss the candidate’s dress or appearance.
- Display boredom.
- Doodle.
- Produce stress intentionally.
- Argue with the candidate.
- Express hostility to the candidate.
- Be patronizing.
- Ask leading questions.
- Ask yes-no questions if they can be avoided.
- Go off on tangents.
- Dominate the conversation.
- Describe the job in negative terms.
- Oversell the position.
- Downgrade other institutions or candidates.
- Made audio or video recordings.
- Require candidates to come to campus at their own expense.
- Make a job offer until all interviews are concluded.
- Assume that the candidate’s home institution makes them unsuitable for your department.
The Candidate
Do
- Review job specifications.
- Research thoroughly departments and institutions with which you have interviews.
- Recognize that any materials that you have posted online (e.g., on social media, blogs, public e-mail discussion lists or forums) may be viewed by potential employers.
- Remember that you are under no obligation to supply personal information; to do so may not be in your best interest.
- Be aware that it is your right to request specific accommodations to make the interview accessible.
- Prepare questions you want to ask (e.g., about teaching load, class size, number of majors, range of courses you will teach, library resources, research activities, collaborative opportunities).
- Request of your doctoral department some practice interviewing; use the opportunity to analyze your strengths and weaknesses.
- Allow yourself at least an hour between interviews if possible.
- Be prepared to discuss approaches to languages and literature teaching.
- Plan courses and texts you would like to teach (be prepared to distribute sample syllabi).
- Arrive on time.
- Silence cell phone.
- Be attuned to body language (your own and interviewer’s).
- Listen attentively.
- Project interest and enthusiasm.
- Speak up clearly and concisely.
- Maintain eye contact.
- Be prepared for questions that challenge your interests or your methods.
- Answer openly, directly, and honestly.
- Be specific in both answers and your own questions.
- Be prepared to demonstrate your language ability.
- Bring out your strong points.
- Talk about relevant skills, experience, interests, and goals.
- Summarize your qualifications for the job.
- Find out when decisions will be made.
- Be attentive to cues that the interview is wrapping up.
- Write a short follow-up thank-you letter to the chair of the committee.
Don’t
- Ask about salary at this stage of the hiring process.
- Speak at length without pausing, ramble, or, conversely, restrict your answers to very short answers.
- Apologize for anything related to your research or pedagogy, or allow yourself to be intimidated.
- Argue with the interviewer.
- Volunteer negative information.
- Downgrade other candidates, jobs, or institutions.
- Focus exclusively on your thesis or some other subspecialty (unless the department is hiring specifically in that subspecialty) when discussing courses you might want to teach or answering questions about teaching in general. Many departments will welcome evidence of a breadth of interests and potential contributions.
- Overstay your welcome.
Revised in 2020 by the MLA Committee on Academic Freedom and Professional Rights and Responsibilities