Monday, May 3, 2010

Sunday I spent time on the beach of joblessness instead

It was ok. I'm not actually as close as you might think so it always feels like a full-day ordeal. And I get tired of the beach after an hour or two, especially if I go alone and don't have any beach-related stuff like sandcastle building equipment or even a decent chair (tossed the old one when it broke), but then I feel like I should spend a whole day as it's such an effort to get there.

But I bought a hat! Although now I am thinking I should have held out for the one at the travel store that said it was treated to level 50 sun protection. What if I get even more severe hair cancer than I would have, because I am relying on the false promises of sun protection from a regular old hat? It's sorta tightly woven straw, but not lined with fabric like the SPF hat was. Mmm. Too late now!

In other news, I finally tracked down Sleepy Woman. That did not do me much good. Turns out there was only one more slot left for an interview so I took it. But she was not able to tell me what it would involve or if there was a teaching demonstration or what. In fact, I had to talk over her when she was trying to hang up to get in my question about whether it was a phone interview or an in person one. And as of now she still has not sent me the itinerary or map or search committee names or "scenarios" or anything. Hmph. I will give her until the end of tomorrow. At this rate the committee has probably already seen everyone else and made their choices and submitted her the paperwork and she just hasn't found it on her desk yet. I do not have high hopes for this one. And in a related question: is it standard for community colleges to have nonlocal candidates pay for their own travel costs?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sadly, I've seen that it is common for CCs to have nonlocal candidates pay their own way. (Sometimes if you get the job they reimburse you.)

Good luck!!

Unknown said...

Most non-CA CCs covered a certain amount ($500 or so). Most CA CCs make you foot the first interview and some (perhaps many?) will foot the bill for the 2nd level of interviews.

Good luck.

Fie upon this quiet life! said...

Wow. What a pain in the arse. I hope the interview goes better than the correspondence with sleepy lady!

Inside the Philosophy Factory said...

At my CC, you pay your own way... It's pretty absurd, but for some reason they're working under the assumption that nobody would move from out of state to take one of our jobs... This is the same for full-time and part-time work.

Dr. Brazen Hussy said...

Hooray, an interview! Yep, I do think it's normal to have to pay your own way for a CC interview, which is unfortunate. Is there someone else in the department you can contact with questions about the interview?

Someday_phd said...

I just recently traveled to a cc, and paid my own way. This particular cc did offer me a hotel room, but I was able to stay with the in-laws, which was definitely good for my non-existent budget.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the interview, Sis.

My cc pays a portion of the expenses, and then doubles that to the candidate who accepts the offer. Sounds better than most cc's, but still ridiculous, I agree.

About contacting a faculty member with questions: Several candidates emailed me (not knowing I was on the search team, but scoping out faculty who went to the same grad school), and that was fine with me. I have no problem answering general questions. Not sure if all faculty would feel the same way, but I've no doubt that most of us teaching ft at cc's are painfully aware of the inadequacies of an overburdened, rule-bound HR system.

I wish you the best!

Dr. Koshary said...

Congrats on getting to the interview stage, fringe irritations notwithstanding!

With job applicants' yield rates being as they are lately, it feels like a real achievement to get as far as an interview. Lord knows I felt good getting that far on my sole interview this year.