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A short thread on the applications process for academic posts and a modest request for those with influence over hiring practices: please try to remember that there are real people affected when you implement practices that are unfair or unscrupulous.
You hear second-hand stories all the time, but the following are examples of genuine have occurred over the last year or so. Some of them happened to me, some of them happened to close friends.
I'm acutely aware that some hard decisions are unavoidable due to unforeseen events, especially recently (we can have a separate discussion as to whether e.g. hiring freezes are really fair but at least there's a reasonable basis for them)
...but I think at least some of these go beyond that sort of stuff. Not naming names or institutions, because it's hard to say whether any one person is ever at fault. But regardless, some.... sub-optimal things we've personally experienced this year include...
1) A submission deadline being brought forwards by a number of weeks without any communication to those working towards the original date. No concession was granted for those who were (then) late, nor was any explanation for the change given.
2) Being invited to interview only to be told a few days later that the candidate was not, in fact, invited to interview. No explanation or apology given (and pre-covid so can't attribute it to that...)
3) Not being told about the outcome of an interview and only finding out that someone else got the post because they tweeted about it. After multiple emails, one-line response received confirming outcome - over three weeks after decision was conveyed to the successful candidate.
4) Application for one of two research posts: all places for those research posts were filled by additional applicants for (separate!) teaching-only post. Research candidates not even considered. None of this conveyed to applicants.
5) Application for a research post: advertised as covering Field 1 OR Field 2. Before interview (but presumably after ad went out?) institution decides that they only want to employ someone in Field 1. Nobody working in Field 2 was even considered for the post.
6) "Open" application for lectureship. One (internal, of course) candidate was already told prior to advertisement going online they would be appointed to the post regardless of other applications. They got the post.
7) A female colleague was rejected because the existing appointees in her field in that institution were all women, and they needed to appoint a man for "representation". This was, of course, not mentioned at any previous stage...
8) And of course all the nepotism in some of the Oxbridge JRF posts. I was astonished at how shady some of them are behind the scenes. I've had some people say point-blank they won't hire outside of Oxbridge or even their own College. And much worse.
I know some of this will come across as the jaded whinging of a bunch of young academics applying for posts in a competitive field. There's naturally a level of disappointment (frustration? even resentment?) when you're rejected from a position you think you're qualified for...
...but I don't think these examples - or at least not all of them - are totally down to that. Some of them feel fundamentally unfair, even callous, or done purely for the sake of convenience. Being on the receiving end can feel so humiliating.
Some applications require so much effect- most ask for tailored work. One required 80,000 words of writing. Essays, cover letters, references, etc, sometimes with absolutely ridiculous deadlines. We're already overworked, so we don't appreciate having all of that just case aside.
Early-career academics are already expected to put up with so much shit. Low pay, little/no job security, lots of moving around. Navigating hierarchies (and I'm a white man! The experience is surely multiplied for women and PoC). All this affects our families and partners too.
So would it be too much to expect institutions to treat applicants with a little more respect? Would it be too much to ask those higher-up in institutions to consider how humiliating it can be to hear that the post you applied for was already someone else's from the outset?
Not all application processes are like this. Some have been crystal-clear, transparent and wholly fair. Every applicant is so thankful when this is the case. And I've been extremely lucky to have the support and backing of (senior and junior) colleagues from various institutions.
I don't know quite what I wanted to do with this thread (the satisfaction of complaining might be enough). But I hope it might encourage academics to be a bit more mindful of hiring practices, because we can do a lot better.
