Bloggers Need Not Apply, from the Chronicle
We’ve seen the hapless job seekers who destroy the good thing they’ve got going on paper by being so irritating in person that we can’t wait to put them back on a plane. Our blogger applicants came off reasonably well at the initial interview, but once we hung up the phone and called up their blogs, we got to know “the real them” — better than we wanted, enough to conclude we didn’t want to know more.
My third year review is coming up in the Fall. For those of you not familiar with the faculty review process, this is the big review halfway between my being hired & going up for tenure, when my colleagues get to strongly recommend to me what I should or should not do over the next 3 years, if I expect to actually get tenure. So… no one should be surprised if I suddenly stop writing this, following that review.
Update, 7/10: Jason tackles this Chronicle article too, & points to this really excellent post on the topic.
1 Comment
Scott Nicholson
The big difference between a new hire with a Blog and a 3rd year review with a Blog is that, hopefully, they already know you by the 3rd year and things in the Blog shouldn’t be a surprise.
With a new hire, you know so little about them that the Blog opens up a new pathway to knowing someone.
On the other hand, I look at it and think.. “Well, I’d prefer that my future employers know all about me when they make their decision.” It’s certainly much easier to be yourself when they’ve already decided that they want you based upon who you are.
The examples in this article struck me as people who didn’t represent themselves honestly during the interview, and that was catching up with them.