Wiki warning

the wiki warning for job-seekers
The academic job search is a treacherous feat. Only those who have invested significant time and energy into advanced education can even consider competing for the limited faculty positions that avail themselves every year. Since there are so few people qualified to apply for these positions, the application process is often times a singular endeavor, or at least one where most people in the applicant’s life cannot easily relate. Since faculty and potential faculty are by the nature of their education high-achieving, the job-seeking process is all the more daunting, especially with respect to the competitive nature of many fields. This brings me to my point – the academic jobs wiki. While it may have been developed to help applicants to share information with one-another, or to bolster the competitive advantage one applicant has over another, I am not certain. However, I have personally used the wiki each time I have went on the market. While I have been fortunate in my job search endeavors, looking back the wiki has provided nothing but distress. While I had always hoped for the best among my colleagues, information posted to the wiki always induced fear, panic, and stress.



“School X has already conducted interviews…I must not have been good enough.”



“University of Y has already rejected applicants. Why haven’t I heard anything?”



“Z College is contacting people for campus visits. I haven’t heard anything at all!”



While I certainly appreciate the wiki, looking back I can say that IT IS MORE HARMFUL THAN HELPFUL. The natural, and unhelpful thoughts that creep up during the application process are only exacerbated by visiting the wiki. This is even more problematic since there is no way to really verify the anonymous information on the wiki.



so…AVOID THE WIKI. IF YOU ARE ON THE MARKET AND WANT JOB ADIVCE, GO TO PHDCOMICS