I had big plans to get all my applications in the mail in one massive batch. I know, there'll be more in the November JFP, but I wanted to get the first wave away early so I could get back to my dissertation. (Oh, god. My dissertation.)
The massive batch hasn't happened. I've been working on research statements for close to two weeks now, and I just can't get them done. Every postdoc application needs its own version. But that's not the worst of it. The worst of it is, I work on stuff so obscure that the October JFP has exactly zero jobs asking for what I do. That means I'm applying to a lot of jobs meant for people with AOSs that aren't mine. In fact, besides open jobs, I'm applying to jobs for three, very different AOSs, none of which are exactly me. So for the jobs with these different AOSs, I'm trying to use different research statements to, um, let's say, emphasize the side of my interests that best fits the job. Except open jobs, which are getting the real me.
So I've been writing four different research statements, revising them, and revising them again. Some early deadlines meant I had to put some applications in the mail this weekend, but I'm still not done.
So. Now I'm aiming for next weekend. We'll see. I want this stage to be over.
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I know all about plans like that. I find that I can't fine tune more than three cover letters a day (and these from templates I wrote during the summer, no less!) without blending some of the features of the schools together. "I support the Catholic, uh, I mean, multicultural environment you seek to nurture at your small liberal arts or, uh, state university."
So much for the application factory I had hoped to become this year!
I can also relate to the AOS business...While there are painfully few jobs this year (or any year?) with my particular AOS, there are a number of open positions that list my area as a "desired" area. So, I am doing what I can to seem like just the teacher and colleague the search committees are looking for...but I can't help feeling as though this must be what internet dating is like. Maybe these departments should consider MySpace pages, because I feel like I'm waiting to see if they will "friend" me!
I always wonder why there are so many open positions in philosophy, when I'm always hearing faculty complain about how many applications they have to read for every opening. Maybe this is why -- they get a more honest representation of candidates in their cover letters. So if they're willing to read all the letters and CVs, they can then weed through them more easily and successfully. Any thoughts from people on the other side of the table?
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