I am not sure what your goal is in pursuing the PhD. For some it is an industry job, for others it is doing non-profit work, and for some of us it is remaining in the academy. I am one who most clearly falls into the latter category.
To get a job at an R1 or an SLAC (Research tier 1 school or Selective Liberal Arts College for those who don’t know the lingo) requires and interesting mix and/or balance of things. Whether it feels like it or not some days, it is not all about the dissertation. Much of it is about your scholarship, but not all of it. It is an odd combination of scholarship, teaching, interests, abilities, letters, personality, who knows who, fit, and sheer happenstance. I was reminded of all of these things yesterday while having lunch with faculty members of my department and a candidate. I was also reminded of how an interview can suddenly turn on a dime with one wrong comment, facial expression, or response.
No, no, it was not the interviewee who reminded me of that fact – on the contrary, the candidate was quite good. Oh no, it was me who managed to make a glib comment while intending to wish someone the best that garnered a horrible look from a faculty member. Yup. I screwed up and totally felt like an ass. Emails of apology were sent and I do think/hope I’ve managed to repair whatever damage was done. However, my totally public and huge guffaw was a solid reminder that there is a way in which as graduate students we are always being interviewed – we are always “on” or in the “hot seat.”
When I go on the job market or happen to find myself applying for post-docs in the coming year or two, I won’t know who all the various selection committee members at those institutions know. Yes they might call my references, but they might also call my department chair because, perhaps, they go way back, or maybe one committee member may run into one department member of mine at some conference and informally get into some conversation about that applicant whose file they were just reading…. Yeah, so, my poorly received glib remark yesterday was a sobering reminder about not screwing up.