AALS Faculty Recruitment: "I Wish I'd Known That BEFORE The Conference!"

Nine weeks from today the AALS will kick off its annual Faculty Recruitment Conference.  The AALS released its first distribution of FAR forms a few weeks ago, and the second distribution is scheduled for release today.  Faculty appointments committees are poring over tons of material.  And some committees have started to schedule Conference interviews.  The faculty recruiting season is well under way.

I attended my first Conference as a candidate in Fall 1990.  I did not have a mentor or coach to guide me through the process.  I did not graduate from a law school with a well-developed pipeline into the academy.  The internet was in its infancy, so I had little access to the wealth of information now readily available to candidates. 

So what did I discover AFTER getting to DC that I wish I had known BEFORE the Conference started?

I wish I had known that interview suites are located throughout the numerous wings of the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel (pictured [only in part!], but known by a different name at the time).  Even at the speed of light it can take at least ten minutes to race from one interview to the next (as over 200 candidates all converge every thirty minutes on a limited number of elevators always slowly moving in the wrong direction and stopping at every floor).  Without this knowledge, I didn't hesitate to schedule a few back-to-backs.  So I found myself dashing down the halls, flailing a copy of my UCC and maiming innocent bystanders who dared get in my way.  Several minutes late, I finally arrive, sweating profusely (I'm so way past "glowing").  I am unable to carry on an intelligent conversation for nearly fifteen minutes because I can't catch my breath.  ("Candidate 1-745, can we get you some water?  Atenolol?  A defibrillator?  Should we inform the concierge that we need the hotel physician?  No?  Then perhaps you can defend, hopefully with the use of Venn diagrams, your scholarly position that a cashless society will lead to anarchy.  And be thorough, yet brief, given that only three minutes remain in our allotted time together.")  Quite the first impression, indeed.

Congrats to those candidates who will have several interviews at the Conference.  This post should not discourage you from scheduling back-to-backs.  But may I suggest that you timely inform your interview teams that you have an interview (i) immediately following a particular interview and may need to leave two-to-five minutes early or (ii) immediately preceding a particular interview and may arrive two-to-five minutes late.   Interview teams are sensitive to the logistical concerns raised by the hotel's layout (and may appreciate the few moments of "down time" to catch their breath, return a phone call, ...).  An email to the hiring chair a few days before the Conference starts should suffice.

Photo source here.

 

Comments

[Elizabeth Leonard]

Here is another blog with practical meat market advice. Go get 'em!
http://ratiojuris.blogspot.com/search?q=Meat+is+murder

[Jacqui Lipton]

If you get to DC in time (eg the night before the interviews start), I would suggest making sure you locate: (a) the rooms where your first and second interviews are likely to be; (b) the Starbucks and candidate break rooms; and, (c) the restrooms closest to the room where you have the last interview before your first break!

[Jeff Lipshaw]

If you are staying in the Wardman Park Marriott (and even if you aren't), understand the room codes as they apply to the Towers. If the room has a zero in the second digit, it is in the Central Tower. Central Tower is GOOD. Staying in Central Tower if you can is GOOD (suck up to the desk clerk when you check in). Use the staircases, not the elevators. The problem with the two other towers (I think one is the "Wardman" - which I think is the old building near Connecticut Avenue past the Starbucks and the concourse - and one is the "Park" which is all the way past the banquet halls toward Calvert Street and the Shoreham) is that they are each a substantial hike from the Central Tower (which is right off the lobby), and almost a cab ride from each other. Rooms in those towers have the second digit of "1" or "2" (but I can't remember which). You can do consecutive interviews in a single tower, but my distinct impression was that the concentration was in the Central Tower. Doing consecutive interviews between towers is almost hopeless, and doing it between Wardman and Park is verging on the suicidal (unless your interview school is impressed with huge beads of sweat streaming down your face).

[TJ]

Another reason to avoid back-to-backs when possible is that some (many?) interviews will inevitably start late and end late. It is nice to have a half-hour cushion.

[S. Todd Brown]

Some applicants are starting to schedule interviews, so I'll focus my comments there.

First, following the advice of various professors and bloggers, I tried to leave a break between each interview. This worked out fairly well -- at first. In theory, you can schedule 16 interviews across the two days (maybe 18 depending on the times your interviewers will be available) without any back-to-backs. For example, you could schedule an interview at 9:00, the next at 10:00, and so on. In late September and October, however, the schools that called never seemed to have times available that worked into my nice, neat little schedule. So, instead of having a few back-to-backs, I wound up with a couple of back-to-back-to-backs and two stretches with four interviews in a row. Ouch! If you are lucky enough to get several interviews, you're sure to have at least a few back-to-backs. All you can do then is hope that the rooms are reasonably close to each other.

Second, if your dance card is filling up on Friday and Saturday, you *may* want to consider suggesting an interview Thursday afternoon/evening. I know this is frowned upon, and few schools seem willing or able to do it. On the other hand, it beats cramming your schedule with another rushed interview on Friday or Saturday, and my Thursday interview wound up being one of the most enjoyable and relaxing interviews that I had at the conference.

Third, as others have mentioned here and elsewhere, take some time the night before and walk out your route from one interview location to the next. This can also be a good time to leave notes under the door for your interviewers just to let them know that you may be a little late if that is a possibility. I also recommend leaving messages to this effect at the message center. Ideally, you will be on time and presentable for every interview, but I suspect that it's better to be a minute or two late (assuming you have given advance notice of this possibility) but presentable than on time and disheveled.

Finally, be prepared for the possibility that you will be asked to fly out for job talks the week after the conference. It happens, and you do not want to be pulling your hair out over your job talk all day Sunday instead of taking a well-deserved, and needed, rest.

[Jeff Lipshaw]

Here's another tip. Make sure you have a written or e-mail confirmation of the time and room and DAY. Go through your list several days before the FRC and make sure, and contact the school if you don't.

I had a lengthy phone conversation with a FAC member (at a school that will remain nameless), and we set the date and time, which I recorded as 10:30 on Saturday. I tend to be pretty anal about these things, and I'm pretty sure I was right, but when I showed up on Saturday, I had a relatively unfriendly greeting from a different faculty member who told me I had missed my time on Friday. In retrospect, it occurred to me that the only communication I had had with respect to the time was that single conversation, and it was entirely possible that there had been a miscommunication on the other end (indeed, that's my Ockham's Razor position and I'm sticking to it). It did knock me off my game for at least the next interview, I think.

BTW, Tim's picture posted above is of the Wardman Tower - the old part of the hotel. That's just one-third of the edifice.

[Tim Zinnecker]

Todd -- thanks for the reminder that candidates should begin working on their "job talk" BEFORE the conference, given that some schools may invite lucky candidates to visit campus within a week or two following the conference. (Other schools, though, may not schedule campus interviews until December or January.)

Jeff -- thanks for the important reminder that schools and candidates need to confirm, in writing, the day and time of the interview. As chair of our committee, I send an email confirmation within a day or so after the telephone call. I also send another email confirmation about a week before the Conference (at which time I can divulge our interview suite number and invite candidates to tell me whether they have an interview immediately before or after ours). This last email also gives candidates one last nudge if they wish to back out from interviewing with us. Every year schools wish they could interview a few more candidates in DC, and no school wants "down time" prompted by a candidate who is a "no show." There's no harm in accepting an interview slot and then declining before the Conference. But candidates should decline as early as possible in the process.

[Jesus Posts Here]

There are a lot of professors here; why not more talk about the AALS process. Comments on the applicant pool etc. would be most welcome.

[Pat crawford]

Does anyone know where I'd fund info on what calls for interviews in dc people have got yet? This is for the current year 2010? I can't find the info.... I have usd as of 9/11/2010

[Tim Zinnecker]

Pat, try this link:
http://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/prawfsblawg/2010/09/law-school-hiring-thread-201011-thread-one-.html