The Job Talk ... and Lunch

Candidates:  would you prefer to give your job talk during lunch?  You may be too nervous to eat before the job talk, and you may feel rushed (or be left alone) if you eat after (if there's any food left).  And will you be distracted if folks are making noises, returning to the cookie line in the middle of your talk, etc.?  Would you like a more captive (less distracted) audience?

Committees / faculties:  might we listen more attentively if we weren't eating?  Are we genuinely concerned that some colleagues may not attend if they aren't fed?

I write this post because our committee may consider scheduling lunch after, rather than during, the job talk.  I welcome comments from both sides of the table.

Comments

[1styrprof]

I gave a job talk last year at a school shortly before the normal lunchtime (11:15-ish) where lunch was not served, and then I was taken out to a restaurant for lunch with several faculty members afterward. The turnout for my talk was good (at least I think it was; the room was filled!), and it was lovely to be able to enjoy my lunch in a more relaxed setting following my talk. My other talks were traditional lunch talks, which were OK - I didn't find people eating to be distracting, but I didn't get to eat much myself (before or after, as the case may be).

[Jacqueline Lipton]

Tim - if you are welcoming comments from "both sides of the table", could you let us know which is the side on which lunch will be served?

[newprof]

I did a job talk at a school first thing in the morning. It was the best experience having the most stressful part of the day over with first.

[David Levine]

We give the candidates about 45 minutes before the talk to have a bite to eat alone in a quiet room. They can gather their thoughts before the talk without worrying about impressing anyone as they munch.

[Orin Kerr]

Giving the candidate free time before the lunch to gather thoughts and eat alone peacefully is a pretty good approach, I think.

[Anon]

I respectfully disagree on placing lunch within those confines. Time to gather thoughts, have a drink of water, and practice is good prior to the job talk is good. But asking someone to wolf down food minutes before a stressful presentation is not the best approach. Speaking only for myself (as always, I suppose), even if given the chance I may skip food solely because I do not wish to have stomach problems during the talk, as can happen shortly after eating under extreme stress.

Instead, why not allow shorter prep time, then allow the person to humanely eat after the most stressful event is over? Either that, or give more lag time from food to the talk, say 45 min - 1 hour, so that the person doesnt avoid food.

[Jessica Owley]

I really liked the schools that took me out to lunch after my job talk. I didn't mind the faculty eating while I talked but trying to eat hurriedly right before or after didn't work well for me. Two schools took me to eat at an on-campus restaurant. It was nice to be able to see something outside of the lawschool and have a more relaxing lunch.

[Anon]

I gave a job talk earlier this year, and although quiet time was scheduled before and after lunch so that I could eat, I found that faculty lingered before and after my talk, which meant that I could not really relax OR eat. Scheduling time for lunch away from the school with a small group would have been preferable.

[Mary Dudziak]

At my school, the workshop is at lunch, which helps attendance (both b/c no classes are scheduled during the lunch hour, and b/c we're all busy and it works better & saves faculty time to combine it), and afterward a small group takes the candidate out to lunch. That seems to work well for everyone.

As a candidate -- if your lunch is combined with your workshop (whether you're expected to eat just before or just after), you need to anticipate what you're going to do if you simply don't have a chance to eat -- either b/c you're nervous or b/c people want to talk with you. Exhaustion may set in by the middle of the afternoon. If carbs help keep you at full steam through the day, you want to be sure you have a chance to eat something, even if lunchtime doesn't work out so well. My general advice for candidates is: figure out what you can't live without, and then figure out how to make sure you have it without depending on anyone else. The way that applies to the lunchtime problem is: put a couple of power bars in your briefcase or backpack. Perhaps keep one in a pocket, and then whenever you have a chance for a quiet moment -- in the bathroom if nowhere else -- have a snack. Knowing you've got your own supply means that you can keep talking with a faculty member who has concerns about your methodology, or who has helpful suggestions for your work, without having to make a trade-off between sustenance & conversation. And skip anything chocolate -- too messy. Taking care of your own needs means that you can avoid potential stresses and focus on ideas and engaging potential colleagues.

[Tim Zinnecker]

You can find more related comments by visiting Howard Wasserman's related post here:

http://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/prawfsblawg/2010/11/good-morning-heres-some-coffee-lets-hear-your-job-talk.html