Job Possibility

[BentonGrey]

Howdy guys, a full-time position at my university has finally opened up, and I just submitted my application for it.  This is what we've been waiting for for 10 years, so I would definitely appreciate prayers from anyone of a mind. 

I was busy traveling and being sick over the holidays, and since I've been back, I've been focused on this.  Sorry I haven't been around much lately.

[deanjo2000]

Sorry you've been sick but hopefully your due for some good news, I'm crossing my fingers for you

[naitvalis]

I hope you could finally have the place Bg, my prayers are with you my friend!

[oktokels]

I know the harships of finding a good job, so my best wishes for you Benton 

[WyldFyre]

Praying for you my friend. Good luck!

[Randomdays]

I would say best of luck Benton, buy you'll get the job because they'll see you that you deserve it, not luck.

Now, luck would be a nice corner office with a view.

[SickAlice]

No need to apologize. We all have a life on the other side screen (I miss travel myself though, not so much the rest of it). Good luck with this endeavor.

[BentonGrey]

Thank you guys, I am grateful for y'all, and I appreciate the support and the prayers!  All my letters are in, so now we wait.

[doctorchallenger]

Best of luck.

[abenavides]

Good Luck BG!

[Epimethee]

Good luck!

[windblown]

Good luck BG!!

[cranlox]

good luck with the job, in my daily prayer

[UnkoMan]

Good luck, Benton!

[BentonGrey]

Thank you all, my friends; I appreciate the support and well-wishes a great deal!

I had an interview yesterday, something of a last-minute affair, haha.  They only gave me a day's notice; fortunately, my schedule is flexible this semester.  Nonetheless, I believe it went rather well.  It felt more like a friendly chat than an interview, which I take as a good sign, and two of the six committee members said positive, complimentary things about me to the rest of the committee during the interview.  That seems a good sign.  I will welcome continued prayers!

[WyldFyre]

And you shall have them! Wishing the best for you.

[Podmark]

Good luck!

[cmdrkoenig67]

Wishing you well, my friend!

Dana

[BentonGrey]

I want to thank all of you for the support, prayers, and general encouragement.  Unfortunately, I didn't get the job.  Maddeningly, it's not because I wasn't good enough or because there was someone more qualified.  We're pretty sick and hurt...and we're pretty angry.

There were over 50 applicants (English jobs are hard to come by), but they decided only to interview me and the other adjunct...who was a former student of several of the faculty...and who has an office in the English suite, so she sees the department faculty every day.  She has only been there for a few years (I've been there for TEN years, waiting for a chance to get a full-time position).  I've got a decade of experience on her.  She doesn't have her doctorate.  I do.  The job ad specifically said "PhD Preferred."  Ha.  Apparently not.  In addition, tenure track positions are supposed to require PhDs.  When I was turned away from the job I interviewed for when we first got here, I was specifically told it was because I didn't have my PhD at the time.

What's more, she isn't even getting her PhD.  She's getting her MFA in creative writing...which means that I'm more qualified than she is WITHOUT my doctorate, as I did all of the coursework for an MFA at the same time as I was doing my MA; I just didn't do the final project since I went the literature route instead.  From what we've pieced together, and from what the dean said when he told me, it seems pretty clear that the department decided they wanted to hire her before they even started the search...and they just handed it to her, despite the fact that such things are explicitly forbidden by university rules.  When you've got two equally qualified candidates, then you can make a decision based on personal preference.  But if you've got one who is much more qualified, personal relationships aren't supposed to count for everything. 

What is both comforting and maddening is that I know I swung for the fences and knocked it out of the park.  But it didn't matter because it wasn't about me.  The dean told me I blew everyone away in my interview.  He told me I was a great teacher and that I should be a university professor, and he gave me the distinct impression he wanted me for the job.  But he also told me that the committee went with her because they knew her better (and of course they do, since she sees them every day).  If I had been beaten by someone who was more qualified than me, that would be fair enough.  There are better teachers out there, I'm sure.  There are certainly more accomplished scholars.  This girl is neither of those things.  I'm the more qualified candidate, by miles, and I'm a much better choice for the university, not least because my wife is the lynchpin of the psych department.  Hiring me would have secured two great faculty members.  Now they may lose two, one of which they really can't afford to lose.  It's absurd, and pretty much everyone we know at the university is outraged about it.  Unfortunately, there's nothing anyone can do.  And worst of all, I've got to bite my tongue and pretend like I lost fair and square so I don't risk alienating everyone and burning all of my bridges.

The dean, with obvious distress, told me that there would probably be another opening in a few years if I could be patient, and I just replied, I'd already been patient for ten.  If they wanted this girl, all they had to do was tell her, 'be patient.'  She could have finished her degree and applied in a few years when another position opened up.  It was sure as heck someone else's turn to be patient.

We're pretty broken hearted.  We love our home.  We love our town.  We love this university, though it clearly doesn't love us.  And we don't want to leave.  But they have pretty clearly told us they don't care enough about us to keep us. 

:EDIT: On the positive side, I've managed to rebuild my computer.  So...that's something, ha.

:EDIT 2: Spoke too soon.  Looks like my desktop won't boot up anymore.  Lovely.

[cranlox]

I read your case with special interest. I thought that this kind of thing only happened in Argentina. where cronyism is common currency and you can have an area chief in cardiology signing files without being a doctor, because he is only an area chief at the administrative level.
This week something similar to yours happened to a person very close to me, whom I have known since I was born after 20 years of dedicating himself with recognized dedication to teaching at his university where he teaches, they decided to choose the other professor to continue with the chairs (given that the private universities in Argentina were reduced in students due to the economic situation and the number of students was literally divided almost in half).

It is extremely unfair and gives a lot of feelings of impotence, anger and overflow of disappointments. Because it is known that basically the difference is cronyism or/something worse.

It only remains to get up in these cases and trust that time is on your side not to wait but to invest it daily in the search for opportunities and or simply what is good for you.

From now on a huge hug and recognition for your training effort as well as the attitude of sharing it.

[WyldFyre]

I'm very sorry to hear this news Benton. Sadly, I have seen it happen a lot in a lot of different professions. My company hired a superbly qualified assistant to our HR manager with intentions of her becoming manager in six to seven years.

The manager had a friend which she had wanted to hire instead. So she made the job so difficult for the new assistant that she resigned. The friend (who had zero HR experience or training) was hired the next day.

It seems that qualifications and ability are not important anymore.

I understand your frustration. Prayers for you as you decide your way forward.

[naitvalis]

Sorry to hear this Ben, there isn't much to say but you have yours qualities and this no one can steal, keep fighting, probably the tide will turn in your favor one day especially if you know the  dynamics there, don't leave the place as a suggest, if i could give one.

[UnkoMan]

Sorry to hear about this. That's a rough ride, but not unheard of at all, unfortunately.
For now, well... nobody would blame you guys for looking elsewhere.
Hopefully you won't let it get to you too much in the meantime.

Also, I just realized I owe you an email, which I've spaced on for a while.

[Jimaras8]

Sorry to hear that tou waited 10 years and toy didn't get the job benton
Its a long time ans you were clearly more qualified. What are tou rhinking of doing?

[deanjo2000]

That's just so unjust and unfair. Take a step back and a bit of time to see what your next move should be. Is the job something she can actually do as if not then maybe in a few months you might get another crack at it. To have sailed through and been given all that praise and still not be given the job just shows you that the decision was in place before you even stepped through the door. Your talents will be appreciated elsewhere im sure but you've got to weigh up the pro's and cons. Oh and I hope you fix your computer issues 

[cmdrkoenig67]

I regret hearing this, Buddy, I hope another, better door will open for you, while this one closed.

Good luck with the computer too.

Very best,

Dana

[BentonGrey]

Hey guys, thank you all for your support, sympathy, and shared anger and frustration.  It's terrible that so many folks have seen similar things.  I knew that such cronyism was plentiful (I'd already seen a ton of it), but academia has all kinds of measures to prevent things like this.  It's just maddening that none of those protections meant anything.  Anyway, we are getting back on our feet.  We told the powers that be at our university that, if they actually wanted to keep us around, it was way past time they did something about it.  We essentially told them that I need some kind of full-time position or we'll have to start looking elsewhere.  The humanities dean met with the VP to discuss it and to advocate for us.  We also have Lady Grey's chair and dean, who are both in our corner and are going to bat for us.  It will all still probably amount to nothing, but for the first time we actually do have some folks in our corner.  We love our home here, and we really want to stay, so we're hoping that they will give us the stability to do so.  The university is on spring break this week, so we're just in limbo, waiting to hear what, if anything, they'll do for us.

On a positive note, Lady Grey is on sabbatical this semester, and since I have only online classes, we are going to go on a trip.  She has a conference in Athens, so she can get her flight paid for, and we're going to head over to Europe and backpack around, turning the trip into a vacation.  She is heading to Britain tomorrow to spend a month working on a sheep farm for her sabbatical.  She thinks it's going to be amazing, though I'm pretty sure she's going to get sick of it after about a week!    After that, I'll come over and join her, and we'll spend some time traveling around Scotland and then going to Crete.  This is sort of our make-up trip for the one we took two years ago, where we had a five week trip planned (because we both had conferences), only to have her severely injure her ankle in the first week! 

It should be good to get away from the uncertainty of our future and just enjoy our trip.  We're not going to make any decisions about what is next until we get back.  Please pray for safe travel and no injuries this time!

I'll still be around for the next six weeks, but I'll be traveling with no access to FF stuff from the beginning of May to the beginning of June.

[Tomato]

Good for you man. Enjoy it.

[windblown]

Sorry to hear about the job BG, I hope they reconsider and you get a new offer. Meanwhile, enjoy the trip! Scotland and Greece? it sounds great!

[SickAlice]

I know it doesn't erase the feelings about it but something I've learned is true in this life is when you do not make the grade for a job or relationship it is only a sign that it did not make the grade for you either and should you have been in a future where you had been chosen it is almost certain you would have found yourself in a position you wish you hadn't. In other words as the saying goes you are being reserved for something better for you here. Sorry it didn't go through anyways but I have confidence in you that you will go to great places in life regardless of this set back.