The Academic Phone Interview

Prepared by Henrik Schatzinger Most teaching-oriented institutionseven the highest rankedusually conduct phone interviews with a limited number of applicants before they invite two, three or four candidates to a campus interview. In other words, having a phone interview is a clear signal that you are on the schools short list. You should feel good about the fact that you have made it to this stage! There are two types of phone interviews: a) one-on-one interviews and b) the ones where they put you on speakerphone and you usually talk to somewhere between 3-6 professors. One-on-one interviews are undoubtedly easier but, unfortunately, they are also much less common. Schools conduct phone interviews to a) see if you are genuinely interested in the position, b) check if you would be a good fit for the position, c) get a sense of your personality, and d) occasionally test your knowledge and understanding of your field of study and your level of preparation to teach certain courses. This is what you can do before a phone interview in order to increase your chances of making the final cut: 1) Most institutions will schedule the phone interview via email or phone but a few ask candidates if its OK to conduct the interview on the spot. Even if you have time at the time they call you, you might be better off to schedule the interview for the next day or so. This will give you time to prepare for the interview. 2) In my opinion, pre-interviews at APSA are the best preparation for phone interviews! Check ejobs on the APSA website and schedule conference interviews as early as possible (sometimes the slots will fill quickly)! My rule of thumb: the more APSA interviews you run through, the better! These interviews will provide you with excellent practice and you will be confronted with different types of questions and personalities. Keep in mind: APSA pre-interviews are more important for smaller institutions and less important for research-oriented places where the CV carries more weight. Its a mistake not to go to the annual meeting of APSA and to schedule interviews when you are on the job market. They can serve as an important step towards a campus-interview. 3) Read the job description and your cover letter to the school very carefully and be sure you know exactly what the departments teaching needs are! I once forgot to read the job description right before the phone interviewits easy to be confused after having read and answered dozens of adsand it fired back immediately.

4) You should be informed about the school (location, size, etc.) and the department (faculty, potential research collaborations, course offerings, specializations, etc). Use their website and Wikipedia and talk to other candidates and professors. This will help you answer the question: Why College/University X and why are you specifically interested in this position? 5) Prepare talking points for the following, common questions (dont write out sentences or paragraphs because you wont sound natural on the phone): Why do you want to work at this school? Why are you interested in this position? (as already mentioned above) You want to make a case for why you love teaching and why you are the perfect fit for the job. What courses could you teach here? Again, demonstrate that you will be their best bet. Tell us about your dissertation. What is your research agenda for the next 3-5 years? What is your teaching philosophy? (Its difficult to give a good answer on the spot.) How would you describe your interaction with students? How do you deal with problem students and disruptive behavior? How do you motivate students? When will you defend your dissertation? Dont wobble at this point! Exude selfconfidence, tell them a specific month and make clear that you are working closely with your dissertation committee. Some schools, particularly at APSA, will ask you: To which journals will you eventually send your working papers? You should carefully think about this answer. How do you feel about living in city Y? As you know, many smaller schools are located in rural areas. Dont tell them that you have always dreamed of living in Smalltown, Montana, if thats not the (likely) case. The interviewers are smart and can see right through you. Instead, think about reasonable justifications. What do you do in your spare time? What are your personal goals for the next five years? Show them that you know how to balance your life and that you are a wellrounded person. If you are involved in the community, let them know. If you work out regularly, let them know (institutions like healthy employees). Demonstrate that you have more on your mind that just political science and politics.

6) A few institutions (at conferences but also those who conduct phone interviews) like to talk about textbooks and big name scholars in your field. This is where an interview can go south quickly. Be sure you can identify the heavy hitters in your (sub)-fields and their contributions (books and specific articles). Have a clear idea of which textbooks you would use (and why!) for specific courses. I prepared quite a few sample syllabi and sent the appropriate ones to the colleges along with my other application materials. I still think it was a good ideait shows them you have seriously thought about the courses they want to see covered. You might also hear the question: How would you structure a course on subject x? This question is extremely easy with a syllabus in your hand (thankfully we dont have

videoconferences for such interviews at this point), but without one, it can be not so much fun. 7) Have all of your application materials next to you when the school calls you. It gives you a feeling of control and will help you answer certain questions (see previous point). 8) Practice answering some questions over the phone, particularly if you dont like speaking on the phone. 9) Your answers should not be too long (but not too short either). For example, its easy to give a long-winded answer when you talk about your dissertation. The search committee will likely have more conference calls scheduled and you dont want to tax their patience. Thats why it makes sense to have your talking points ready. This goes without saying: Never argue with interviewers on the phone or later in person, even if you completely disagree with one of their statements. 10) The last question on the schools part is always (at least it should be): Do you have any questions for us? Of course you do. In fact you should have a lot of questions. Given the time constraints, ask the most important questions right at the beginning and craft them carefully in advance. For example, I often asked how faculty members organize their time in terms of teaching, research, and service. I also tried to get more information about the student body and, at the end of the interview I asked them how they would describe the atmosphere in the department. Its great if you can ask questions that show your familiarity with the department, school, or even city/region. 11) Convey enthusiasm for the job! If you wrote in your cover letter that you are an energetic teacher, you will want to substantiate that claim. 12) It takes time and effort to prepare for a successful phone interview. However, the academic job market is very competitive and one bad answer might kill your chances of getting the campus interview. The preparation should pay off. 13) When you are well-prepared, you dont have to be very nervous. You will not have a reason to blame yourself in case you wont hear from them again because you gave it your best shot. Dont forget that the school already likes you. They want to talk to YOU after having read dozens of applications. You have every reason to be confident. Be yourself. If the position is a good fit, it should come through.

Good luck!