Stolen from a pseudonymous person on the Chronicle forums:
The job search: Unlike most jobs, the academic hiring process is done at a glacial pace. Advertisements go out in September, you send applications in October and November, get calls in December or January, go on interviews in February, and the hiring is done by April. In some cases, it even takes longer than that. And, unlike school districts, it's unheard of to send in an unsolicited application. Very few universities have departments of X, and of those that do, I've got to wait for someone to die or retire before they advertise for a position. I can't apply to nearby schools because they're not hiring.

The professor's job: Teaching is less than one-third of a professor's job. If you teach four classes a semester (12 hours), then you will likely spend three hours prepping for every hour of class (36 hours). That's already 50 hours of work each week. Then, on top of that, you are also expected to conduct research, supervise interns in the field, write and publish articles and books, present at conferences, participate in local and national organizations, serve on committees and attend department and college meetings. The day seems more flexible than a 9-to-5 job, because many of those things can be done from the couch or desk, but they still have to get done. _
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01:32:25 PM, Monday 8 March 2010

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Happy job news day _
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03:11:12 PM, Thursday 4 March 2010

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The Raleigh School Board just voted to resegregate their public schools. Raleigh had previously been hailed for a 10 year policy ensuring socio-economic diversity of its schools, which was used as a model in many places nationwide after the ruling which resegregated the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and scared everybody from considering race in pupil assignment.

I heard a friend of mine, a Presbyterian minister, on the radio speaking in the School Board meeting, reminding the Wake County School Board that they do not speak for all Christians and certainly not for all parents in Wake County, and that a phrase like "holy war" has not place in a discussion like this. I wish Judy and people like her were able to provide a class for folks who move into the school system, to help them understand our history and why this matters more than your desire for your kid to go to school with people who are just like you. It's hard to believe how many people don't view "relating to people from many different backgrounds" as an important goal of education. We have fought so long and so hard for this it just kills me that the bigots are going to win. What will the next generation of leaders be like, if they've never even had a conversation with someone who's not just like them? Maybe they'll be like the newly elected Wake School Board? _
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08:04:15 AM, Wednesday 3 March 2010

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Two things that made me cry and both involve Augmentative and Alternative Communication: Roger Ebert's voice and Schuyler versus the mean kids _
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09:30:13 PM, Tuesday 2 March 2010

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I feel dumb for never knowing that both Dumas and Pushkin were of mixed ethnic ancestry and were considered Black during their lifetimes. _
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06:11:18 PM, Monday 1 March 2010

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I received a rejection letter today that addressed me as Dr. "me", MD and was sent to me at Pseudo Ivy University in Durham, ND. The first mistake must have been made by someone who was skimming and saw the abbreviation of the state where St. John's is on one of the upper lines of my CV and didn't process what they were doing even a little bit. The second mistake is utterly mystifying given that the school sending the rejection is also in NC (not ND) and Pseudo Ivy is presumably not unknown at a small college 3 hours from here.

Either that, or somewhere there's an MD in ND wondering if why their rejection doesn't call them doctor and has NC on it.

It actually was a very pleasant rejection that said that they were interviewing other candidates whose qualifications more closely matched their requirements. Which is much better than being told I suck. Or that the MD in ND sucks. _
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05:56:05 PM, Monday 1 March 2010

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In a better world, this young man wouldn't seem remarkable, but in our world he really is and deserves to be honored for that. _
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06:21:01 PM, Thursday 25 February 2010

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Hey Blogmass: You all need to blog more because I miss y'all! Facebook is a poor substitute and I don't Tweet. _
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10:28:20 AM, Wednesday 17 February 2010

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A great picture of what's been afflicting the mid-Atlantic _
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04:43:01 PM, Tuesday 16 February 2010

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I think of all the healthcare companies, Medco may be the most evil. I'm just not sure how it's ethical to have the same company "manage" my prescription insurance coverage and also be required to buy drugs from them or pay a premium price.

They love to say things like "Did you know you can save money by switching from Naproxen to Ibuprofen?" Did you jerks know that Ibuprofen only lasts for 4 hours and destroys my stomach lining in the process while Naproxen lasts for 12 hours and doesn't, and in fact the two are essentially in no way comparable and it's utter nonsense, because of dosing and the need for stomach protecting drugs, that it would actually save any money at all? I don't actually buy Naproxen from them, because I prefer to handle as many of my prescriptions as possible through a local pharmacy where an actual human being talks to me. But since Medco "manages" my prescription coverage, they know which drugs I take (other than the one I'm required by my insurance to buy from them) no matter where I fill my prescription.

I'm looking forward to socialized medicine putting Medco out of business and their alleged "pharmacists" (who "I can choose to speak with over the phone if I have any questions") are forced to get jobs actually helping people. _
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09:00:18 AM, Tuesday 16 February 2010

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Thrff jub unf n cubar vagreivrj sbe na npghny graher genpx wbo? (uvag: vg'f abg Ghkrqb) _
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04:43:54 PM, Wednesday 10 February 2010

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My brother is going to Haiti to do this. Cisco is a better company than one might think. He's done some disaster relief stuff before, but never on this scale. _
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08:12:23 AM, Tuesday 9 February 2010

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This guy is pretty awesome. And that right there is the closest I will get to the Superbowl. _
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05:48:27 PM, Sunday 7 February 2010

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This comic is even better as a metaphor for grad school _
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06:25:12 PM, Saturday 6 February 2010

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A hero died this week _
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09:18:59 AM, Saturday 6 February 2010

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I've got to say that "Wintry Mix" is probably the #1 reason not to live in NC. Hope the rest of you enjoy your snow. _
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08:57:26 AM, Friday 5 February 2010

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I'm starting to think that in the battle to the death between me and this paper it may actually win. All of my colleagues have great suggestions for improvement, all of which increase exponentially the work required before submission. So ready for this to be over.

The advise has never been more true: Don't go to grad school if there's anything else in your life you can possibly imagine doing that doesn't require grad school. If you really really want to be an academic, look at the number of job ads in your field and what they're expecting of their applicants versus the number of applicants and what their qualifications are. _
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11:04:18 AM, Wednesday 3 February 2010

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Two worst job hunting stories I heard yesterday:
1)From a friend who applied for a tenure track position at a small liberal arts college where she had adjuncted last year and was still on their faculty listserve. She found out via that listserve that they were interviewing people who were not her.

2)From the ecology job hunting wiki, where jobs and their hiring progression are unofficially posted by candidates the better to commiserate (and gloat if you actually get an interview or job). "The rejection email didn't even bother to say what university it was from. I had to look at the email address to figure out who was rejecting me. WTF?" _
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09:59:42 AM, Wednesday 3 February 2010

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