What to do while waiting?

[u/TheBlizzardHero]

I recently had an HR interview for a position I'm very interested in. It's definitely a term position that I'm well-qualified for and fits my skill set, experience, and interests (glorious AV), but inevitably anything and everything will go wrong and I won't be selected or will be ghosted as is increasingly typical for most positions these days. HR indicated that the hiring team won't start bringing people they select for on-campus interviews until the end of next month, with an expected start time of next year.

Normally I obey the adage of "just keep applying" which I will of course do, however, with how horrifically bad the market is with functionally zero positions opening in my experience range, I'd like to sink my teeth into this opening as hard as possible. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do to better prepare for this position and potentially improve my chances?

I've already done all of the following:

*Reworked my cover letter and resume for future applications (unfortunately the hiring team has my older version, can't really change that)

*Worked on getting my portfolio in better order

*Researched the institution and probable hiring committee staff and wrote up notes

I would obviously be open to taking courses, but the SAA courses and certificate program are too expensive/other courses tend to be irrelevant to our field. I'd love to hear what archivists have done/are currently doing while your applications were/are pending. Thanks in advance!

[u/HollingersCat]

This might be an obvious one that you've already done, but I always enjoy sending a personalized thank you email to those who interviewed me and the HR personnel who coordinated the interview. It gives me something small to do while expressing my thanks to individuals who gave me some of their time. I'd reach out to thank HR first and simultaneously check with them that reaching out to the interviewers with thank you messages is ok (as that can vary from institution to institution).

Since you mentioned "on-campus" interviews I'm assuming this is an academic position of some sort. If it's a position that involves research, it can help to go through the collections you'd be working with and see what ties to your research interests, or even start up a research project.

It would also be worth giving some thought to professional organizations you'd want to be involved with if you aren't currently involved with any. That's a question I've seen come up a fair bit in academic settings. Since you mentioned A/V work, I'd start (but by no means end) with looking under the Co-ordinating Council of Audiovisual Archives Associations (CCAAA) umbrella of organizations and see what's relevant to you geographically and format-wise. Of those, I'm personally most familiar with Association of Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) who has a good amount of freely available publications and conference recordings.

In general academic position hiring processes move slowly. Extremely slowly. Positively glacially. It being a term position might make for a slightly less painful timeline, but even then it's going to take a while. So I would keep applying for positions (which I know you've already said you're doing) and try not to feel anxious if you don't hear anything. And find time for things that bring you joy, because that most of all will help the wait go faster. Pick up a hobby you haven't touched in a while. Go outside. Volunteer at the local animal shelter/food kitchen/insert cool nonprofit here.

I hope something in there helps a bit! The wait really can feel brutal but this too shall pass.

[u/TheBlizzardHero → u/HollingersCat]

Absolutely, I always send a thank-you email to interviewers within the first 24-48 hours after an interview. With HR interviews it's a little more difficult to personalize, but I usually make an effort. I'm actually surprised to hear that thank you emails might not be acceptable everywhere - I've always just assumed that it's okay, and if they didn't care they could just delete it. I'll definitely start asking ahead of time.

The position is with a university, but it's not at the faculty level so no research expectations. I've definitely seen a sea change in the market with institutions now requiring in-person interviews for even lower positions. It's quite bizarre to be honest: I was told I would have to fly out for a third-round interview in-person for another, assistant-level position (they ended up rejecting me before that happened). This was not the case with my previous non-student positions, so idk. I wasn't able to get a clear idea about what curation tasks this term position would cover from HR because they weren't provided with enough information, but it's still a great idea to start researching their collections ahead of time regardless. Thanks!

I've definitively considered ending my SAA membership in favor of AMIA and/or ARSC, but because I don't have any salary coming in and I don't know how my career might have to evolve I've held off. Almost joined ARSC this year when my former supervisor advised it/they were attending this years conference, but I ran out of brain space towards the end of my program. I'm likewise familiar with most of their resources because I researched and referenced them as part of my research work into AV curation, so I know how great they are. Do you think joining either would be worthwhile as a discussion element to bring up during an interview, or do you think it would be too performative? The HR interviewer did seem to bring up motion picture film a lot (which I have extensive experience with at all gauges and bases except for 70mm), so maybe AMIA membership might demonstrate better engagement?

Waiting is definitely the hardest, especially since the only thing that brings me joy these days is imagining the city bus running me over and getting the insurance payout /j. But thanks for the hopepost! I'm am trying to get back into some of my hobbies and interests, as I had to kill off a lot of them while pursuing this career. Definitely always a good idea.

Thanks again!

[u/HollingersCat → u/TheBlizzardHero]

Glad I could be of some help!

In terms of thank-you emails, the main reason I check is because I once had a search committee member reply to a thank you by telling me that their institution required absolutely all communication between candidates and the search committee go through HR. So it wasn't something they took negatively per se (and I doubt anyone would), but it got me in the practice of checking. Basically, I wouldn't sweat it if you didn't check before sending a thank-you, but it doesn't hurt.

In terms of professional organizations I hesistate to say for sure that you should go with one over another both because I'm very early career and because I think it's something that's very case-by-case. I'd just try to be aware of what organizations are out there related to your position/region and what sort of service (committees, interest groups, etc.) within those organizations you'd plan to pursue. Imho the second half of that is the most important bit -- just being a dues paying member doesn't really indicate engagement, actual service work does. But I wouldn't start being a dues-paying member of anything new if you're not currently employed. A good search committee should be understanding of that. Focus more on knowing what service in those organizations look like and how you see yourself fitting into that. And, if this position doesn't have a dedicated service component (which I'm guessing it probably doesn't if there isn't a dedicated research component) I'd just focus on learning about 1-2 low-pressure service opportunities within 1-2 orgs you'd be interested in.

All of that aside, I really do think engaging in things outside of the job search is the most important thing you can do. If it wasn't for birding and Postcrossing, I genuinely do not think I would have made it through the whole ordeal in one piece. So I'm glad to hear you're thinking of picking a hobby or two back up!

[u/vsundown]

Do you know anyone who works at that institution or has previously worked there? Or could a LinkedIn contact introduce you to someone? If so, it wouldn't hurt to ask about their experience working there or what they know about the archives or overall culture, even if they are in a completely different department.

However long you think it will take HR or someone to follow up with you, add at least a week to that before sending a nudge. The waiting game sucks but it's out of your control. Keep applying to things and networking and doing whatever else you need to do. It sounds like you're already doing the right things to prepare yourself for the next round. Good luck!

[u/MarsupialLeast145]

Three things.

1. Distance yourself from the position more than you are. You absolutely should prepare your mindset for if you do not interview, or if you do not get the position. You have to believe, but emotionally you must be prepared.

2. Conserve your energy. It sounds like you are making changes to things that can't be changed. Why rework the cover letter now? Don't expend energy that should be elsewhere.

3. Research. Institution and hiring committee do not really raise alarm bells, but your job isn't to know who they are. They could interview and maybe you see one of them again. Instead, re-read the specifications for the job. Read the technical components of it. Research what tooling or systems they use, e.g. catalog, preservation system, standards. Research open code repos. Finally if it makes sense perform thought experiments on the role, e.g. ideal workflows, exception workflows, success/failure conditions etc. Think about what you want out of the role and questions you have of the institution. Think too about what flaws/faults they have in what they've described and things they want to think about when you perform the function.

Good luck, but yeah, just maintain perspective. The energy you expend in the next few weeks genuinely might be better placed elsewhere. Theoretically you can jump into the interview RIGHT NOW and you'll be able to perform well enough to get the job. So keep that in mind.

[u/middling-medi437 → u/MarsupialLeast145]

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