Do you really think it is wise to post so much information about yourself and your interviews? I was reading what you wrote about phone interviews and cannot help but wonder if the people who interview you might also read this? Would they be more or less likely to like you after reading this?

I guess I am asking, is it really wise to blog so much about your work with your real name—I cannot imagine that it has positive consequences.

My philosophy is that with me, you get what you see, no surprises.

As for my comments on phone interviews: since they weren’t directed at any departments in particular, I can’t conceive of how they could be construed as negative towards them. I don’t like phone interviews, but I do them and make the best of them… some end up sucking, some go fine.

On the other point, I almost certainly wouldn’t have gotten at least one of my jobs had I not been blogging under my real name. So there’s some good interspersed with the perhaps bad.

I totally understood Chris’s frustration to be with the process (telephone interviews), not with the prospective employers. I would think they’d be awkward for employers as well. No eye contact, no way to nod along or shake your head. Some employer’s might be sympathetic to someone feeling that the process of interviewing with 3–4 folks on the phone is a bit awkward, or sucky.

I also think that Chris’s blogging about his job prospects is exactly what he says…what you see, is what you get. He’s open about the type of job he’d like, and considering that some of those types of departments may have difficulty recruiting or keeping productive and energetic candidates (with a strong methodological toolbox), those departments should be happy to learn that he’d really, truly, like to join them for the long haul…not just as a way station on to ‘bigger, and better’ things.

Blogging is about keeping friends, family, and colleagues informed about what’s going on in your personal or professional life. But, it can also be a valuable tool for building social capital, an important commodity in academia. I see Chris’s blog as helping him build that social capital both within and without the profession.

At least with a ‘blogger,’ departments can better get to know their candidate for a job. In Chris’s case, I’d say his blog speaks well of him (though, I, personally, would prefer fewer football posts). :)

Well, you’re in luck, since the Rebels aren’t going to a bowl game… and it looks like the Colts and Giants are imploding. Sigh.

But here’s the logic: let’s say I read on the blog that you hate phone interviews on the same day you have a phone interview with me. Of course, you may just hate phone interviews, generally (for all the good reasons listed here). But it makes me, member of a search committee, wonder—was it this phone interview? was it me he didn’t like? or my institution or department? why does this person need to write this publicly, don’t they understand I might take this the wrong way? Why not let your potential employer think it at least didn’t confirm your hatred of the phone interview—thereby raising his or her confidence that you are the right person for the job since you enjoyed an otherwise awkward experience and really learned a lot you liked about the department and position? Reading this, I only took away a negative impression of your experience on the interview. Of course, it’a all up to you what you want to write, but as someone who’s been on both sides of the market, there’s my unsolicited 2 cents. Good luck!