Surviving Rejection on the Academic Job Market

Last updated on: June 15, 2016 at 1:15 am by Beth Allison Barr

Surviving Rejection on the Academic Job Market 2016-06-14T23:31:37-04:00 Beth Allison Barr

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I still remember checking my watch and thinking vaguely about what I would eat for lunch. It was around lunchtime, so normally there wouldn’t have been anything odd about my wandering thoughts.

Except that I was in the middle of a job interview for a tenure-track position.

I knew from the direction of the conversation that I wasn’t going to get the job. My thoughts had thus turned to more immediate matters–my growling stomach. Indeed, after the interview was over, I emailed my recommenders to let them know I would need more letters. I called my husband. And then I got lunch.

My gut was right. I didn’t get that job.

Unfortunately, with more than 1,183 new history PhDs on a market in 2014-2015 that only had 587 tenure-track history positions, my past experience is far too common. Almost everyone on the job market today will be rejected, probably multiple times. Most rejections will come after minimal contact with the potential school. The rejections that really sting, however, come after making it through the initial review, the phone interview, and then actually spending 1-2 days on campus. These rejections seem more personal. As the Chronicle of Higher Education quoted one rejected academic: “Academic job rejection hurts because, as they tell us, there are so many qualified candidates and it’s all about fit,” so rejections “means you don’t fit in anywhere.”

So how do you deal?

First, be upset. This is okay. Rejection is always hard. It is especially hard when it means the difference between having a job or not having a job. Talk to someone. Eat a Reese’s peanut butter cup (seriously–I told my husband to stop buying them for me!), or whatever is your equivalent indulgence, and do something other than revising your c.v. for an evening. I recommend listening to a fiction series on your iPod while you rip out the box shrubs in the front yard (I guess now you know what I did….).

Second, start moving forward from the rejection by treating it as a learning experience. Maybe there is something you can do to improve your chances next time around. After all, if you have sent out multiple letters and c.v.s, but never have received an interview request, probably your letter and c.v. need revision. If you have interviewed for several positions, perhaps your interview technique needs adjusting.

Think about it: Did you get flustered during the Provost interview, or perhaps had difficulty in the department interview? Talk to some peers and set up a practice interview or two to help you get better. How was your teaching demonstration? I find candidates often make one of two mistakes. Either they provide only content, trying to prove they know the information, or they provide only method, trying to prove they will be engaging for students. Try to do some of both. Make sure you provide enough background information for the department to know you do have mastery of the subject, but also demonstrate what you would actually do with the students in class (such as reading texts aloud, analyzing a source, or dividing into small groups for discussion). Please, please don’t just stop your lecture long enough to tell what you would do at various points and then go back to your lecture; it is far more effective to treat your demonstration audience as a normal classroom. It may seem weird, but–believe you me–it will make a much better impression. If your not sure how your teaching demonstration went, see if you can get a fellow grad student or colleague to evaluate your teaching and talk through it with you. Finally, if you didn’t know enough information about the school and department you visited (did you know names? research fields? basic information about the school, such as its religious affiliation?), make sure you do your homework in the future. I also strongly recommend picking up a copy of Kathryn Hume’s Surviving Your Academic Job Hunt and reading it thoroughly before your next round of applications.

Third, realize that the rejection may have had very little to do with you. Seriously. My adviser told me that getting a job was a crapshoot. Being a good Baptist, I didn’t know what a crapshoot was at the time. I looked it up and realized she meant getting a job often had less to do with skill and more to do with luck. Unfortunately there is a lot of truth in this. Sometimes rejections happen because of infighting within a department. Sometimes rejections happen because of internal pressure for the other candidate. Sometimes rejections happen because both candidates were simply so good that the department just picked one (although hopefully not by literally rolling the dice…). Sometimes rejection happens because the plug is pulled on the search. And, my favorite, sometime rejection happens because the department finally decides which direction they want to go with the position, and it is not the position you represent.

In other words, the rejection is probably a lot less personal than you originally thought. I would argue that there is almost always something within a department that influences candidate votes but has very little to do with the actual candidates…..

Finally, remember to always respond with grace. Academia is a small world. Candidates get reputations. Make sure your reputation is one of gracious persistence. It might make you feel a lot better to respond snarkily to a rejection email, but it doesn’t help you when you run into those same committee members at conferences and learn they are close friends with committee members at other universities to which you are applying….

Take a deep breath before you write any response, and remember to think of long term goals instead of short term satisfaction.

What did I really do when I got rejected (before I pulled out all my box shrubs, I mean)?

I put the phone down after getting the news. Then I put my head down on my desk and just sat there for about 20 minutes. Then I called my husband, sent out a few emails to those who had written for me with the news, and sent out some thank yous to the department that had just rejected me. Then I got up and kept doing my job. After all, I still had papers to grade.

Several weeks later one of the committee members responded to me. This is the gist of what was said: “Beth, I am so sorry you didn’t get the job. I want you to know the decision was more about the direction of the department then about you. You have handled this whole experience with more grace than we could have expected. I wish we could have hired you also.”

Well, I still didn’t get that job. I learned a great deal about the interview process and how to handle rejection, though.

It wasn’t fun.

But I survived it. I promise you can too.

Beth Allison Barr

historical profession

Previous Post

June 14, 2016

How Can Christians Love Their LGBT Neighbors? Start by Learning Their History

Next Post

June 16, 2016 The Crisis of Corporate Evangelicalism (Part 1)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abolitionism Abortion Abraham Joshua Heschel Abraham Kuyper Abraham Lincoln Academia Activism Adam Renberg Advent Adventist africa African American Religion Agnes Howard Albert Camus American History American Religious History American Revolution American West Anabaptists Ancient History Andrea Turpin Andrei Tarkovsky Anglicanism Annales Ansley Lillian Quiros anti-Catholicism Antisemitism Anxious Bench apologetics Apparitions Arash Azizi Archaeology archives art Artificial Intelligence Asia Asian Americans Augustine Authors Bad Bunny Baptism Baptists Barack Obama Battle of Hastings Benjamin Franklin Bernard-Henri Levy Beth Allison Barr Beth Moore Bethany Mannon Bible Bill Cunningham Billy Graham Black Music Bob Dylan Body Boenhoffer Books Breastfeeding Bruce Springsteen C.S. Lewis Calvinism Cancel Culture Capitalism Carmelites Catholicism Cedric Robinson Cesar Chavez Charismaticism charity Charles Dickens Charles Lindbergh Che Guevara Chicago Children Chinese Christianity Chris Gehrz Christ Christian death Christian Higher Education Christian life Christian Nation Christian Nationalism Christianity Today Christmas Church life Church Practice cinema Civil Religion Civil Rights Movement Civil War civility Classics Climate Change Cold War Colonial Mexico colonialism Comer Communism community complementarianism Conference on Faith and History Congregationalism Conspiracies Conspiracy Conversion Narratives Coronavirus Costa Rica Council of Nicaea Covid-19 Creation Critical Race Theory Crusades Culture culture wars Daniel K. Williams David Barton David Swartz Death Ways death with dignity DEI democracy Democratic Party Devotion Digital Age Diplomacy discipleship diversity Donald Trump Drama Dua Lipa Early Church early modern Early modern Catholicism Easter Eastern Christianity economic exploitation Education elections Elie Wiesel Elizabeth II Elizabeth Taylor emotions Empire Engineering England enslavement Entertainment Episcopal Church Erica Ramirez eschatology Eurocentrism Evangelicalism Evangelicals Exegesis Family Feminism Film Flannery O'Connor folk music Food Foreign Policy founding fathers Franciscans Franciscus Junius fundamentalism Funerals G.K. Chesterton Gender Genocide genre geography George W. Bush George Washington George Whitefield Global Christianity Global church Grief Guadalupe guest post Guest Post gun control gun violence Gustavo Gutierrez Hamid Dabashi Harold John Ockenga Harvest Hate Hawaiian Christianity Healing health care Heather Cox Richardson Hell Heresy Hermeneutics Higher Education Hinduism Hippocratic oath Historical Fiction Historical Methodology Historical Profession Historical Profession Historical Theology Historical Thinking historiography Holidays Holocaust horror movies Human rights Humanitarian Work humanities Hummingbirds Hungary hymns Imago Dei Immigration Injustice Interviews Iran Islam Islamophobia Israel Ivan's Childhood Jacob Randolph James Bratt Janine Giordano Drake Japanese history Japanese Literature Jean Paul Sartre Jesse Miranda Jesus Jesus Christ Jimmy Carter Joan Baez Joan Didion Joanne Freeman João B. Chaves Joao Chaves Joey Cochran John Calvin John Fea John Tillotson John Turner Johnny Cash Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Tran Joseph Smith Josh Howerton Journalism Jr. Judaism Jürgen Moltmann Just War Justice Justin Brierley Karl Barth Katelyn Beaty koi ponds Kris Kristofferson Kristin Kobes Du Mez Latin American Religious History Latino Americans Lectio Divina Leisure Lent Leonard Cohen liberal arts liberalism Liberation Theology Linda Ronstadt Lisa Clark Diller Literature Lou Reed Lynchings Lynneth Miller Renberg Mainline Protestantism Malcolm Foley Marilyn Monroe Maritime history Mark Noll Marriage Martin Luther Martin Luther King Martyrdom Marxism Mary Masih Alinejad mass shootings material culture medieval Christianity Medieval Ethiopia Melissa Borja memory Mennonites Mental Health Mental Illness Methodism Mexican Americans Mexicans Mike Madrid Miles Mullin Min Jin Lee Miscarriage Missionaries Mister Rogers Mitt Romney modernity Monasticism Mormonism Motherhood Mothers of the Church Moving Music Musicals Nadya Williams Nahua Christianity Native Americans Natsume Sōseki New Contributor New England New Year New York Nico Non-Violent Protest Orthodoxy pacifism Paleo Evangelicals Palestinians Parenting Patti Smith Paul Kingsnorth Pedro Calderón de la Barca Pentecostalism Philip Jenkins Phillis Wheatley physician-assisted suicide pilgrimage Pilgrims pluralism Plutocracy Poetry Politics Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV post-modernism prayer preaching Presbyterians prosperity gospel Protest Public history Publishing Puritans purity culture Quakers race Race Massacres Racial Capitalism racial reconciliation racialization Racism Raha Bahloulipour Re-Enchantment reading Reformation Refugees religion and the university religion and war Religious Freedom Religious Nones Religious Pluralism Religious Symbols religious violence Republican Party Revival Rita Coolidge Ritual Roger Williams Roman Catholic church Royalty Russell Moore same-sex marriage Sarah Irving-Stonebraker Scandinavia Science Science and Technology Scopes trial Scriptural Interpretation secularism Selena Quintanilla seminary Seventh-Day Adventists sexual morality Sexuality Sikhs Silence slaveholders theology Slavery Slavoj Zizek social justice Social Media Southern Baptist Convention Southern Religion Spain Spiritual Autobiography Spiritual but not religious Spiritual Discipline Sports Stanley Hauerwas Suffering Summer Camps Sunday Night Odds and Ends Supernatural Supreme Court Syriac Christianity Tal Howard Taylor Swift Teaching Technology Television Thanksgiving The Beatles The Mission theater TheoBros Theology Thomas Dixon Thomas Jefferson Thomas Kidd Thomas Merton Tim Gloege Tim Walz Tom Holland Tourism tradition Tragedy Translation Transnationalism Travel Trump Ukraine Uncategorized Unitarians United Methodist Church US History Vanessa Chan Velvet Underground Verónica A. Gutiérrez Veronica Gutierrez Vikings Violence Virgin Mary Virtue Virtue ethics Visions Voting War WCTU Wendell Berry Westminster Assembly White Evangelicalism Wildfires Winnie the Pooh Witches women Women in Ministry Women's and Gender Studies Work Worship writing Yasunari Kawabata Zena Hitz

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did Jesus say was the greatest commandment?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Attend temple Pray always Love God Follow rules