Planning for the Interviews
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Book flight and hotel ASAP.
Don't pack interviews in too closely.
Try to leave 30 min. to an hour between interviews; elevators, traffic, distant hotels, all take their toll
(elevators are amazingly slow when thousands of people try to take them at the same time --- e.g., at
3:00 when everyone is moving to their next interview).
Be eager to take early morning or late day interviews or weird day interviews (this will leave you more
time to fit them in without cutting things too close).
Schedule your most important schools early in the day (people will be fresh and you won't be late).
Get a flu shot.
Bring ear plugs (sleeping pills?).
Leave an extra copy of your schedule with a friend (just in case you lose the original).
Do not put your schedule in checked baggage.
What they'll ask you at the Interview
1.
Teaching interests
A.
B.
2. Dream courses
A.
B.
3. How would you teach XYZ (what would you bring to the course; course material/books)
A.
B.
4. Where is your field heading?
A.
B.
5. Where are you heading; what's your research agenda; beyond thesis, what are you doing
A.
B.
6. Why haven't you done any empirical (theoretical) work; do you intend to?
A.
B.
7. Is your thesis representative of your future work; (OK either way)
A.
B.
8. Are you a good teacher?
A.
B.
9. How will you interact with feisty business students?
A.
B.
10. How do you motivate the crazy assumptions in your papers?
A.
B.
11. Do you have any questions about our school?
A. Optimal answer: I know that your school is great, and that's all that matters right now.
B. Administrative burden, teaching load, availability of research assistants, tenure process
How to Prepare
I.
II.
1.
Have answers to all of the questions above
Presentation of your paper
A very quick overview of the idea of your main paper (2-3 minutes).
A. Go from the general to the specific.
B. Provide link to the interviewers’ knowledge
C. Demarcate the boundaries of your work to the rest of the literature
D. Pause for questions (most places will let you say more).
2. Another 7-8 minutes of detailed discussion of your main paper
3. 5 minutes on your other paper(s) [The above leaves 5-10 minutes for questions and exchange.]
Hints:
1. Make sure you have the beginning of your presentation well rehearsed. Being prepared will help
you overcome nervousness.
2. Your tone of voice should be conversational. You are not giving a seminar. Instead, you are talking
about your work to potential colleagues.
3. Try to anticipate questions and have answers prepared. But if you do not know the answer, say so.
(But you can only say "I don't know" once or twice.)
4. If asked "do you have any questions?," do not ask any silly questions, such as "Do you have
computers?" Only ask questions that are really relevant, such as about an advertised joint
appointment.
5. Remember, you are likely to be interviewed by faculty members outside of your field. Be prepared
to explain the basics. But also know the faculty of where you are interviewing, e.g. do not lecture an
expert on his or her expertise.
6. Do not start your presentation with a statement about the literature. Instead state your question and
why it is important. And make sure the interviewers come away with a picture of your contribution.
That is
A. what is your main finding?
B. what is the method by which you come to this finding? (Be specific about data, estimation
technique, specifics of theoretical model and solution techniques)
7. Have in mind some new project that is related to your dissertation, but not merely an extension of it.
8. Be prepared to discuss the content of a course you might teach in your field of specialization.
9. Be clear about what you can teach. You should be able to teach your speciality at any level and a
broader range of undergraduate courses.
10. Appear interested in the school you are being interviewed at.
11. Some last thoughts about the mock interviews
A. Be prompt. These interviews start as scheduled.
B. Be prepared.
C. Until the debriefing at the end of the mock interview, we will conduct ourselves as if we are
actually faculty from another school, e.g. do not know you personally.
D. Try to channel your nervousness effectively. Good interviews have an edge and are relatively
fast-paced.
E. You do not need to wear your interview suit to the mock interview.
III.
Find out where you have to go ahead of time (its easy to suddenly realize that the place is across
town, or not publicly known); get info immediately when you arrive; some info will not be easy to
obtain
IV.
Dress in a way that doesn't draw attention to your clothes (women have many options; men should
wear jackets and ties; if you are talking to business schools suits are appropriate but not necessary
V.
Think about who's on the committee (if that info is available)
VI.
Know all of your work, not just job market paper
VII.
Be ready for unexpected problems (have city map, maybe cell phone too, water, and a little snack
food, e.g., soy milk, snickers bar, powerbar, etc...)
VIII.
Every day: shower, shave, fresh shirt
IX.
Haircut? (personal hygiene matters, particularly at B-schools)
X.
Bring copies of your job market paper and resume (just in case the committee lost them, or didn't
make enough copies for all interviewers). As a rule of thumb bring 20 extra resumes and 15 extra
job market papers to the AEA meetings.
In the Interview: (as in a Flyout Seminar)
1.
2.
3.
Be fresh, and friendly
Don't be defensive
Remember, they're looking for a colleague/teacher/researcher, show them diverse interests, good
communication and fun
4. Be yourself, but smooth your rough edges (e.g., suppose you have a tendency to talk over others)
5. Don't be needlessly controversial or confrontational (don't say people are irrational, unless you want to
spend 10 minutes of your 30 minute interview discussing that assertion)
6. Listen well
7. Don't condescend to them, and don't let them intimidate you
8. Don't get flustered, catch your breath and keep on going
9. Be able to say: "good question, I don't know the answer, but I'll think about that one" i.e., don't feel
that you have to have an answer for everything
10. Don't think you know what they are thinking; they might be tough, but that doesn't mean they don't like
you
11. Don't take anything personally
12. Turn off your cell phone!
Don't be surprised when:
1. they cut the time of your interview in half
2. they cut you off in the middle of your description of your work, interests, background, etc....
3. people eat during your interview
4. people walk in and out during your interview
5. people reveal that they have no idea who you are and what you do
6. they're tough, to the point of rudeness
7. they argue amongst themselves
8. they yawn (they've had a hard day too)
9. they watch TV
Flyout Advice
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Practice your job talk a few times.
Try not to give your job talk for the first time at your "favorite" school(s); if possible give the talk
somewhere else first (like a dress rehearsal)
Try to group trips together (i.e., UCSD and UCLA will be happy to try to coordinate your visits --saving you time and lowering their costs)
If "Stanford" has asked you to fly out for an interview, you can call "Berkeley" and propose giving a
talk even if "Berkeley" hasn't yet called you for a flyout. Only do this if "Berkeley" also interviewed
you at the meetings. Ask if "Berkeley" is also interested in a flyout which could be coordinated with
Stanford to save expenses. This kind of "cold-calling" applies when schools are close geographically
and close in quality, and one of the two schools has already contacted you for a flyout.
Planes are often delayed, particularly in snowy climes; schedule your travel plans accordingly; do not
plan to arrive at midnight if you have a 9 AM meeting the next day. Schedule in big buffers if you can.
Ask people who interview you (one-on-one during a flyout) about THEIR research
Do not "run out of time" in your seminar; pull slides rationally from the middle of the talk if you find
that time is short; do NOT race through your critical final slides; e.g., the slides that discuss your
central findings, or your estimation results, or your summary slides. Think ahead of time about what
slides you will pull if the need arises. Practice.
If you receive a job offer from school X, and school X is overwhelmingly preferred to school Y, tell
school Y about the X offer and give them the opportunity to cancel your flyout to Y. When you do this
be very nice about school Y. Bend over backwards to show respect.
Remember that your talk is for a general audience of economists; on the other hand don't be afraid to
do some technical stuff, but keep non-specialists on board with lots of intuition
FAQ:
> I've been wondering too what is appropriate dress for the interviews. For example, is it OK for women to
wear pantsuits if they are conservative colors (navy, grey?) Is it OK to wear the same suit to all of the
interviews? What about during a fly out--should we wear a suit the whole time we are on campus?
For women, a pantsuit is fine for the interviews and for campus visits. For a visit to an organization,
such as one of the international organizations or a Federal Reserve Bank, you might want to wear a suit
(i.e. with a dress/skirt).
For men, the standard is a blue or grey suit, but a decent jacket and tie is also acceptable. Again, at the
Fed or banks, a suit is definitely preferred.
For the flyout, you will need to wear the suit throughout.
As you might have noticed, economists are not exactly among the best dressed. You want to look neat,
comfortable, and presentable.
I would recommend having some sort of backup outfit for the meetings. At a luncheon honoring Bob
Lucas, a waiter dropped a piece of very sticky cake on someone's suit. If you do not have two suits, a
nice tweed jacket or blazer is a fine backup. Also, bring something to change into when you are not
interviewing.
Also, do not check the luggage containing your suit when going to the meetings. Take it as carry-on
baggage.
P.S. The big hotels will have pools or exercise rooms. You might want to use these to unwind.
P.P.S. Wear your nametag.
> So, now that we are getting requests for interviews, how many interviews are prudent to schedule? What
is the optimal spacing between interviews? Places seem to have different conventions-some schedule
interviews every hour on the hour, some schedule them every 45 minutes, etc.
You need to look at the map with the registration materials. It might take 15 minutes to get between
hotels. Even getting around in the main hotel takes time, especially waiting for interviews. In a pinch,
you can schedule interviews on the half-hour within a hotel. Make sure you tell the first interview that
you have to get out on time. A fifteen minute gap is cutting it quite close across hotels--30 minutes is
better. But you can hop in a cab in a pinch.
Q: 1. On how many days are there interviews scheduled? This year the
meetings are held from Friday to Sunday. Will the recruiters interview
on Thursday and/or Monday? Which day(s) are the most hectic?
2. Some interviews last for 30 minutes, while others last for 45
minutes, so I guess they will have different grids. If I have one
interview from 1 to 1:45 and another from 2:30 to 3, then I will not
be able to have an interview during the 45 minutes in between. What’s
your advice on that? What’s the maximum number of interviews on one
day?
A: Usually the interviews are scheduled only on those three days of
the Meeting. Last year, I tried to schedule a few of the interviews
(those that I was not very interested) one day before and/or after
those three days. Only two of them agree to talk to me one day before
the Meeting. None agreed an interview on the day after the Meeting. As
a matter of fact, it looked like everybody was leaving on the last day
of the Meeting. So, I guess you can try to ask them if they would
interview you one day before the Meeting. But the chances are not
good. As alluded to above, some of the recruiters will be leaving
earlier on the third day to avoid the traffic mess. So, you'll
probably get a break in the afternoon on the third day. I had four
interviews after 12:00 on the third day, compared to six of them on
the first and the second days.
Yes, some of the recruiters will ask for interviews that last
more than thirty minutes. I had 30, 45, 55, and 60 minutes interviews
last year. In general, if they came from far away (abroad), they are
more likely to ask for more of your time. The important thing in
managing the time slots is to allow a ten minutes break in-between
appointments if the two connected interviews are in the same hotel;
20-40 minutes, if they are not. Following this rule, my experience is
that it is very difficult to have more than ten interviews on a single
day. I did manage to have twelve of them on the second day because I
was able to scheduled two of them after 19:00. But I really do not
recommend this. Saying the same things ten times a day is really
enough (I eventually got so sick of talking about my job market
paper).
There is one "trick" that I found quite useful and would like to
share it with you. Nowadays one can pretty much find everything on the
internet. What I did last year was to ask for the names of the people
who were going to interview me. For each interview, I spent 15-20
minutes to built up a "profile" that included: the advertisement,
school or company features, and CVs of the interviewers. I spent some
time studying these files before I went to the meeting. At the
meeting, I always arrived the interview rooms five minutes earlier.
With that five minutes, I was able to make quick reviews of my files.
Doing so gave me a very good idea of what to expect before I got in
there. In most cases, I was able to "recognize" interviewers the
moment that I saw them.
Again, good luck.
Q and A: I am answering your questions first. At the end, there are a couple
things that just occurred to me.
> 1. How many days did you have between the interviews and your first
job talk? How about the other job candidates that you know?
I "packed" all the capmus and office visits in a period of about three
weeks (I remembered it was from Jan. 28th to Feb. 19th). They included
trips to New York, Japan, China, Taiwan, and Canada. I am not sure how
other people did theirs. If my memory serves me right, Daniel Leigh
started his visits a couple of days earlier than mine, and Jirka
Slacalek didn't make his until March. In general, the timing would be
earlier if you are on the top of the list of an US academic
institution. International academic institutions and consulting firms
are slower. Sometimes they have several "runs". So, don't be surprised
to receive invitations in March.
> 2. Is there substantial difference between the questions asked by
schools and those asked by non-academic places? Are they all centered
on my research?
Of cource there will be differences. For the sort of questions that
schools might ask, please check out the interview guideline that I
sent you. As to consulting firms, they ask all sorts of questions.
Common ones are: Why are you leaving academics? Are you committed to
consulting jobs? How do you see yourself in the firm five years from
now? These are tough questions. Please have the answers ready. Don't
lie if you haven't make up your mind.
For a 30-minute interview, you should have 12 to 15 minutes to talk
about your research. Normally, people would just let you go without
interrupting you too much. After that, the rest of the interview does
not have too much to do with your research. I won;t worry about this
part too much. Most of them are nice people. But don't be surprised if
something caught you by surprise. I remembered an LA-based consulting
firm even brought a case that they were taking to court in just a few
days, and asked me how would I value the client's damage claim?
> 3. How did you go from one hotel to another? Walk, by taxi, or use
the shuttle provided by the ASSA meetings? In Philadelphia, there is
about 1 mile between the two locations where most interviews are held.
What would be your advice?
In San Diego, there were 6 or 7 hotels for interviews. I either walked
or took the taxi. My rule of thumb at that time was: if it involves
more than ten minutes' walk, get a taxi. My suggestion to you is: Use
the taxi at least on the first day. I hate to picture myself walking
on the frozen streets in Philly with those really uncomfortable shoes.
Think about the questions that you are going to ask. In each
interview, you will most likely be given 3 to 5 minutes to ask them
some questions. You should prepare a couple of "common questions" in
your mind for schools. You may use them for all academic places. Two
of them on the top of my list were: What are the research supports in
the department? What's the department's commitment to the field of IO?
In addition to those, I also had "specific questions" written on the
last page of the files that I prepared for each interview. Since I
always arrived five minutes earlier, I was able to remind myself of
those specific questions.
One last thing, I am very bad at names. Before I left for the
interviews, I remembered asking Danny (Gubits) for the pronunciation
of no less than thirty names that I was not comfortable with. I also
asked him to sit in as an interviewer and gave me his suggestions on
the presentation skills and pointed out my English problems. He was
very good at both. Unfortunately, he is also on the market this year.
He must be very busy. You might want to get the same sort of helps
from another native speaker.
Be confident but not cocky. Never being too defensive or too
aggressive. Be sharp. You will be doing great!
Q: Should I e-mail thank-you notes to the interviewers after the
interviews? Thanks.
A: As to your question, you may want to send e-mails to a few places
of which you are most interested. In particular, those ones that you
think you have good chances. Don't send out messages now. Wait for a
couple of weeks. It is fair to ask for follow-ups after two or three
weeks. You can combine the thank-you message with your inquiries.
Let me know if you have other questions. Good luck!
Q: > When you visited multiple places consecutively, did you buy round-trip tickets
> or one-way tickets?
> How does that work? How were the expenses split among the universities? Would
> it be OK if I stay
> for two nights in one place (the night before the campus visit and the night
> right after the
> visit)? Or should I stay for only one night?
A: There isn't much that I can say about campus (and office) visits.
If you are looking for "instructions", please read the interview
guidelines (I believe it has a section for campus and office visits).
The compensation varies from place to place. Some offers a fixed
amount, some books the tickets and accommodation on your behalf, and
some asks for receipts and cost-sharing with others. You just have to
work with each place to come up with a plan.
My experiences are:
1. These visits are really demanding, individual talks, presentations,
meeting with the whole recruiting committee, lunch, dinner, ...
Normally, a typical one would go from early in the morning to late
afternoon. Make sure you have enough rest for each one.
2. Decline invitations from places that you are not really interested
in. I assure you these visits are not fun at all.
3. If you receive an invitation from somewhere, and if there is
another "close-by" place that you are really interested, ask them to
see if they are interested in inviting you.
4. Remember those "profiles" that I told you to build up before the
Meeting? Expand these files for places that you receive invitations
from. Get more "feelings" of them. Try to image being one of them.
Take notes for "good" questions.
5. Watch your throat. I lost my voice the day before my final visit. I
was so embarrassed and felt really sorry for the poor souls at the
presentation.
One of the professors told me when I first visited U. of Tokyo,
"I have no doubt on your ability for this job. I just want to see you,
and to talk to you, to see if I am interested in going out for lunch
with you everyday!" Remember, if you receive an invitation, there is a
good chance that some people there like you very much. Your remaining
job is to make the others know that you will be a good colleague of
them. You do that and you make a coherent presentation, you get the
job! Don't be aggressive or defensive. Be honest and be yourself. You
will be doing great! Good Luck!