On Scholarship
- So I understand you've written an article about X. Is that going to be your job talk? Why don't you tell us a little bit about it.
- Give us a 5-minute version [sometimes 10-minute] of your job-talk.
- In your article, you imply that the system should be changed in a particular way. If that happened, wouldn't there be several bad results such as. . . ? How could we prevent that from happening? Or do you think those results would be beneficial?
- What are you working on now? How do your works in progress fit with your job talk? Are they expansions on your thesis? Separate? Taking your initial idea in a different direction?
- Where do you see your scholarship heading in the next five years?
- On page 56 of your article you say XYZ, but my friend who teaches at Yale has argued PDQ. What do you think of her work in this area?
- How does your work differ from that of [leading scholar in field]?
- What's your scholarly "agenda"? How do those interests fit together into a coherent whole?
- How did you decide to write about the topic of [article on CV]?
On Teaching
- It seems that most of your teaching experience has been in teaching seminars or small classes. How do you think you'd do in front of a large group of students?
- What would be your ideal course package? (If you could teach anything you wanted, ignore what the school might need, what would you teach?) Why?
- Would you be willing to teach X?
- What kind of method would you use in large classes? Lecture? Socratic? Cold-calling? Panels? Volunteers? Why?
Other
- Do either you or your significant others have interviews with [the only other school within driving distance]?
- Would you take a job in a different city from where your significant other is?
- How do you like [your current position]? Why are you leaving private practice for academia?
- Are you familiar with City/State X? Do you realize what our winters/summers/lack of culture/political scene is like?
- Are you willing to leave N.Y.C.? Are you willing to work in [x]?
- What do you find attractive/interesting about our school?
And ALWAYS be prepared to answer . . .
- Do you have any questions for us?
- What would you like to know about our school?
