Cut that shit out.

Okay kids, I didn't get the chance to say this when it first came up a few days ago, but now that I've got time to breathe, I want t...

Cause I do look a lot different outside my work clothes

UNC philosopher Jesse Prinz (or someone claiming to be him) asks a question worthy of its own thread: [W]hat do you folks think about the ...

Who will kill the fattened calf?

In comments, someone asked, "Whatever happened to nth Year? Drop out, get a job, in jail, all the above?" None of the above, I...

WTF?

I'm home. Looks like I made it out of Baltimore alive. And, I'm somewhat shocked to report, I think some of my interviews went rea...

Take a Load Off, Fanny

I'm a big coffee drinker. I love the taste and I love the ritual. But for the past while whenever I've had even a small cup of cof...

I'm So Tired, My Mind is on the Blink

Well, I don't know about anyone else, but last night's smoker sucked for me. After one of my profs told me and my officemates that ...

I'm Not Saying I Beat the Devil, But I Drank His Beer for Free

Okay, I'm back in the hotel room and I'm fucking exhausted. I guess the obvious observation about the smoker is, seeing thousands o...

I'm Tongue-Tired, Waiting, Hoping, and Praying

Dinner with PGOAT and one of my office mates ran a little later than I'd planned, so I'm already late for the smoker. Oh, well. Any...

Hello, my name is ...

Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down

Here's some last minute interview prep: How to tie a tie .

Gotta Keep the Devil Down in the Hole

"This is Baltimore, gentlemen. The gods will not save you." That's Commissioner Burrell, for those that don't know. Fin...

Sound of the Drums, Beatin' in My Heart

After a couple of days off, I'm starting to think about getting my game face on. So here's some Nietzsche. The The Gay Science , ...

'Twas the Night Before Baltimore

Sorry to disappear on you all for a few days there. But I figured that if I was going to ruin my family's holiday by being a grouchy, a...

Sunday Comics

--By Soon-to-be-Jaded-Disstertator (Click o see a bigger version.)

Advice For the Young at Heart

I got lost in my own snark yesterday , which can happen from time to time. So I didn't emphasize as much as I'd meant to that if yo...

Forever in Debt to Your Priceless Advice

In comments , A Prof Who is Interviewing at the APA offers this charming advice about interview prep: If you had yourself organized properly...

You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch

A while ago a long-time PJMB reader pointed me to a great run-down of how the APA works, called " How the APA Stole Christmas ."...

Special Offer

The fantastically polite and friendly James S. Taylor has written us here at PJMB to ask us to post an offer for you, our loyal readers. A...

Rocking the Passive Voice XIX

Okay, I didn't think I was going to write any more of these this season, since what the fuck else do I have to say about all the PFO s ...

And I'm Here to Remind You, Of the Mess You Left When You Went Away

People have a discussion going in comments about something I've noticed too--we're already getting rejection letters and e-mails fr...

For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)

As we get further into this week, a lot of people are going to be facing the real possibility that they won't get any APA interviews. ...

Assaholic

I meant to get to this last week, when the news turned up on the Chronicle forums, but grading and some actual job market prep got in way. ...

Sunday Comics

"She said you'd given up" --By Soon-to-Jaded Dissertator (Click to make it big.)

Just Like the Old Man in that Famous Book By Nabakov

So I'm heading into the weekend with a non-zero number of interviews. Not nearly enough to make me feel good about my chances of actual...

I'm a wanton. (Maybe.)

Today's the last day in this, the week I've been told to expect the majority of interviews to be scheduled. And while I've land...

They Say Deep Down Inside, Lie Properties of a Healing Kind

It's late. I'm coming off of days of talking to students about final papers and exams, and trying to find some time between students...

Leave Me Alone, I'm Lonely

So while I'm waiting to hear about any interviews, my e-mail inbox has become a weirdly unfamiliar place for me. It's because ever...

Google is smart. S-M-R-T.

To the person whose google search for "I majored in philosophy and now I'm fucked" brought them here: Welcome. You're amo...

I'm a Creep, I'm a Weirdo, What the Hell am I Doing Here?

I know everybody pores with rapt attention at the letters to the editor in the APA Proceedings, but maybe a handful of people, like me, have...

Sunday Comics

"Fail" By Soon-to-be-Jaded Dissertator (Click to get a big version.)

Make a New Plan, Stan

So last weekend I told myself if I got even one interview this week I wouldn't lose my shit. Well, looks like it's time for a new p...

Motivation Going, Going. . . Gone.

Fuck it. I've got mountains of grading. A dissertation to finish. Interviews to prep for. (Because, in a totally out-of-character move, ...

A Dollar When I'm Hard Up VI

A job ad said I should include sample syllabi with my application crap. Okay, I thought to myself, my standard teaching portfolio's got...

I Made a Lot of Mistakes, In My Mind, In My Mind

So last year in the interview I had with a teaching school, I got the question, "Which do you see as your primary focus--teaching or re...

And Maybe I'll See You, At a Movie Sneak Preview

Alright. It's not just me who's obsessively checking my e-mail and the wiki around here. The Future Dr. Mrs. Dr. PGS is also waiti...

That's Right, You're an Asshole, You're an Asshole

To the asshole trolls who keep deleting the job wiki, here's a really simple thought: If you don't like the wiki, don't fucking ...

Baby, Tonight I've Got a Question for You

Let's get back to prepping for interviews with teaching schools. First, let me say a huge thanks to everybody who left ideas in comment...

Sunday Comics

"Fuck yr tie" --By Soon-to-be-Jaded-Dissertator (Fucked if I know why, but for some reason Blogger's not opening the image in ...

Pedagogy!

Good work, team. All kinds of fantastic advice about teaching interviews left in comments. I'll leave it to PGS to write a post distil...

A Career is More Than a Job

Many people have used the two terms “career” and “job” so interchangeably in their daily lives that the two concepts have blended into one a...

I Ain't Makin' Straight Time

You know what I did today? Work. Actual work. As in philosophy. Between teaching and the job market, it's been so long I almost forg...

Help Me Suzanne, I've Got to Set My Sights On the Bright Sunshiny Day

Well, if PGOAT's and Still Pounding's dreams are any indication, I'm not alone in thinking I could be focusing my anxiety in m...

Insomnia's Starting to Look Awfully Appealing

Anyone else starting to get APA anxiety dreams? Yeah, me too. Looks like I've got a month of night terrors to look forward to. And to...

Or Hit the Desk And Fill Out Forms For Days

If you're like me, you've got many, many, affirmative action forms on your desk right now. I'd go so far as to say it's a f...

Make It a Hurricane, Before I Go Insane

I have to say, I'm sort of amused by how so many candidates--including me--freak out about what we're going to wear to interviews we...

She Told 'Em "This is Our Home For Now, God Bless This Cheap Hotel"

I know I'm not the only grad student whose bank account is getting the shit kicked out of it by the job market, so check this out. Nick...

Sunday Comics

--By Soon-to-be-Jaded Dissertator

Now What's Next?

I think-- I think --I put the last of my applications in the mail yesterday. Jesus F. Christ, that was a lot of work. So I celebrated toda...

It Was the Suit That Got Me the Gig, It Was the Tear That Got Me the Girl

It's Black Friday, which of course can mean only one thing: it's time to go buy a tie for the APA . Since PGOAT's been talking ...

And If That Phone Don't Ring One More Time, I'm Going To Lose What's Left of My Mind

Last year I didn't hear from any of the places that interviewed me until the second or third week of December. So there's no reason...

Under where?

One of the things they tell us to do in preparation for the job market is to have other people observe our teaching. (Where students don...

A Dollar When I'm Hard Up V

Remember that transcript fuck-up for the post-doc I'm applying for? It cost me badly today. It cost me a lot of time, as I paid my he...

Everybody Wants Some, Baby, How 'Bout You?

There's a few more reactions in comments to that Mississippi State job that's only for Phi Beta Kappa members. Anon. #1 says, My un...

I Got Debts No Honest Man Can Pay

Want to know how badly I'm fucked for this one post-doc application? They need original transcripts. I can't get those because my ...

Because it's not like I need new shoes or anything.

In our ongoing quest to make sense of the job market for you here at PJMB we're all about the visual aids. Since PGS has already given...

Build That Wall

From the Chronicle forums, here's an idea I like: My success rate was about 50% for the rejection letters on my first TT search. I wa...

I'm a Picture That I'm Holding, of Someone Who Is Cool

So. . . . Anyone else accidentally send out applications to senior-rank jobs? Heh. I'm so awesome.

A Dollar When I'm Hard Up IV

Another ten applications gone, some to exotic and expensive locales, and another $31.32 of my money left at the post office. Total out of p...

Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places

So here's an ad from October's JFP : *153. MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY , Starkville , MS. Contingent upon funding. Asst. or Ass...

Make 'Em be Doctors and Lawyers and Such, Mama Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys

I've talked before about how hard it can be to explain the market to civilians. Here's a way that gets the job done. Leiter's ...

OMG! Like, how's my hair?!? And, like, can I have a job?

Apparently the Times thinks a serious discussion about how the character traits we like our successful professionals to have are exactly th...

I Have a Dream of a New Pop Music, That Tells the Truth, With a Good Beat and Some Nice Harmonies

So what to make of the reaction to Inside Man's look into the inner workings of his search committee? First, there seems to be some conf...

I Think I Lost It, Let Me Know If You Come Across It

Jumping Jesus on a pogo stick, thinking about publications and Leiter's rankings is freaking me the fuck out. (The Future Dr. Mrs. Dr...

King Volcano gave me numbers.

Apropos of Leiter's post today about his rankings, I bring you the second installment from our dear friend Inside Man. ( Here ’s his ...

Sunday Comics

--Drawn by Soon to be Jaded Dissertator

I'd Rather Be the Pope (Rather be the Pope)

A friend pointed me to something I missed in the October JFP . It's #172. Bellarmine University's looking for someone who does his...

Though You Never Told Me So, Somehow I Know I Never Had a Chance

In comments, Anon. nails one part of the philosophical caste system: What's particularly annoying about the contingent faculty experien...