How hard is it to write a letter?

After reading PGS talk about his rejection letters, I’m reminded of how few of them I received. And that’s not because I got job offers instead of letters.

Now, I did a very selective search last year. I only applied for eight jobs. But, I received one (one!) rejection letter, and that was from the only school that gave me an interview. (I must have made a good impression to deserve a letter.)

Maybe hiring committees have been reading PGS’s rejection letter posts and decided that my feelings would be hurt less by being ignored than by receiving a letter written in the passive voice. Or maybe I should add another item to the list of things that are dehumanizing about the philosophy job market.