Making a list - do they let you know?

[curious]

How many search committees let you know when you're on a long list or short list, either during or after the search? Sometimes it will be obvious, if you get a phone interview or they ask for additional materials. But what about when it's not obvious?

[related]

Do most schools do phone interviews?

[babaganoush]

2nd timer here. In my experience, most R1's don't do phone interviews - they just call and tell you they want to interview you. From what I gather, LACs are more likely to do phone interviews but will call or email you to set up a time to do one so you are prepared.

Last year, I found out I was on two long/short lists (not sure which) because one school called my advisor to ask about me and told him, and the other emailed me and told me to ask for more information. I didn't get interviews at either place. The places I did interview, I was never notified that they were interested until I was called for an interview. So you really never know. I know that's not comforting.

[from what ive seen]

Most schools are constrained financially and logistically from bringing in more than 4 candidates for campus visits. These are usually multi-day affairs, and involves presentations, dinners, meetings all across the college. Phone interviews are cheaper and shorter, but they can still be laborious (especially if more than one faculty member is involved in each interview) so they're unlikely to do more than 10 or so.

Let's suppose we define a long list as the filtered pool, the candidates they're at least willing to consider. A medium list (or the short long list or the long short list) consists of those they want to know better. The short list contains the names of those to whom they're seriously considering offering the position.

Most applicants won't hear anything at all until they receive the rejection letter after an offer has been accepted by somebody else. The only way you know you're on the long list is if they need more information to proceed, in which case they'll contact you or one of your references. If you've been asked to participate in a phone interview then you're on the medium (or long short) list -- then you know that you at least survived the first cut. If you have been invited to campus, you're on the short list. (Congratulations!)

In general, search committees don't contact any applicant until they've made a round of cuts, so each candidate finds out around the same time. Hence this rumor mill, which will soon begin including such reports, and if you haven't been contacted within a few days of hearing that somebody else has then you can guess that you didn't make the cut*. That gets depressing, which is why many say that you never get any good news from these boards.

* You do, however, have to take the information provided here with a grain of salt. Some people lie when reporting things here. Some committees go back to the long list (or, less likely, their original pool) after making phone interviews and rule candidates out that initially seemed promising but then came across as duds. Some institutions only invite and bring in one candidate at a time, deciding to add another only if the first candidate didn't thrill the committee.

[3rd time around]

It really depends on the department. Last year, I found out that I was on some long-short lists from my advisor, and in other cases from the schools. And in a couple of the latter cases I was asked for more materials, while in other cases they just emailed me to let me know. I did not get interviews with any of these schools, though, so...try not to get too excited until you actually get an interview.

[yep]

^ Try not to get too excited if you do get an interview. You have no idea what your relative chances are, whether they have an inside candidate, whether you will click with them, etc. Be excited, but don't think you're a lock just because you get an interview. Some people get jobs after just one interview, other people get a lot of interviews and only a few jobs.

[SearchFac]

The sequence of events varies across institutions. Some will give you an idea that you're part of a finalist group while others refrain from such disclosure. At some schools the rejected candidates won;t be told they're out until the final candidate has accepted and signed the contract. There are legal risk avoidance cautions underlying many of these practices; thus these are not necessarily how faculty would like to run the search but rather how higher administrators mandate. The attempt is to avoid giving information that might build unjustified hope, that might give grounds for legal appeal, or that might lose backup candidates while the top choice decides. It's best to think of the process as a competitive game between college and candidates until that point where the selected "top draft choice" gets to join the previously opponent team.