When do search committees return to long-lists?

In our newest "how can we help you?" thread, a reader asks:

I would love a post asking / discussing how often it actually happens that search committees go back to people from their long list after not inviting them for fly outs. Often, search committee members let you know that they can't fly you out at the moment, but they might get back to your file later depending on how the search develops. Does this ever happen?

Good question! I have no idea how often this happens, but I know it does happen, and can happen for a variety of reasons, such as candidates backing out of on-campus visits due to accepting job offers elsewhere or the committee not being comfortable with hiring any of the people they initially fly out to campus. It's also worth noting that if a committee isn't satisfied with its long-list, they can also always go back to the general applicant pool to see if they would like to conduct any additional first-round interviews. It would be great to hear from search committee members: how often do these kinds of things happen, and for what reasons? Any reasons or scenarios that I haven't mentioned?

Comments

[Tenured now]

(I'm posting anonymously to protect the identities of people who might not want this information connected to them.) I was on a search committee for a TT job in 2018/2019 at an R2 in a fairly cool small college town with a 2/3 teaching load and a generally really lovely department. All three people we initially flew out turned us down, and we flew out two others - both of whom we offered the job to, and one of whom we hired. I was also just talking to a friend at a low/unranked PhD program in a very, very cool city who had a recent search where they didn't hire any of the three people they initially flew out (some they didn't like, some declined offers), and also flew out 2-3 more before making an offer. Anecdotal, but a few more data points that it does happen, even for pretty great jobs.

[Anonymous Anecdotes]

Two anecdotes. 1. I was long listed for a job in a department where I had a temporary position. I assumed I was no longer in the running, but they eventually offered me the job after their preferred finalists all turned down the offer.

2. I was recently on a hiring committee. For a variety of reasons, we decided against hiring our three initial finalists. We didn’t end up doing this, but some in my department wanted to go back to the long list.

So long listed doesn’t necessarily mean you’re out of the running. But my guess is it usually ends up meaning this.

[EPICtetus]

My experience as a job candidate for nearly a decade now has taught me not to ask such questions. Always focus on finding new positions to apply for (in and out of academia). If you need hope, base your hope on the number of positions applied for. Never picture yourself in a particular academic position. Never look up details of the city or location. Stay away from maps and imaginary house hunting. Always assume you'll never hear from them again at every point in the process. Be happy when you perform well, but you don't know what other factors are at work. Stoicism is designed to protect the stoic, and academic job candidates need a lot of this brand of protection. It's very difficult not knowing what next year looks like. Multiply possibilities and don't get attached to particulars.