How can we help you? (December 2022)

Now that it's been almost a month since our last "how can we help you?" thread, it's time for a new one.

For those of you unfamiliar with this series, this is a chance for you to post openly or anonymously in the comments section below on anything you could use help with related to the profession. After you post your query in the comments section, I will then post new threads for readers to discuss your query.

As usual, feel free to ask questions on anything (within the Cocoon's mission) that you could use help with, including but not limited to:

• The job-market (applying for jobs, etc.)
• Issues in the profession (including issues of social justice)
• Graduate school
• Publishing
• Teaching
• Work-life balance
• Mental health & well-being
• Personal struggles
• Etc.

Ask away - we're here to help! 

Important reminder: if you submit a comment in this thread responding to someone's query, I won't post it, as this makes it difficult for me to keep track of everything in the comments section, particularly which queries I've started new threads on and which ones I have not. However, if you do post a follow-up comment, chances are good that I will post it in the new thread I start on the relevant query. So, do feel free to submit responses. Just know that they won't appear in this particular thread and might instead appear later in a new post.

Comments

[ethics_boilerplate_yes_no]

Recently got desk-rejected by Ethics after waiting 4 months. The comment " I am afraid, however, that it is inappropriate for the journal." is boilerplate right?

[Dazed and Confused]

I'm working on revising an R&R, but for one comment by a reviewer, I'm finding it difficult to understand exactly what the reviewer's concern is. Part of the issue is that the comment is full of typos and incomplete sentences. But that aside, my question is more general: Is it ever alright to ask the journal's managing editor to reach out to the reviewer on your behalf in order to ask the reviewer a question of clarification?

[HellUndLustig]

I think my papers keep getting sent to, and rejected by, a few senior philosophers from my discipline who don't have a high opinion of my work (not entirely for scholarly reasons, I suspect).
How usual/acceptable is it to ask editors at a journal to exclude one/set-of philosophers from reviewing your article? Would it put the article at a disadvantage?

[needs a job any job]

If you accept a position at a school that, for political, social, or theological reasons, has a reputation for being a certain way, does the stench of their leanings follow you for the rest of your career, if you were to eventually apply elsewhere? Would people assume that you shared their leanings? Thanks!

[Philosopher Classicist]

I work in medieval philosophy. My original training was as a classicist and I love doing translations of philosophical texts. I'm an early PhD, currently teaching fulltime but unassociated with an academic institution, with only only one publication. Both that publication and my dissertation are on the texts I want to translate for publication.

Given my CV, do I have a shot at successfully pitching a translation to a publisher, or should I wait until I've published more?

Is there a chance that a journal could be interested in publishing an article-length translation?

(I'm aware that starting a book/translation project may be a less efficient use of my time than writing articles. That's an important consideration but not what I'm asking about at the moment.)

Thanks!

[Fourth year tt]

Are hiring departments conducting finalist interviews face-to-face or via Zoom this year? Or, rather, are any departments conducting finalist (day+ long, short-listed candidates) interviews via Zoom?

I ask because my department is considering doing 4-5 finalist interviews via Zoom, then flying out the candidate(s) to whom we make offers. The thinking is that we can conduct more finalist interviews, with less department stress and expense, this way. Normally, we are limited to 2 on-campus interviews.

[Jim Casy]

I also wonder about @needs a job any job's question. I'm sure it's entirely an "it depends" kind of situation, but I am curious about anecdotal evidence others might possess.

[NTT Aspirant]

I love teaching philosophy, but I'm not too fired up about going on the job market in search of a TT job. Where I'm getting my PhD, we have "Lecturers" (pure adjuncts) and "Instructors," who have longer-term contracts and get somewhat better pay. Instructors are NTT and have no research expectations; they are on the faculty, though, and I believe they have service duties. Does anyone have a sense of how common this intermediate category is across the board? I get the sense that some large departments have folks in this category, and some don't. Also, any tips on getting such a job, besides general advice for applying to any teaching-focused position?

[Tired of Zooming]

I am sure that this has been discussed here before, but what are the norms about going on the job market in order to solve a two-body problem? Do you raise that issue in a cover letter? In the interview process? After an offer? What do you say when people ask why you are looking for another job?

[OK to commute?]

I was lucky to secure a tenured position a few years ago. I really like the department, and feel privileged to have a permanent position, but am unhappy about the place and really miss the place I used to live. I’ve tried to come to terms with the new place for two years, but it’s clear to me that this is not gonna happen.

I’m considering approaching the head of dept and ask whether commuting would be okay, but worry that this might backfire. My department does not look favorably at commuting, since they worry that faculty will only show up for their teaching and not contribute to the departmental life. I also don’t have a partner, children or any other "formal" reason that would effectively explain my commute to colleges. I just feel miserable. It’s obviously a personal concern, so I am not sure how (or whether) to ask the head of dept about this.

[device decision fatigue]

I know there was a similar thread on here a few months ago, but since (I believe) there have been some updates released since then, I was wondering whether I could try to crowdsource some current opinions from Remarkable, Supernote, and Boox users? The internet is awash with opinions as to which of these devices is the best, but any and all insight I can glean from other academic philosophers is especially helpful before I pull the plug. The main thing I'm hoping to use a device like this for is to annotate PDFs and create tags to easily find them for when I'm writing. My research thus far (including the last thread on here) has led me away from the Remarkable, but I'm wondering if anyone has any opinions on the Supernote A6 vs. one of the Boox NoteAir2 models? Or is the Remarkable worth looking into again after all?

[Curious]

Question(s) about writing a letter of recommendation for a student applying to philosophy graduate programs:
1. How long is your letter? 2 pages single-spaced?
2. How detailed should it be? For instance, should one spend a paragraph explaining the student's thesis?
3. What do you typically highlight?

[Accepted but unpublished]

One of my papers was accepted as a book chapter. But book project failed as the publishing house closed down.
Should I still list this acceptance in my CV, and if so how should I represent it?

[citations in grad school]

I'm still in grad school and want to submit a paper to journals. There is a place where I'd like to acknowledge in a footnote a committee member's help with specific phrasing. Should I just acknowledge them in a specific footnote or in the general acknowledgement section? My work has also benefitted a lot from discussions with them in general as well as with other committee members, but I don't remember where so will have to just acknowledge them generally. Would it be bad to just cite one in a specific footnote without the others?

[SI novice]

When a journal does a topical special issue volume with guest editors, do those editors tend to do R&Rs like an ordinary journal submission, or are they more likely to simply accept or reject? I realize this will probably differ depending on the SI in question, but I am just trying to get a sense of what the process is like before I submit to one for the first time. Do acceptances/rejections tend to happen faster than the usual rate at that journal? Or are they slower/the same?
Relatedly, as an early career person with a real need for more publications, how do special issue pubs look on a CV to search committees? I take it that they aren't as highly valued as ordinary journal publications, but how much lower are we talking? Is it even worth submitting to them if you're early career with minimal publications?

[author]

I have a paper that's been under review at a journal for about five months, and not a single reviewer has been found so far. Judging by the updates on the website, it seems that the editor has gone through maybe 3 or 4 reviewers during these five months. This is a well regarded generalist journal.

In my (admittedly short) experience I haven't seen something like this. I'm wondering whether that's a bad sign and I should just withdraw my paper and submit it elsewhere.

[Australian PhD]

Just out of curiosity. I applied for many jobs. My estimation is that more than half of the jobs I applied for are in North America. Three years on the job market and I've been through 17 interviews. 5 are for North American jobs. (All first round, no final round compared to all other interviews being for final rounds.) So basically my interview rate for North American jobs are much lower than that of for Uk, European, Australian, New Zealand, and Middle Eastern jobs. Is this a common experience for those who got their degrees not in North America?

[The Devil Wears Philosophy]

Maybe this has been asked before and I'm just having trouble finding it on the blog, but I would love some fashion advice about what to wear for a fly-out as a lady.

[sheepish lucky interviewee]

I hesitate to ask this because it understandably might be upsetting for job candidates, but: does anyone who has had a job market season where they got a lot of interviews have advice about when, if ever before accepting an offer, to start declining first round interviews (or fly outs)? I don't want to take up spots that might have allowed someone else to get a foot in a door (this is especially relevant for fly outs, but seems to matter for first-rounds too), but also it's hard to reason about how much risk to take on. I can see the arguments for just doing everything that you get offered until you have an actual signed offer, because the risk is so great. But I do have a lot of interviews this season and am starting to wonder if I should start selectively declining ones that are for jobs that it is harder for me to see myself in. In addition to making space for other candidates who might have just missed the cut, while knowing how very lucky I am and understanding what a (surely unfair) gift this is, it is also exhausting (especially the fly out stage) for me as well.

[No Doctors]

I'd be really curious to hear from those who teach at R1s without doctoral programs. In particular, I feel like the vast majority of scholars I know (and hear about) are at schools with PhD programs or those with no graduate students at all. I'd love to know the ways in which having a Masters program is and is not similar to having a PhD program and is and is not similar to not having grad students at all.

anything that people might offer on teaching with a masters program (as compared to other setups) would be most appreciated!

[G]

I'm on the market for the first time. I have a good bit of teaching experience, but more and more I'm adjuncting at local colleges and not where I'm earning my PhD. Two questions. (1) How should one list adjuncting positions? I have a 'Teaching Experience' section of my cv that lists the courses and institutions I've taught at. But would it be good to also list 'adjunct instructor' under an 'Employment' section? My worry with this is that it'll just look cheesy or forced. (2) Will having adjuncted at a handful of schools hurt my prospects for a permanent position? My thought is that some search committees might look at my cv and think, 'Oh, nice PhD, nice publications, but this is just some professional adjunct.'

Thanks!

[inside scoop]

One piece of advice I often see for job seekers is to "get to know the department to which you are applying." This is great advice! I'd love to know how other people go about researching a department, its needs, its interests, and its preferences. It would be great if at least some of this advice did not involve tapping one's personal network, as many grad students/job seekers may not have networks that are similarly robust or knowledgeable about the ins and outs of other departments.