Gossip about disastrous interviews?

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

I'm an ABD person on the job market for the first time. I had a fair number of first round interviews this cycle--some went well, some were complete disasters. Besides being totally embarrassed by them, I'm also worried about the near- to long- term impact of these disastrous interviews. Am I right to think that faculty gossip about such things, and that this could negatively impact my status on the job market/in the profession going forward? Or am I overthinking this?

I strongly suspect the OP is overthinking this, as I'm not sure people really have the time on their hands to go around talking to people about stuff like this (as opposed to getting on with other things in their lives and careers). Personally, I think most of us have had our share of interview disasters, and at least in my own case I have no evidence that mine ever came back to haunt me. Better, I think, to simply learn from what went wrong and work hard to do better the next time(s) around!

What do readers think?

Comments

[Associate]

I had a disastrous interview a half decade ago (at a PhD program at a Jesuit school in NYC). A friend found out it went poorly because a SC member told them. It took some time for it to be passed along, but it definitely happens. I doubt it affected my career though, though you never know.

[R1 prof]

"Am I right to think that faculty gossip about such things"

Yes.

", and that this could negatively impact my status on the job market/in the profession going forward?"

It can, but it's extremely unlikely.

[Cap]

I have heard plenty of gossip of this sort but in my experience the busybodies, even if close friends, don't ever mention the candidate's name, and it's understood that I shouldn't ask. So it couldn't affect you down the line.

[ctte mbr]

Even if they *did* gossip about you, the odds that anyone would remember your name--much less hold it against you--in the long run are quite low. This is, of course, unless by 'disastrous' you mean 'said something horribly offensive or jaw-dropping', which of course you surely didn't.

[Jon]

In all honesty, we’ve done 4 searches in the last 6 years, none of which are in my AOS, and I have no recollection now of the names of the people we didn’t hire, even the ones who bombed. Obviously I would probably still remember the names if they were people I saw regularly in the profession, but usually a school is hiring because they don’t have someone in your AOS. And, I agree that there is an understood convention if you are just telling interview stories, you don’t mention the candidate’s name (“we once had a candidate who…”).

[The Real SLAC Prof]

I wouldn't worry about this, OP. Spend a bit of time trying to understand why your interviews went poorly, and make the corrections that you can make in terms of your own preparation, and don't dwell on what happened.

On the hiring side, yes, I've witnessed disastrous performances that are burned in my memory. Mostly I have felt sorry for the candidate, and sometimes a bit duped by the advisor (in a recent case it was quite clear that there were deep problems with the research and it wasn't just a candidate having a bad day; given the over-the-top glowing letter from the advisor, I did end up losing quite a bit of respect for the well-known advisor). One job talk Q&A was so terrible, I still vividly remember it 15 years later.

While it might be challenging for me to overcome some of these negative experiences with candidates and vote to offer them a job in the future, it is highly unlikely that whatever negative reactions I have regarding them could hurt their chances at another institution, even if I wanted them to (and I don't!).

Yes, people talk, and yes, it is a small world, but candidates don't do well in an interview for a number of reasons. If a friend told me a candidate bombed in an interview at their institution, that wouldn't automatically disqualify them from a position in my department. At most, I might be more inclined to scrutinize the candidate's performance, but that's about it.

[Not going to stick]

People will gossip. Sometimes with names, but even more often not.

What they are very unlikely to do is REMEMBER the gossip for very long.

(And honestly, your sense of what is a disaster- especially in a first round interview, is likely not accurate. Its more likely to be paranoia!)

I have witnessed one or two TRUE NOTABLE disasters (by no means people who just think they had very bad or flubbed answers or couldn't come up with a response or something.) And everyone in the department talked about......for like two days.

And even though I was on the committees in question at the time, I couldn't for the life of me tell you who committed those disasters. For that to stick you would have to....I don't know-- start shouting Nazi propoganda halfway through the event? Actively threaten my life? I'm pretty sure whatever you feel you did it was nothing like that

[Tenured now]

I once asked a male job candidate in an interview why there were no women on his applied ethics syllabus, and he told me (a woman, and ethicist/political philosopher) that I just had to understand that it's harder to find good women philosophers in some sub areas than in others, and that his upper-level metaphysics syllabus was much more balanced. If I hear that someone I know is interviewing that dude, I will absolutely suggest that they poke around about his attitudes towards women. But I echo what others have said - if it's more of a flubbed an answer or gave a bad job talk situation, I think most people will either not talk about it at all, or talk about it without names. So, try not to be racist/misogynist/etc, but otherwise don't worry!

[DanD]

Whenever I go for a meal after a visiting speaker has given a talk, I always hope they will talk about philosophy, but they and the others at the meal always want to exchange the latest gossip.
I dont bother going much anymore. Usually though its about academics that both parties know or have heard of -