So. Turns out I should have just listened to my brain last night and skipped the attempt to do work, because of course I was so brain-fried that I got very little productive work done. I could have, and should have, turned off the computer and went to bed. Or watched TV. Or done anything else. But no, I pressed on, and of course I couldn't concentrate, couldn't really focus, couldn't think about what I needed to think about. Which just left me even more tired and more burned out, both last night and today, and the stuff that needed to get done didn't get done.
Why do I do this to myself?
Today was really gruelling. I am really starting to hate hiring season. I had no idea it would take so much time and energy to hire someone. I mean, I guess it makes sense (you want the colleague who's going to be spending the next 20-odd years with you to be someone you really like, ideally), but why does it have to be so difficult? And how ridiculous is it that we have to pick x number of people to interview just from the evidence we have on some slips of paper (and maybe a brief phone conversation)?
Bleah. Today was a gruelling end to a very long and gruelling week. Next week is more of the same. Must reenergize self this weekend.
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3 comments:
Ugh. I don't want to hear it about the hiring. We just completed 11 30-minute interviews at the professional conference last week, and we'll be doing 4 more phone interviews next week. Then the meetings to decide who to pick, then the whole faculty meeting to get the shortlist down from 6 to 3, then the campus visits...Blech is right!
(And somehow I ended up on the committee to pare the grad applicants from 100+ to less than 50...)
Ugh, I hate the whole hiring process. We usually do the process in May or June when I'm supposed to be relaxing and NOT thinking about school. I end up being very resentful, especially if the weather is nice.
Oh, hiring can be such an awful process. Necessary, but awful. Ugh. Ick.
How much energy it takes depends on how your department does it. I've now been through 2 hirings at 2 universities and both times it was relatively painless. However, I've also been in departments that tend to make decisions quickly, plus the field is small and the pile of applicants not outrageous. Hiring a senior person was much easier than hiring junior (you know most of the folks who are worth interviewing).
Hope you're having a relaxing weekend, getting your energy back!
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