Job Searching

I've been rather busy the past month or so getting all my job search materials ready and sending them out. I've sent out the bulk of my applications and still have a few more to go. The challenge of finding places to teach where both Edna and I can work (and live in the same house) has been quite great. I've been on googlemaps a lot, and at this point in the game, I think it's really down to whether we get simultaneously lucky, or whether my strategy of applying to every place where I have even the remotest chance of qualifying will work out.

Here's the list of the places that I'm applying to, divided up by geographical area:

There's the NIE, SIngapore of course. Not in my field of expertise but there are possibilities for both of us here.

Southern California: UC Irvine (most research oriented school in my list), Claremont McKenna College (most selective school on my list - and the most selective liberal arts college in the U.S.), and Cal State, Long Beach (I think I have a fair shot there, and it's by the beach ... )

Bay Area, Californa: Cal State Sacramento. It seems like a nice place to work, but due to California 's uncertainty with the state budget, the position nearby (ok within 100 miles) that Edna was going to apply for is now in limbo!

Wisconsin: Marian U of Fond du Lac, U of Wisconsin Colleges: Baraboo/Sauk & Waukesha (2 year colleges). None of these positions are for medievalists. But they want people who are generalists and who can teach composition, so I'm giving these a shot. Edna's top choice is for a position at Wisconsin-Madison, so these would be near enough.

Chicago: St Xavier University. A medieval position that would be nice. Possibly drivable to Wisconsin Mad - but we'd have to live in-between and still drive A LOT.

Texas: U of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio. (Another non-Medievalist position - but there's an opening at UT Austin for Edna).

Pennsylvania / Maryland: Franklin and Marshall College. Another highly selective liberal arts college that would be nice to teach at. Cecil College - a two-year college that wants a generalist.

U of New Hampshire: this is the latest posting on the job list. It's an ideal medieval position for me, but I'm sure competition will be very tough since it's in the heart of New England!

Some (possibly irrelevant) things that I've learnt: 1. Texas is a really really big state. I clicked on every Community College website in the state of Texas looking for jobs near Austin. No luck: the closet I came was for a position in the Spring of next year, and another that wanted someone to teach English and Journalism 2. It's easier to find a "Job Opportunities" link on a 2-year college website (in contrast to four year schools). 3. the U of Wisconsin has the most organized and attractive 2-year college websites ...