Lauren A. Vicker

The Complete Academic Search Manual is a very strong description of the hiring process in academia. Each step is given its own chapter, and there are a number of helpful checklists that summarize the important components. This book is helpful for anyone new to a search committee, and it makes a helpful refresher to the more seasoned pros.

The authors -- who clearly have been a part of many search committees -- are emphatic that the most important part of the academic search is at the beginning, when the job description is being written. A well-written job description (and a more "secret" profile of a "perfect" candidate) helps the committee know what (and who) to look for, rather than just picking the best of the applicants.

I would have liked a few more examples in each of the chapters, but the ones given were generally good. There's a very impressive chart of illegal questions, and pretty good examples of rejection letters. There are a few stories from presumably real candidates that help to lend realism, but with so many identifying characteristics left out, those stories sometimes feel like filler.

The book does take a fairly positive tone. That means, unfortunately, that there's not much help for you if all your candidates aren't really strong (their recommendation: start over again). But there was some recognition that these candidates may get through even the best filters; in one of the final chapters, a sample recommendation of a finalist contained the phrase "a degree of arrogance ... that made some of us very uncomfortable"!

I was most impressed with the final chapter as it deals with "extending hospitality." A good search committee should not disband once a finalist has been selected. Their job should continue while the candidate assimilates himself/herself into the campus community.… (altro)