Comments on: Rejection is the Sincerest Form of Flattery http://geoffhutchison.net/blog/archives/2005/01/25/rejection-is-the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/ Geoff Hutchison's personal weblog on chemistry, nanotechnology, science, books, life and software development -- in no particular order. Sat, 02 Jan 2010 09:25:42 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Geoff http://geoffhutchison.net/blog/archives/2005/01/25/rejection-is-the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/comment-page-1/#comment-725 Geoff Fri, 29 Jul 2005 17:32:28 +0000 http://geoffhutchison.net/blog/archives/2005/01/25/rejection-is-the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/#comment-725 A quick followup several months later.... I'll be applying for faculty positions again this fall. I'm extremely happy that I applied last year because it will be much easier this time around. But I was completely surprised when I received a rejection letter in the mail a few days ago. That's correct. A department contacted me <strong>10 months</strong> after I applied to inform me that I would not be interviewed. More surprising, I flipped through my list of applications and realized a few departments <strong>never</strong> sent rejection letters. If anyone actually reads this, I think there's a strong take-home message. Applicants are your future colleagues -- maybe in your department, maybe not. The way you treat applicants, however, speaks volumes about you and your department. No one expects a personal letter to each of 200-300 applicants. Yet isn't it important to take a few minutes to make sure that you leave each person with a good impression of your department? Just my $0.02. A quick followup several months later….

I’ll be applying for faculty positions again this fall. I’m extremely happy that I applied last year because it will be much easier this time around. But I was completely surprised when I received a rejection letter in the mail a few days ago.

That’s correct. A department contacted me 10 months after I applied to inform me that I would not be interviewed. More surprising, I flipped through my list of applications and realized a few departments never sent rejection letters.

If anyone actually reads this, I think there’s a strong take-home message. Applicants are your future colleagues — maybe in your department, maybe not. The way you treat applicants, however, speaks volumes about you and your department. No one expects a personal letter to each of 200-300 applicants. Yet isn’t it important to take a few minutes to make sure that you leave each person with a good impression of your department?

Just my $0.02.

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