Success on the job mark requires good interviewing skills. Job candidates must demonstrate their ability to make contributions in scholarship, teaching, and service. They must indicate their potential for future development in these areas. They must also present themselves as being collegial and congenial the type of person with whom faculty will wish to share offices and hallways for years to come. Job candidates all too frequently learn their skills while on campus visits or at conferences for interviews. They may lose valuable employment opportunities as they perfect their interviewing styles and techniques. Practice is essential for success on the job market.

THS’s Student Affairs Committee is pleased to announce that Mock Interviews will be held at The Historical Society National Conference in May 2002 in Atlanta. Mock Interviews had been included in the program of the THS Conference in 2000 and received good reviews from faculty and students who participated [see Historically Speaking (September 2000): 14-15]. The Mock Interview is one of the most important activities of the Student Affairs Committee.

Faculty teams will serve as fictitious search committees for simulated interviews with would-be job candidates. The sessions will be held from 4:45 to 6:15 on Friday, May 17. First, there will be a brief introduction. Then, the faculty teams will examine candidates’ curriculum vitae for about 20 minutes. Then, the actual mock interview will occur for 30 minutes. Lastly, the faculty teams will offer constructive comments and helpful suggestions to the interviewee for about 30 minutes.

A faculty interviewer could be anyone from the newest assistant professor to the more senior full professor. An interviewee could be anyone from the doctoral or masters student who is interested in a dry run to the doctoral candidate or Ph.D. who is on the job market currently. Those interested in observing a Mock Interview in action are also welcome.

The Student Affairs Committee invites all members and attendees at the National Conference to participate in the Mock Interviews. Volunteers will be needed to serve as both interviewers and interviewees. As the Conference draws nearer, more specific information and instructions will be distributed.

For information about THS and the National Conference, go to http://www.bu.edu/historic.

For information about the Student Affairs Committee, go to http://www.aug.edu/historic.

Those interested in participating should contact Alexander Bielakowski.

Please indicate areas of specialty and desired status as interviewer or interviewee. More information will be distributed later in the spring.