Myths from EJMR

Because I chose to do this blog anonymously, there is a natural connection with the Economics Job Market Rumors board. That is inherently controversial, since the board has been criticized for having a lot of sexist and offensive content. There are advantages of anonymity, which allows posters to be candid and share more information, but there are also disadvantages. That is one of the reasons I decided to host this on a blog where I can moderate the comments. I will do my best to make sure that the comments do not contain any questionable content.

I know that there are those who believe the EJMR board should be avoided altogether, so in the interest of full disclosure, I should say that I have posted links to this blog on EJMR. It seemed the best place to get the word out.

One other downside of the EJMR board is that there are a group of jokers who spend a lot of time trying to convince candidates of falsehoods. One request I have received is to make a post dispelling these myths.

I am not really sure how best to do this. The best general advice is a) be wary of advice you only see on EJMR and nowhere else, b) be wary of any advice that seems odd, the academic job market isn't that different from normal job application processes and c) if you are ever in doubt, ask someone you trust.

I will also try to explicitly correct some of the more common myths directly. Some of these are pretty silly, but I am aware of cases where candidates have fallen for them or very nearly fallen for them.

1. It is not true that you should bring gifts for interviewers.
2. "Stand by" interviews are not a thing. Do not wait around outside interview suites trying to convince them to squeeze you in. Sometimes schools will have an open house drop by arrangement  in one of the conference rooms, but these are rare and clearly announced.
3. It is not true that you should take off your shoes before entering an interview room.
4. It is not true that you should bring slides or a slide projector.
5. It is not true that you should bring your own chair.
6. It is not true that you should "explicitly ask for the job".
7. "30%" is a meme on EJMR. If you see a post saying "30% of interview calls have been made", it is likely a joke, not an actual estimate.

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