Job Seekers, Don’t Curb Your Enthusiasm

By Allison M. Vaillancourt

Unless something goes really wrong, job talks don’t get very much attention outside of the department doing the hiring. That dynamic changed on my campus a few weeks ago, though, when a candidate dared to break with convention while wrapping up a presentation to a room of about 40 stakeholders. Because I’ve now heard first-, second-, and thirdhand accounts of the conversation, I am not exactly sure what the candidate said to wow those in attendance, but all of the accounts included fairly similar descriptions of the way the candidate expressed significant enthusiasm for the position.

By one account, the candidate concluded the 45-minute-long “vision for the future” presentation with a very scripted closing: “I’ve been doing a lot of research on the search process and even talking with search firms about what differentiates successful and unsuccessful candidates. Through this I’ve come to appreciate that search committees often worry that candidates aren’t sufficiently excited about the opportunity. Well, I want you to know that I really want this job.” The final PowerPoint slide was then advanced, and the screen showed a photo of the candidate holding a sign that read, “I really want to be your next [insert title].”

This candidate’s job talk got attention because it is so unusual for candidates to express such obvious enthusiasm. Many exude an “I could take it or leave it” attitude because they subscribe to one or more of the following beliefs:

“Expressing enthusiasm will make me look desperate.” Actually, expressing enthusiasm will make you look, well, enthusiastic! Of course, it takes a little timing to pull this off. Too much enthusiasm too early can make you look naïve. It’s best to start by appearing intensely curious and pleased to be considered. Once you know enough to be genuinely committed to pursuing a job, expressing enthusiasm will signal excitement about both the opportunity and the people with whom you would work. Search committees and hiring authorities gravitate to those who seem energized about coming aboard. Convince them that you would feel honored to be selected.
“Appearing to want a position will weaken my negotiating position.” In my experience, negotiations go better when the hiring authority and the candidate are equally excited about the opportunity for a match. Savvy candidates and smart hiring authorities position the negotiation process as a problem-solving exercise rather than a protracted wrangle over resources. Candidates say, “I really want to be here and just need X, Y, and Z to make that happen.” Hiring authorities respond, “How can we remove the barriers that are keeping us from sealing this deal?” When both parties are excited, more possibilities are created.
“It will be less embarrassing to act like I don’t care.” None of us like to be rejected, so it can be tempting to act like we don’t care in order to protect our psyches in the event we are not selected. Search committees and hiring authorities tend to pick up on this aloofness and read it as lack of interest and commitment. Being open about what we want might make us a bit vulnerable, but it doesn’t make us losers. When we are honest about what we want, we make it easier for people to give it to us.

When search committees and hiring authorities are conducting their final analyses, which of the finalists seems to want the job most is often factored into the decision. I’ve been in multiple conversations in which the committees debated how happy the candidate would be if the job were offered and how long it would be before another time-consuming search would be required to fill the role when the candidate got bored or frustrated.

These conversations occur far less often when the finalist expresses appreciation for the position in question, the culture of the institution, and the community in which he or she will be residing.