As search panels are readying their on-campus invitations, many job candidates are receiving new information about themselves: article acceptances, conference invitations, service appointments, and so forth. One question I hear a great deal is, “When is it appropriate to update the search committee?”
My answer: “When the information is legitimately significant enough to impact the search.” Going to a conference and having a paper accepted typically is not going to alter anything. An invited lecture to a top university is likelier to be well received by a search committee. A non-peer-reviewed article is not enough for an update, nor is a submission of a book proposal or a grant application.
Finding out that such a proposal or application has been accepted is definitely worth an update, even if a contract has not yet been issued. (Be clear about that.) For folks who are A.B.D., getting the defense date on the calendar is always worth an update. Please let the search committee know, as well, when you receive an offer that you have accepted (though I highly recommend avoiding pulling out of a search until you actually receive a contract; oral offers can, after all, be rescinded.)
Search committees don’t mind updates, but they don’t want to be deluged with minutiae. A stream of updates tends to be viewed as signaling a high-maintenance colleague.
What kinds of updates are appropriate in your discipline? What might be inappropriate?
