Applying for jobs, need references
- From: Allan Adler <ara@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 15 Aug 2006 19:41:57 -0400
I'm filling out the AMS Cover Sheet and need to include the names of at
least 4 references. I've always considered the AMS Cover Sheet to be
procrustean and am no more comfortable filling it out now, but maybe
they are simply condensing into a short form the mindset of even more
procrustean entities that actually do the hiring.
The problem I have is that I am normally unemployed and my research
activities are fairly independent and don't require me to interact
much with other mathematicians. Therefore, there isn't anyone who
can really write about what I am doing at the moment. Furthermore,
I don't really feel like talking about it with anyone at the moment.
In the part of the AMS Cover Sheet where it asks me to list my current
interests, I wrote down a list of several areas I'm interested in but no
details about specific problems or activities. That's about as far as
I'm willing to go at the moment.
There are more reasons why it is completely hopeless: (1) I am happy where
I am living and have been completely miserable in practically every other
place I ever wound up as a result of being hired somewhere, so I'm not
willing to relocate. (2) I don't want to spend more than a total of about 15
hours per week in job related activities, since I want to devote my time to
my own interests, and I have the nerve to want health insurance and other
benefits. (3) Although I am active in my research, I haven't published
anything in several years (except for a letter in the Feb.2005 Notices)
and don't intend to until I again have a reliable income. (4) I am almost
60 years old and that makes me vulnerable to age discrimination. This already
occurred when I was considered for a position at Cornell University about 10
years ago. I'm told that they loved my research but because it had taken me
so long to get the results, they decided I was too old. And that was 10 years
ago. (5) I don't *want* a job, I merely need one. (6) I am not willing to do
most of the metawork that is part of the job application process: this
includes traveling to departments, schmoozing with the mathematicians,
trying to fit in and especially trying to look like I am happy about doing
it. I consider it exploitative, an arrangement in which someone winds up
doing free lecturing/consulting work and at best breaking even on
transportation and boarding costs. For those who have a job and an
income, that is not a great sacrifice, being part of the normal behavior
of someone who is part of the great herd that one calls the mathematical
community. But for someone who is chronically without work, that borders
on slavery. There are no shackles, of course, other than one's own bonds
to one's scholarly pursuits, but it is no less exploitative on the part
of departments. You see people on the streets with signs saying, "I will
work for food". Well, a mathematician will work for cookies, especially
if he is trying to get a job.
A few years ago, I realized that the only way I could make a clear distinction
between the profoundly unhappy relationship I have with the mathematics
profession and the profoundly personal pleasure I take in doing mathematics
is to have as little contact as possible with mathematicians, even though
those contacts are often quite cordial. Except for being interrupted by
accident on one or two occasions while studying in public places, I haven't
spoken in person to a mathematician in years. When I need something, such as
a reprint or the answer to a question, I ask for it and hope for the best.
I also don't mind exchanging email occasionally with old friends on
non-professional topics, even if they happen to be mathematicians, but
that's about as far as it goes. In the unlikely event that I am ever
employed again, I will make the necessary adjustments with good grace.
In the meantime, I can't tell you how happy I am about never having to
deal with mathematicians.
I just wanted to make clear the context in which I am asking for something
that I need and hoping for the best. I need people who are familiar with the
kind of mathematics I do and other interests I have and my general approach
to mathematics and other subjects to volunteer to be listed on the AMS Cover
Sheet as references and who won't ask me to provide any more recent
information about my work than they already have. I'm sure my mother
would be very happy to write a nice letter about me, but she isn't a
respectable mathematician with a university affiliation. I should also
mention that I have a lot of old letters on file at interbiblio.com but
they are old letters. I don't think old letters carry much weight and I
suspect that hiring committees don't like to get letters from such sources.
At any rate, I can't interface those with the procrustean online AMS
Cover Sheet, since the AMS just doesn't facilitate that kind of interface.
Anyway, I think I need fresh letters, as far as possible.
Even with the letters, this will be an exercise in futility. However,
it is hard to argue with people who say that if I don't go through the
motions, it is even more futile.
One of the ways in which the AMS website is procrustean is that it is
not possible to list yourself there without filling out this precise form,
no matter how you would prefer to package yourself. Once you have filled
it out, there are other procrustean facilities for adding other documents
about yourself. I tried to use this capability to list my availability
as a consultant and left it more or less as it was when I finally gave up.
Please don't offer any advice; it just wastes my time unless you are going
to hire me yourself. I just want the letters. I don't care what you say in
them. Tell them I'm an ax murderer if you want. I just have to fill out the
AMS Cover Sheet with the names of four people who are willing to serve as
references, who have some kind of affiliation and who can be reached by email.
And then I want to move on to the next stage of this ridiculous process.
After I've completed all the forms the AMS has for me to fill out, I can
revise them if I'm so inclined. This can take forever.
I'd rather devote myself to mathematics than to this incredible waste of
time, but I decided recently that if I am willing to spend up to 15 hours
a week at a job, it is not unreasonable for me to be willing to spend up
to 15 hours a week applying for jobs and preparing myself to take one of them.
This represents significant progresss, since formerly I held the view that
jobhunting is itself a full time job, hence inimical to my intellectual
interests. In short, I have found a way to set limits on the demands
and distractions of job hunting without simply giving up on it.
I don't think there is any need to discuss this further on sci.math.
If you want to volunteer, you can contact me at the email address below.
--
Allan Adler <ara@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions and
* comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near Boston.
.
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