Sunday, July 4, 2010

Faculty recruitment

I get a few emails a week from prospective faculty to IISc/IIT asking why they were not selected while people with inferior records were selected. I can not answer them because I have no expertise to judge. Further, several factors go into the decision and it might be difficult to say what was favored and what was not favored.

Check the profile of the current faculty in the department and see whether there is a fit. Many engineering departments in IISc may prefer to recruit only people who work on theory or modeling (though they may claim otherwise). In IISc, except for the materials department, nearly 75% of engineering faculty work only on theoretical or modeling/simulation. While there is no prejudice, it becomes easier to judge the quality of a prospective faculty who works on similar lines.

Other factors that go into the selection are the recommendation letters, academic background etc and it is difficult for me to compare and justify any decision. Therefore, I will refer all such emails to this post.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Prof. Madras,
I have attended an interview in a Science department in May after travelling from UK just for this purpose. Faculty, Chairperson and the Dean seemed keen to get me. However, they wrote me recently that I will have to wait for their decision until September/October to know the result by mail (and might take until the end of the year to give formal letters). I am wondering about such delays. Is this common in all departments of IISc? Does this mean a hidden reason? I have quite a good profile (I mean comparable to the existing faculty), but 35 years and 8 months old. I was told that it is better to be BELOW 35 years old!
Another thing is-this delay throws off several challenges to myself and my family. How to plan life abroad, especially schooling for kids, renting houses, grants etc where one needs to plan one year ahead? I think IISc departments should tell the result soon (lets say within 2-3 months and not 5-10 months).
Thanks
SP

Giri@iisc said...

Please read the website for prospective faculty (the pinned post). Council meetings ratify the decision to recruit. Council meeting was held last week and the next meeting will be held end September or first week of October. This is what they must have meant. The formal letters are dispatched within 2 weeks of the decision. So, the delay is 3 months.

Anonymous said...

Dear Prof. Madras,
Thank you for your reply. However, I do not agree that it is delay of 3 months. I have been interviewed in the first week of May and even if I am getting a reply by October (the earliest), it is still 7 months from the day of interview. I know that even in US/UK they take a maximum of 2 months for selection in most cases. I guess if you insist that someone should be below 35 years of age and then make them to wait until they become 36 is a bit late decision:)
I do agree though that the system in place in IISc is bit long and there is no bypass. I just thought there is scope to speed things up, especially for those who are abroad where plans should be in place at least 1 year before they actually move.
Thanks,
SP

Giri@iisc said...

October to May is 7 months? I think it is 5 months. If they have missed the June deadline, it is delayed by 3 more months. If you had interviewed in March, you would have got a decision in June.

Anonymous said...

GM already says that council met last week but still you did not receive anything? This mean, you are not selected!

Anonymous said...

Dear Prof. Madras, Okay, that is 6 months since I may not hear before the end of October and my interiew was on 1st of May (my application was given last december). I have no idea why it was not discussed during June meeting, esp. since Chairman and Dean were keen. They say they are waiting, donno what. Anyway..
To Anon, I like to come back and set up lab and do some good science in my Country. However, if I am not selected, that is not the end of me. I am quite happy with what i have done and will accept a faculty position in UK and continue my science (I am waiting for IISc decision to say yes or no to the position I have been offered here, and the IISc department knows it)! My sort of complaint is to speed up things and give proper, clear and honest reasons as quickly as possible.
Thanks for the replies,
SP

Anonymous said...

I would suggest grabbing the UK position right away. Due to severe budget cuts very few Univs in the UK will be recruiting in the near future and positions will be much harder to find. You can always negotiate a joining date sometime in summer 2011 with IISc so that your kid's education will not be effected should you decide to relocate to India.
Best wishes,
Desi Brit Anon

Anonymous said...

Dear Desi Brit Anon,
Thanks for the advice. I guess funding will have an impact on recruitment in UK, but in my field there will be recruitments no matter what. If I accept here, leaving the job after few months will be almost impossible, and my aspirations to set up lab in my country ends.
Thanks
SP

Anonymous said...

Dear SP,
It is better to call the HOD of the corresponding Dept. in IISc and ask him about it. If they are still interested and waiting only for the council meeting, then there could be a possibility of joining as a visiting faculty now which will be converted to a regular position when the official decision comes. To be on the safer side, you can ask for an extension of joining date in the UK university as well.
K.

Niket said...

Dear SP,

Most people may understand your situation, but there is nothing they can do about it. You may try calling (don't email, no one will put anything in writing even if your application is only waiting "final stamp of approval")... but I doubt it would help much.

I think you misunderstood what Desi Brit Anon was suggesting. S/he didn't suggest you take up the UK offer and join immediately. Instead, you can try the following:

(i) Ask if you can take a bit longer to convey your acceptance to the university

(ii) If "no" to the above, accept the offer but inform them that you can join only in 2011. By then, you will hear from IISc. You can then decide whether to join the UK university or IISc.

Usually, people are reasonable (i.e., you won't burn any bridges) when you tell them that your personal priorities have changed and you would prefer returning to your home country.

In either case, you are not actually joining the new position right now. Of course, option (i) is preferable.

Anonymous said...

Dear K and Niket,
Thank you for your comments and suggestions. I am indeed doing some balancing act. I will drag on decision making as long as possible to keep my options open without burning bridges.
Thanks
SP

Anonymous said...

This story is very popular these days:
http://getahead.rediff.com/report/2010/jul/14/achiever-22-year-old-becomes-iit-bombay-professor.htm

I think, a Physics faculty from IISc can say some words about him. Has he done any path-breaking research in his PhD - or it is just a prejudice by IIT Bombay in favor of this boy in selecting him? Everyone knows that he appeared in TIME and in a Record Book. So is IIT Bombay going by this?
Tathagat always says that he will do this and that, but he never says what he did in his PhD. How many papers he published and how many patents he has? If you go to his webpage, it is full of words like, 'gifted', 'prodigy', etc. He hardly discuss anything about his research and publications.
Ofcourse he is talented, but a bit too overrated as well.

Anonymous said...

Dear Prof. Madras,

First of all accept my sincere thanks for guiding the prospective candidates for faculty positions in IITs/IISc through this blog.

Recently, I have been interviewed for a assistant professor position in one of the old IITs. After, 2-3 weeks, my recommendation letters have been requested. Can I conclude that I have been shortlisted for the next round?

I came to know from some of my friends, who have recently been offered assistant prof. positions in IITs that second round of the interview is just formality as selection commt. take into consideration the recommendation from respective departments. Does it really the case? If not, then what type of questions are generally asked in second round and which criterias they take into consideration for screening the final candidates from shortlisted ones.

Thanks in advance!

Anonymus