It has been one heck of a busy week, starting with giving a talk and ending with giving a different talk and a whole lot of data collection, meetings, writing, and being sick in between. This morning I had to get up for a breakfast meeting with the dean, but I was home for lunch and finally had a chance to rest and nap when the kids napped. And I'm finally starting to feel a little better, and also, last night and tonight I did absolutely no work at all.
So things are looking up.
Last year on April 1 I had posted some pictures on FB of us outside with the kids. It was so warm that day that our windows were open and we were all dressed in shorts. Meanwhile, this year on April 1 it snowed. Boo. But as you can see from the pictures it warmed up a bit today and we spent most of the afternoon outside.
Something kind of weird is happening on the getting-recruited front. In my field it is not uncommon for people to get recruited away from their jobs. So this happens a few times every year with other universities calling up to see if you're interested in potentially moving.
Right now this is happening but in a much more assertive/aggressive way than typical. So the thing is that there are other programs where people do work that's more closely aligned with my true intellectual interests. Where I am now, Mentor does work related to what I do, related enough that we can and do collaborate on a lot of things. And I enjoy that collaboration but on the other hand it's not really at the heart of what gets me excited. There are some other people doing work closer to mine in a way that really excites me and pushes me. But these people are not necessarily at institutions that excite me a lot. So in one case, I'm going out to one of those institutions next month to give a talk and visit, and I'm looking forward to collaborating with a researcher who does really awesome interesting stuff. And in another case, there is an institution with several people there doing work that is really at the exact heart of what I love. If I were to move to that institution, I would be in the midst of several collaborators who would make up an intellectual community that would, I think, be very exciting and intellectually fulfilling to me.
And it turns out they have a targeted opportunity hire, non-advertised. So they got together to see who they would want to hire and they came up with my name. So they called me up to basically say, we know you didn't apply for this job, but it would be totally perfect for you and we really want to hire a "mid-career" person. (Is that what I am now?) So you were at the top of our list, and please consider coming out to visit us to see if you might want this job.
So the thing is, the group would be great, but this job is at an institution that does not really excite me and it is in a state where I don't really want to live. Neither does Jake. In fact for a lot of reasons I just really, really don't see this location as being a good fit for our family. But I did agree to talk to them on the phone.
So we spoke very briefly on the phone on Friday because the person calling me actually got the time change mixed up and we had less time to talk as a result. And anyway, she did a lot to basically make the job sound very attractive to me. But I shared with her my reticence over the idea of ever moving to that location. She then launched into a description of how awesome the location truly is, and we agreed to talk a little more on Monday. But I was honest with her that I'm really not necessarily looking to move to that location at this point in time.
Anyway, she got me to agree to talk again on Monday to learn more about the position, but still. I have a hard time seeing myself move there. She and another colleague (who is one of the giants in my world) just sent me an email tonight with a few paragraphs describing how truly great their location is, in ways I might not have known about. And they sent me 29 pictures of beautiful scenery, lakes, skiing, etc. to let me know that the place is nicer than one might think. And they said that they'd love to fly out me, Jake, and the kids so we can all check it out for ourselves and see if we'd like it. (I think they don't know how old my kids are). They then also offered to leverage a number of contacts in order to find a job for Jake too. Oh, and then they told me not to forget that they could offer me a lot more money than I am making right now. And they let me know that their institution offers free tuition for kids of faculty. They also sent information about a number of the different great schooling options available at the k-12 level.
I feel really awkward about this. For one thing, the intellectual giant dude is somebody we're going to ask for a letter this summer. So I don't want to burn any bridges. For another thing, it is hard to resist that kind of pressure and at the same time it is of course flattering when people are being super nice to you and offering you lots of stuff. But on the other hand, I really just have a hard time seeing myself ever being comfortable living in this location. Like, I have pretty strong negative feelings about it. So does Jake. So, it would probably just waste everybody's time if I were to visit. Which is pretty much what I told them on Friday but then they said "We understand, but you should really come visit just to see for yourself and give it a chance, and of course we know there's no obligation and you might not want the job. Just visit!" And it is hard to say no to that.
AWKWARD. I'm starting to feel awkward just talking about this, like I feel guilty for not liking their state/city more! Ugh. It's tough when a great job is in a crap location. Geting the job, institution, and location to all match up as "good" is not easy in my small field.
Everything is so uncertain. In a year, will I be kicking myself for not jumping on this opportunity if I stay here and don't get tenure in the end, or if the university somehow self implodes or something and we don't recall our shitty governor and everything in the state slowly goes to hell? My guess is that as one gains seniority, it becomes harder to get hired away. So I'm sure this type of thing won't always be an option for me throughout my career. So hard to know what to do.
But I feel like I want to keep believing in this place.
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