How many on-campus interviews (for a tenure track math position) do you typically need to get one offer?

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I expect that conventions for interviewing vary greatly between fields, countries, etc. I'll answer based on my experience with mathematics in the U.S.

I was wondering, on average, how many on-campus interviews one needs to get one offer?

At an individual level, you can't say for sure. Not only is the variance high, but there are also systematic differences between candidates even aside from overall ability: some people come across much better on paper than they do in person, while others interview really well. There's no way to figure out in advance how many on-campus interviews you will need to get an offer.

However, you can ask how many candidates are interviewed for a typical opening, and that will tell you the average number of interviews needed per accepted offer (just not in a way that says much about individual candidates). That varies between departments, depending on how decisive they are, how energetic they feel about interviewing, and how much funding they have for the search. I'd estimate that interviewing three candidates is pretty typical, although I don't have precise statistics. It's not likely to go below two except in unusual circumstances, and interviewing six people for one position sounds rather high to me (although not unheard of).

So this means that, on average, you won't get most of the positions you interview for, but you have a realistic chance at them.

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Updated on August 01, 2022

Comments

  • bankrip
    bankrip over 1 year

    I was wondering, on average, how many on-campus interviews one needs to get one offer? For those who landed a tenure-tack job, could you please share your information?

    • Kimball
      Kimball almost 8 years
      For on-campus interviews, usually just one.
    • bankrip
      bankrip almost 8 years
      You are saying: getting an on-campus interview invitation usually means getting a job offer?
    • Alexander Woo
      Alexander Woo almost 8 years
      I'm afraid a general answer is unlikely to help you, because the answer tends to vary a lot by what segment of the job market you're in. Most departments interview 3-4 people on campus for each position. They end up with a ranking of the candidates, but they will in most cases be willing to hire anyone they interviewed if everyone above them on the list declines the job. If you are in a segment of the market where many people get more than 3-4 interviews, then you're likely to get an offer even if you only get 1. If most of your "competitors" have only 1 interview, your chance is 1 in 3.
    • bankrip
      bankrip almost 8 years
      Thank you. Could you share the information of your case?
    • Kimball
      Kimball almost 8 years
      You only need one interview in that schools will only (usually) have 1-round of on-campus interviews. (There were a couple of ways one could interpret your question.)