Postdoc application: professor verbally committed to hire me, but now says that regulations have changed and keeps delaying the process

Question

I applied for a post doctoral position a few months ago. The initial response from the professor in charge was warm and enthusiastic and he even made a verbal commitment to hire me. But then he just stopped replying to my mails for sometime and then out of the blue he told me that the regulations have changed and I would have to be interviewed by another person. Following that, he scheduled my interview several times only to be canceled at the last minute. Now he has again stopped responding to my queries, which I make at intervals of at least 10 days. Is this normal in post doc recruitment? How long does it take to process post doc applications? Should I start looking for other positions?

Answer 1

Is this normal in post doc recruitment?

No, this is obviously not normal. There is something going on, and your guess is as good as mine as to what that is exactly. Maybe there is indeed some sort of administrative chaos due to changing regulations. Maybe the professor hired somebody else and is trying to weasel out of his earlier commitment to you. Maybe the position just got cancelled, and the prof is trying to find funding to hire you anyway (and failing). Maybe it's something completely different. There is just no way to tell from the outside.

How long does it take to process post doc applications?

That really depends. However, "a few months" certainly sounds like the upper bound for how long selecting a postdoc should take.

Should I start looking for other positions?

Yes, independently of what is really going on, I would not get my hopes up that there is indeed a position for you in this department in the future. Maybe you get lucky and it works out after all, but at this point relying on this post seems to be very optimistic.

Answer 2

If it starts like this already, before you get a real chance, this will likely not end well. Independent of what position it might be. This is not normal for any kind of position. It's disrespectful to cancel an interview at the last minute that was scheduled. Think about the other way around. Would you hire someone, who once accepted an interview and then cancelled at the last minute?

In my opinion, always search for other opportunities and positions you're really passionate about as soon as possible and you will be much more happy in the end.

Answer 3

I'll make two observations:

1. What might have seemed like a commitment to you might not seem like a commitment to him. I'm just in the process of interviewing for a post-doc position after having been made something like a commitment - or at least, listening to the text you would have thought it a commitment; but I actively interpreted it as no more than a statement of willingness to consider me. And, indeed, the tone in writing is less enthusiastic, less committed; and there's an official interview process.
2. If it really was a bona fide commitment to employ you, and if he really wanted to make good on his promise - he could very well get past the regulation change. He would tell his superiors the agreement had already been made; and that it should count as an offer made before the regulations changed; or he could even have you and him back-date a signed written agreement to the time you made the oral agreement, and wave that in front of people. There are solutions to these problems.

So, either you misinterpreted or he's had a (partial) change of heart. IMHO.

Answer 4

Is this normal in post doc recruitment?

It's not normal in any recruitment.

How long does it take to process post doc applications?

How long is a piece of string? But, in my experience, interviews tend to happen a couple-few weeks after the application deadline and successful candidates are notified within a few days and receive a formal written offer a few days after that. (It may take much longer to notify unsuccessful candidates, because you don't want to reject the $n$th person on the list until one of the first $n-1$ has actually accepted the job.)

Should I start looking for other positions?

Yes. Absolutely. The problems you're having at the moment are the fault of the professor, the department, the university or some combination of the three. The fact that the professor routinely ignores your emails about such a critically important subject shows that at least some of the fault is theirs. Even if you do get the job at this university, working there will almost certainly be a total pain in the backside.

If you finally do get a written offer from this place, you'll have to consider whether the certainty of a probably-bad job is better than the uncertainty of waiting for another opportunity. You should definitely apply for other positions and, if you get an actual offer from some competent university, take it! You owe nothing at all to the professor and university that have been messing you around.