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This may be the wrong place for this question, but the format here is better. Please advise of a better website if I'm totally off base for this site.

My situation: I hold a Masters of Accountancy and am a licensed CPA. I am lucky in that every job for which I've applied has contacted me for an interview. So here's my dilemma:

My initial second choice brought me in for an interview yesterday and I NAILED it! They actually gave me a standing ovation for my teaching demo, and all but told me I was getting the job (I was told to expect an offer within a couple days). The position is non-tenture track, but the department has a massive overload and so I am not concerned with job security. This is a public university. It's located in a small, rural community with a larger city about an hour away....so I would have to commute.

My initial first choice wants to schedule my campus visit a full 2 weeks from today. It is tenure-track (I am starting a doctoral program in 2020). The pay would be less for this job, but I would teach EVERY class in accounting because the department is small. Also, the overall workload would likely be less in the long-run. This is a small, private university much closer to my current location in a city that fits me a bit better culturally (closer to what I live in now).

I also have two more interviews after that, but I am hoping to cancel those as soon as possible.

So I have three questions: 1) How long does the school with which I interviewed realistically expect me to take before I accept or decline their offer? and 2) Would it be inappropriate to request the second interview be moved up?

3) Finally, if I do request the interview be moved up, how candid should I be about my reasoning? I just don't know if the first school is moving at super light speed or not....there's just so much I don't know.

Thank you

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    A tenure-track position you would have while pursuing a doctorate?
    – Bryan Krause ♦
    May 14, 2019 at 15:50
  • Yes. I would have 6 years to get the doctorate. I'll need 3 years for a reputable DBA degree. I would automatically lose the position if I failed to get the doctorate within the 6 years (though they indicated in phone interview that they would likely just switch me to non-tenure track if that happened). The non-tenure track has the advantage of not having a 'clock' start upon employment, but it is of course non-tenure track (until I get the doctorate).
    – Woblee
    May 14, 2019 at 15:58

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Business schools operate differently from moreal traditional departments. That said, tenure-track offers still need to generally be signed off on by a dean. Even if you interviewed for the tenure-track position tomorrow, and you are the last planned interview, the offer could still take a couple of weeks.

My opinion is that a tenure track position is enough of an upgrade over a non-tenure track position, that you are justified leaving at any point. Non-tenure track positions are abusive to young academics and if a department won't make a multi-year guarantee to you, I believe you can leave whenever you get a markedly better offer. In that light, I suggest you let the tenure-track process play out withough you trying to speed it up. I suggest you slow roll the non-tenure track offer and if they force you to sign before you hear about the TT, you do, then if you get a TT offer, you back out.

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  • Thank you StrongBad.
    – Woblee
    May 14, 2019 at 16:13
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    Also generally non-tenure line positions teach courses that are more easily filled in by a range of faculty members if the department can't find a replacement. Harder to do with a tenure line that's teaching highly specialized upper division courses.
    – user0721090601
    May 14, 2019 at 16:49
  • @guifa. They actually gave me a list of classes that are currently listed as "staff", and yes those were intro level courses. However, they also offered to let me sub out any ONE of those for the fall semester and teach a more advanced course. The also gave me a HUGE list for the spring and basically I would have many more choices then....but you make a good point.
    – Woblee
    May 15, 2019 at 13:26

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