The irony was so striking that it could not be lost on anyone.
Sitting before us was a soon-to-be-minted Ph.D. candidate whom we
all liked tremendously, and who had an incredibly strong academic
record, both in research and teaching. Yet, as our panel read his
letter of application and CV, which were displayed on an overhead
projector, and as we discussed them in progressively greater detail
and honesty, we found several aspects of his materials off-putting.
Why did he phrase something THIS way, another THAT way, we asked
him? Sometimes his decisions were driven by a concern he need not
have had; other times he was being advised by his graduate
department. We ended by agreeing tat although he SHOULD have been
given a job interview, our hypothetical search process might have
passed him over for inclusion on our short list.