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Hiring in academia is increasingly resembling hiring in the private commercial sector, because work in HE is increasingly resembling work in the private sector - see my earlier posting today.

I remember an odd sort of 'collective' job interview(s) at a university in SE England where a number of candidates for several jobs were all mixed together, and we chatted. One job was TEFL. One candidate knew lots about English language derivations, etymology etc. Another one was younger, chatty, friendly, wouldn't spray a fly if it landed on her lunch. Guess who got the job? (yes they announced who'd won the 'lotter(ies)' right in front of everybody).

The private sector is notorious, if that's the right word, for not always hiring the 'best' candidate, i.e  the most able, has best knowledge pf the job, most experience etc. They hire the one that will fit in best, won't overhsadow the managers, isn't lilely to find the job 'below them' and leave in 12 months for pastures new (maybe a few private sector exceptions here like Google?). Not new, back in the 1920s the assembly plant at Ford Liverpool abjured candidates who knew about how cars worked, they wanted inexperienced drones who would screw the same nut on hour after hour, day after day. So what is the 'best' candidate isn't always what an objective economist from Mars might think it is.

And we have the old Potemkin interviews where a candidate is already selected but to legitimate it they go through all the rigmarole and expense of job interviews, inc advertising, putting candidates up in hotels etc etc - just so they can 'choose' the original person anyway.

All that's new is these practices have spread to academia.

Dr Hillary J. Shaw
www.fooddeserts.org



-----Original Message-----
From: michail galanakis <[log in to unmask]>
To: CRIT-GEOG-FORUM <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wed, May 16, 2018 6:36 pm
Subject: Re: Of interest for people applying for jobs in Sweden?

With all due respect, what planet do the people who thought the findings were shocking inhabit?
Apologies for my cynicism I really don't intent to offend anyone.



On 16 May 2018 at 19:59, Christian Abrahamsson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
"Git Claesson Pipping, director of the union, told the outlet that the findings were “shocking”.
“It’s nepotism, and also, instead of employing people for longer times, they just employ people for six months at a time and keep giving new positions to the same people,” she said.
After receiving complaints from members who could not find openly advertised positions, the union decided to carry out an investigation into 268 job offers for lecturers and researchers. Job-hunters found that there “were virtually no jobs to apply for, because all jobs have already been set aside for somebody else”, she said."



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Dr. Michail Galanakis 
Researcher & Educator

Member of Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS)
Academy of Finland Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Helsinki and York University
Doctor of Arts (Spatial Design), University of Art and Design Helsinki, FI
Master of Arts (Industrial Design Research), the Design Academy Eindhoven, NL
Master of Architecture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GR

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+358 (0)40 5550168  Helsinki/Finland