Why you didn't get the faculty job

That's a more accurate description for those of us not in academia of Timothy Larsen's piece in Inside Higher Ed entitled, "Why We Said No." It's an FAQ, really, addressed to those postdocs who complain, probably with a lot of justified bitterness, about the black hole into which their applications for professorial employment seem to drop.

Here is the sad underlying reality:

We announced one entry-level position this year and garnered 176 candidates. That number is a little high, but not far off from what has been a typical yield for the last five years or more. There are a handful of cranks and dreamers in the pack with a diploma-mill Ph.D. or the like, but tossing them out makes no real dent in the pile. In other words, there were at least 150 scholars who were all completely qualified and suitable.

(Thanks to The Browser for the link.)