There's a "helpful" thing to know about if you're hunting for an academic job this year: there's a wiki with precious information about who's heard from whom, who's already arranging interviews, who's bypassing the MLA and already arranging for flybacks.  Chances are, if you're on the market, you already know about what I will refer to as "The Widowmaker Wiki", but if you don't just run a search such as:

"wiki english literature MLA 2009"

or

"wiki italian renaissance philosophy 2009"

or

"wiki obscenely obscure humanities ph.d. why did I do this? 2009"

 Chances are you'll land on it, even if you click the "I'm feeling lucky" button.

But before you play the Google Game, I warn you in advance. THIS WIKI IS PURE EVIL.  It is there only to make you aware of how terrible the competition is this year.  It dissects the market into the number of jobs per specialty, per sub-specialty, and then gives you numbers-- how many people have received (a) confirmations of receipt (b) interviews (c) rejections and (d) the Holy Grail Flyback.  And, of course, which positions have been cancelled after you've already spent you $4  to $30 to mail them your dossier.

Before you go to the wiki site, it is best to take your bloodpressure medication, because really, seriously, ignorance is bliss.  Or, in other words, this is YOUR job hunt.  Unless you're a total masochist and want to know about other people's lives-- other anonymous job seekers like you --you'll want to avoid the wiki.  You'll hear from the universities you've applied to directly.  Just wait for them to contact you. 

The Widowmaker Wiki is just a way for people to become a number on the internet, to brag about their successes without ever putting their name to it.  Because at some point during this process, if you've gotten a handful of interviews, you feel like you need to tell someone.  What better way to toot one's own horn that from the cowardly back corners of Teh Interwebs?

Discretion is, and still remains, the better part of valor.   Be valiant, and keep silent.

*deletes bookmark