…in a job interview is at least 50% just showing that you can speak and act with confidence and competence in front of an audience. You’re giving them a “sample” of the kind of faculty member you will be if they decide to offer you the job. Best of luck, and let us know how it turns out.

Got some really nice advice. I’m currently in panic mode trying to get this ready (on top of the road trip!)

I am an assistant professor, but in the natural sciences not law. In my field, the talk is more about how you handle yourself. It is as close to watching you teach as most faculty will ever get. But the talk is also about your ability to make your research sound interesting and relevant. Students in the audience will need to leave thinking you are top notch, but not above their heads. We typically give 45 min talks with 15 or so min for QA. In my experience you can expect at least one question posed to see how you act under pressure. I always expect the so what question, but in your field this may be quite different since natural scientists (unless curing a disease) are always having to justify their work.

it was my junior year as an undergrad… and I had to fill in for a professor. we had lost a language professor to another college and the department asked me to teach the hebrew lab to take a few hours off my professor’s work load (the guy was getting way over worked). I know a student can’t be greater than his/her teacher, but I was about to launch into having to teach many underclassmen and a few of my peers who I shared other classes with. in the first 5 minutes of both classes I asked them just not to judge me unfairly as I was an undergrad just like them. I asked them to not think their tuition dollars were being wasted, because they were looking at some punk classmate and not a true professor. I decided to try and blow their minds right off the bat. I knew what my job was and it was pretty easy just help them with their pronounciation and help them learn to read faster. I had them turn to the back of their hebrew text book to a page that showed nothing but solid chicken scratch. it was verb paradigms. the year before I had won the excellence in biblical hebrew award and could reproduce that page blindfolded, upside down, backward and forward… because I discovered a formula for doing it. I challenged them… if I could in 5 minutes teach them how to reproduce that entire page of 500 or more hebrew words…. “would you just listen to me.” thats all I asked them… just to listen. everyone agreed and not looking at the board I started writing and only had to go as far as 1 paradigm of 50 words before every eye in the class had changed from one of skepticism to one of OMG. I was no longer a peer, but their teacher. my formula reduced the amount they needed to memorize by about a hundred fold. that semester the average grades were the highest my professor had had since he taught there. not taking credit, but since I had been in the trenches I knew how to prepare them for his exams. the hardest part of the exams in my opinion was the translation at the end of the exam. so, I taught them how I tackled the problem. one day a new professor walked into the class room and sat down to monitor. he was evenutally hired to replace the professor who had left (later I found out he had been sent in the room to take over for me… if need be). after class he asked me if I was a PHD student, I said no. he asked me if I was a grad student, I said no. he said you surely can’t be an undergrad??!! I said a junior…. from that day on he called me Doctor… lol…

for any faculty presentation or student presentation… your job is to knock their socks off as soon as possible. because respect is not given it is earned…

my google search was fruitless…. but a shirt like that would be uber! now you’ve got me wanting one!

Everyone’s advice (public and private) is greatly appreciated…Me and the girlie are off at 5:00 am for the two week 14-state tour, then away to the interviews!