Big fat congratulations! Great that you not only got a job, but one so clearly right for you. Best wishes for the future!

Hi. I'm the guy you drove out of academia, and I just wanted to say thanks. You ruined my life!

I kid.

But in addition to the job market being tough, there were other reasons that I wasn't cut out for English academia. Law school is more frustrating in terms of its lack of theoretical and critical depth, but it's more satisfying in terms of giving me the tools to potentially effect social change. I'm also not ruling out becoming a legal academic where I could get paid twice as much to teach half as much as in English. That's not exactly what I'm aiming for now, but it's always in the back of my mind as a "maybe someday."

I have some regrets about leaving academia, but I remain convinced it was the right decision. Meanwhile, congratulations on your new position! It does sound terrific. Also, I think you're right about how helpful the Chronicle columns. At some point all the gloom and doom analsysis becomes self-fulfilling and that's not good for anyone.

Again, congrats on the job!

Congratulations on your job search!

But, would it be wrong to point out that you've very nearly written a first person column about how much of a hardship it is to have to endure first person columns week after week?

That said, you're exactly right about them.

Thanks, all, for the congratulations!

AI: Nice to hear from you, and I'm glad you're doing well. I have a couple of good friends who went the legal academia route, and they are very happy (and from my perspective, well compensated). It does seem a manageable compromise between the legal and academic worlds. Of course, there are probably practicing lawyers out there somewhere who are happy and fulfilled too. Stranger things have happened.

EB: You're right, of course. The solipsism, the simultaneous self-deprecation and self-praise, the strong start and the unsatisfying conclusion: my post is the very model of a modern Chronicle column. If I said I'd done it on purpose as a kind of postmodern pastiche, would you believe me?

Congratulatons. I understand that your field is US history, but can we expect some increased comment on Canadian issues in the future-both here & on Cliopatria?

Congratulations, Rob. My wife and I honeymooned in western Canada; it's beautiful out there.

Wah, wah, wah. I'm a jealous graduate student who wants to have a job someday in a beautiful place. Wah, wah, wah.

I hadn't heard the "East Jesus" joke, but I have about the same reaction to it that you do. It's worth noting that so many of the Chronicle-esque columns lamenting how difficult the job market is begin (implicitly) by ruling out a raft of "East Jesus" schools that are beneath one's consideration.

Er, and I do know that "western Ontario" is not in "western Canada," in case that wasn't clear. But hey, if one part of Canada is beautiful, I figure the rest probably is, too.

Melissa: Thanks! Hopefully the new position will lead to some comment on Canadian and esp. Canada-U.S. comparisons, which actually is one of my research areas, though I guess you wouldn't know it from most of my posts. And hopefully being off the job market will lead to more posting here and at Cliopatria in general.

Caleb: Thanks! London is nowhere near as spectacular as the actual Canadian West, but it is a very nice spot nonetheless.

I actually think I may be unduly sensitive to the "East Jesus" thing because of the name "University of Western Ontario." As I (defensively?) pointed out above, Western is one of Canada's top schools. But in the U.S., a school named after a state, modified by a compass direction, usually signifies that you are talking about a second-tier state school. I say all this as somebody keenly aware of how competitive the job market is, how unbecoming big school snobbery can be, and how many brilliant people are working very hard at every kind of institution across the country.

My fingers are crossed for you to get the fantastic job you deserve. In the meantime, in that "Wah wah wah" you have the makings of a terrific First-Person column for the Chronicle. :)

Rob,

Congratulations, of course. Part of the problem in writing about the job market in such an individualized fashion is that it is nearly impossible to talk about the job market in any meaningful generalized fashion. Confidentiality rules mean that persons involved in searches can't talk about the searches (except in general terms afterwards) and there aren't central HR departments to aggregate data.

And of course, we all think of ourselves in academia as so darned unique... every department has its character, every hire is for something different, every candidate brings different research, different teaching experience, and it's all about "fit" and so rarely about "best"....

Only when you aggregate these experiences, by reading a year or two worth of job search columns, do you have enough data to start drawing conclusions.

As I said at Cliopatria, Rob, congratulations and best wishes. I almost feel like an older graduate school advisor: That's one down and four to go. Now, for Manan, Sharon, Caleb, and Nathanael. Then I can retire!