r/AskAcademia • u/yurrr31 • 11h ago
Social Science Internal candidate?
Saw a TT position that asks for teaching and research expertise that the department’s freshly hired AVP already has - same area of focus and teaching experience.
The position has been posted for 3 months and the new AVP started just a month ago. Does this mean the department has an internal candidate if they match everything in the ad?
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u/HM_D 11h ago
No.
(I mean, they might have an internal candidate, you just can't tell based on this. Even if they do, that doesn't mean the internal candidate is favoured, or that the ad was customized for them, or whatever.
I'm mostly familiar with US/Canada universities with PhD programs. In those contexts, there's probably a good chance the VAP applies if they've been having a decent time, and essentially no chance that they have a lock on the position).
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u/ProneToLaughter 9h ago edited 9h ago
It likely means that the faculty in that field left, let’s say they gave notice in February 2026. Dept hired a VAP in a hurry to cover classes for next year, maybe as late as May 2026 or so. Now they are doing the TT search to replace the line starting August 2027.
Curious what you mean by same teaching experience? Similar classes would usually follow from it being the same area of research focus, but you seem to mean something more?
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u/yurrr31 3h ago
Ah, I see. The ad specifies that the candidate will teach X and X. The AVP is already teaching X and X at the institution.
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u/DeskAccepted (Associate Professor, Business) 2h ago
Yeah, the VAP is filling in that role until they hire someone permanent. The visitor is for a fixed term. Whoever is hired will replace the visitor on a permanent basis. Do not assume the visitor will be the best candidate for the permanent position. Visiting positions are often hired on the basis of "is this person available and good enough".
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u/genericusernameno5 PhD, Social Psychology 11h ago edited 9h ago
Could be, but at the same time, TT hire is really important to get right, especially if a smaller school. so they could still be genuinely searching, albeit with someone internal starting ahead of the pack
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u/Low_Cloud_7011 9h ago
Not necessarily. In my field, I can think of multiple VAPs who did not get the TT job in their area of research despite appearing to be the “internal candidate”. Like others have said, the considerations for hiring someone for a temporary VAP position aren’t exactly the same as those for a TT position, and the latter type of search is way more involved.
I’ll also add anecdotally that in my department we recently chose not to hire the current VAP for a TT position because they were simply not the strongest candidate from a research perspective even though we liked them well enough as a VAP.
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u/valleyzen 11h ago
Crazy things happen during searches. Hiring committees are only one part of the decision process. Doubtfully they all agree, and their faculty agree as a whole, and their dean agree, alllllll on the same person. Go for it.
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u/SpryArmadillo 10h ago
Based on the timeline (you said the TT opening was posted before the AVP started) I'd say no, they are not a lock for the position.
Check to see where the AVP did their doctorate or postdoc. If it's at that school, then they have very little chance at the job. It's not always the case, but often someone in an AVP role is from the school they are working at and using the AVP position to bolster their standing for a TT position elsewhere. My department doesn't use the title often, but it is almost exclusively for this purpose. Consequently, one of our own AVPs would never get a TT position with us.
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u/speckles9 9h ago
I’ve seen a job posting for a position we hired for 8 months go get reposted multiple times on LinkedIn and other sites. The new hire started July 1 and we are not hiring more people for the same position.
This could be as simple as some sort of web scraping error.
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u/Unique_Roll_7226 1h ago
There are cases in which the program doesn’t want to list the job, but is required to due to the initial hiring process. We are currently in this position because we hired an additional person during a TT process. They had to come in as a VAP, but we wish to convert them following the departure of another colleague to Admin. We will make the announcement absurdly specific to the person we wish to retain, since we don’t want to mislead anyone.
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u/Negative-Treacle206 1h ago
Is their person foreign? Maybe they'll sponsor him for a green card and one of the requirements is to have a search.
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u/Mountain-Time-1010 35m ago
Could be, but it's also possible that this is just an area of need for the department, hence the temporary hire. The fact that the ad was posted before the hire suggests that it is a legit search.
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u/robbie_the_cat 25m ago
No. It means that the VAP is currently covering the gap that this TT position will fill in a (hopefully) more enduring manner. They will almost definitely apply. They will be one of hundreds who do.
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u/SnowblindAlbino Professor 2m ago
It may mean that. But it might also mean the VAP isn't working out and will be moving on. Or it may mean they'd like to convert the VAP but their HR rules require a national search. Or it could mean anything in between any of those options.
There's no way to know without inside contacts. Apply for the job if you're interested, ignore it if you're not. My university generally requires VAPs to re-apply if a position is converted to TT and quite often they are not the winning candidates. So you never know.
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u/No_Savings_5651 11h ago
They just created the role for their friend and legally had to post it publicly
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u/jogam 10h ago
I was a VAP at the beginning of my career and my college had a a tenure-track opening in my area. I applied. I did not get it.
There are many reasons a department may choose to hire someone other than an internal VAP candidate, including hiring someone who has a stronger publication or grants record, wanting someone who can teach specific classes or contribute to certain interdisciplinary programs, interpersonal fit, etc. You also don't know that the person who is currently a VAP would want to stay where they are for a long-term position.
When hiring a VAP, departments are often okay with a warm body who can teach classes somewhat competently for a year or two. With a tenure-track search, they are putting forth their hopes and dreams for what the department will look like for the next couple of decades.
Fake searches where there is an internal candidate who the search is tailored toward are a thing. But unless there are obvious signs of one, you should definitely apply and not let the presence of a VAP in your area stop you.