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What Not to Share‹ On Campus Interviews | Job Search Advice.Home Page | Considering the Offers › And last, echoing [an advisor], who once said this to me: don’t say anything about anything until they offer you a contract. In other words, your strongest opportunity to negotiate for a partner or spouse or a special research fund or parking space or what have you comes after you have a job offer—in writing. Interestingly, though Kate made that comment in the middle of a conversation she and I had about research agendas and disciplinary fit (I work in Rhetoric and Composition, and I have a literary studies background), I found her advice even more relevant re: the inappropriate conversations people wanted to have about matters that are, technically, illegal to discuss with a job candidate (i.e., race, religion, sexuality, as well as disability, veteran, and marital status). While personal details are yours to disclose, and there can be plenty of good reasons for doing so at different stages of the application and interview process, the choice is meant to be yours. That said, chances are surprisingly high that someone—including good people whose scholarship you admire—will ask you things they shouldn’t. With that in mind—and along with everything else—it’s helpful to decide ahead of time how you want to present yourself and how you’ll handle questions you prefer not to have been asked. ‹ On Campus Interviews | Job Search Advice.Home Page | Considering the Offers › |