- [Al] I think every market, however organized,
causes a certain amount of stress.
♪ [Spanish music] ♪
- [Robert] January, Philadelphia.
The convening of a ritual that stretches back for decades.
Think of it as the economist's version
of the Running of the Bulls --
there's a horde of PhD students
racing from hotel room to hotel room,
trying to land their very first job.
There are some scrapes, the occasional goring.
For all you young PhD students -- we know this is a stressful time.
Take a breather, and enjoy a few cautionary tales
from those who have gone before you.
- [David] I remember the main feeling
being one of just complete collective exhaustion.
- [Tyler] It feels like the rest of your life is on the line.
- [Betsey] It was an insane number of interviews.
- [Kelvin] The elevators are impossible to get on.
- [Rachel] People are literally running up five flights of stairs.
- [Josh] People were just falling all over the place.
- [Doug] My heels were completely scarred.
- [Garrett] I wrote down an interview for the wrong day.
I showed up a day late, at exactly the right time.
- [Keith] They got the room right, but they didn't get the hotel right.
- [David] I would walk into rooms --
it looked like a neutron bomb had gone off.
- [Jose] Warm in there, and maybe even a little stinky.
- [Doug] Underwear on the floor.
- [Josh] I kind of enjoy the circus aspect of it.
- [Betsey] A little bit like childbirth --
I felt very emotional during it,
but I then don't really know, deeply, what happened.
- [Liya] What I knew about the process
was that it was supposed to be scary.
- [Chris] The room was dark.
There was an armchair in the corner,
and a lamp that was on above the armchair.
Maybe 17 people in the room.
And these questions would just come out of the darkness.
- [David] I really didn't know my Greek letter names,
and so I was giving my talk, this parameter V,
and this faculty member says, "That's a Nu."
- [Marc] One of the interviewers took a taxi with me,
and then our taxi hit someone.
The guy, who had been clipped, started chasing us.
So we had this car chase going
while I was trying to make my good impression.
- [David] Then a few minutes later, I said, "And this paramenter, P..."
She goes, "That's Rho."
- [Elaine] He pulled out a tape recorder, and he said,
"I'd like you to teach to this tape recorder."
So I was asked to explain the difference
between demand and quantity demand right on the spot.
Completely failed.
- [David] I put up the symbol Pi, and just to head her off,
I said, "And this parameter, which I call Pi..."
(laughs)
- [Al] I once arrived for an interview
in the Business School,
to be told that the position had vanished
while I was traveling.
- [Betsey] You can't read the room; you really can't.
- [Kelvin] There's very little smiling.
- [Liya] I'm thinking the whole time,
"This person doesn't like me."
- [Garett] I've never actually had a positive feeling
coming out of any of the interviews where I later got a flyback.
- [Chris] Another good friend of mine was walking down the stairs
to her job market talk,
slipped and fell down eight stairs, tumbling.
Everything she had in her purse and bag
went all over the lobby.
She kind of had to pick herself up, walk in, and give the job talk.
And when she did,
the first button she hit shut down the entire projector.
And she still got the job.
- [Betsey] I know this is hard for people in the market to hear --
interviewing is way worse.
- [Tyler] I am bored. I don't like your prepared script.
I want to hear something else.
- [Mary] Do not let them schedule your interview
at five o'clock in the afternoon.
- [Josh] It was late in the day, and late in the meetings.
By the time I showed up,
the hiring committee were laid out on the bed
most of the way into a bottle of Scotch.
- [Tim] I was mainly interacting with the gentleman
that was across from me,
and I didn't hear much from the gentleman on my right,
so I sort of peeked over, and he was just...
- [David] Look, it can be a really, really tough process.
Some of the interviews won't go well.
But the people in the next interview
don't know what happened in the last one.
- [Betsey] I think the most important thing
is that they have fun.
A pretty unique and fun time
to have that much attention given to the work
that you've spent so much time doing.
- [Al] You're going to have a chance to talk to lots of people
about the work that you've been doing
over the last few years.
- [Caroline] It's not normal, as a graduate student,
to have people say, "Oh, I'm so interested in your paper.
Please tell me all about it!"
It's fun to have other people be interested in your research.
- [Josh] You're interviewing to join a particular kind of priesthood.
Are you ready for a lifetime of celibacy and modest rations?
- [Robert] I know it's easy for me to say, but, in the end,
do try to enjoy the process.
Like the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona,
it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Preparation is important.
We've pulled together the best guides and tips
from around the web to help you out.
Click to check them out, and best of luck, everyone!
♪ [Spanish music] ♪