Here we go again...

Is it really time for this already?  I'm just a matter of weeks into the school year and I'm already preparing job applications for other cities.

Remember how disappointed I was that this was the job I ended up with? And that I was going to have to start looking again soon, since it was a contract position?  Well, soon is now.

So, as I figure out what I'm doing in round 2, I need to round up some of what I learned from last round of job applications and from my short couple of months in this position.

• Don't expect to hear from the bigwig universities.
• Do expect to possibly hear from some of the smaller ones or ones that feel like a really good fit.
• Don't bother applying to jobs that I have to twist my resume to sort of fit.
• If I get to the interview stage, ASK what the teaching load is. This is very important. If the quantity is too high, then their concern with quality is low. And I will suffer.
• Don't panic if I don't get something right away. Contract positions do pop up quite late in the game. 

I dunno. That's not much. But I do feel like I have a better idea of what I'm looking for this year. I also know that my candidacy is stronger this year -- not night and day stronger, but stronger.

To be honest, I don't have time for this. Preparing academic job applications is a full time job. But I have to do it. Am I too naive to hope that my next position will be THE position? The one I'll stay at? The city I'll make my life in? Naive perhaps, but I have to hope. Hope is what's driving me forward.