On truth and the job market

I had a phone interview for a tenure-track position at an institution back east, close to home. In and of itself, not extraordinary, save for the delicate fact that I've already accepted a position for the next academic year at a school down south. That position is not tenure-track, nor will it ever become, but it is permanent. I wrestled with taking the interview, feeling something that I imagine was guilt for cheating on my future employer. This feeling surprised me, because I have always counseled friends to assume that their employers have, are and will continue to screw them over, to have no remorse when it comes to taking and leaving jobs, to always look out for their best interest, as you can be damn certain their employer is doing as well.

I spoke with my adviser and several mentors all of whom said I have every right to pursue the better opportunity (although I am not certain it is exactly, more on that later), and that no self-respecting academic would hold it against me down the road. I am not so certain, but I took the interview anyway. It went well, in part because I didn't have the unemployment line hanging over head like the sword of Damocles.

If it comes to an on-campus and an offer, I'll have to weigh the relative merits of both positions. For all that I have complained about the position I have for next year, it does have some advantages I had not considered initially. In that it is a teaching position with no service requirement, it will leave me with ample time for research and writing, something the tenure-track position would not. I have no intention of staying very long at either institution, seeking instead to return to the kind of situation I have enjoyed this year on my mountain west one-year, 3/3 teaching load, graders for my survey classes in a delightful college town surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen.

In any case, this has led me to ponder on the notion of loyalty to an employer. Capitalism assumes the pursuit of self-interest, yet socially we are encouraged to feel loyalty which is a fancy way of saying taking into consideration factors that cannot be traded on the market. I am grateful for the position that I will have at the southern school, offered during a terrible year for academic hiring to a bloke who was not yet (oh so soon!) degree in hand, yet I cannot think they believe I will stay around for more than a few years. They have already released the other candidates (there were either 3 or 4 finalists - I was told both number by different individuals) once my letter of acceptance arrived (not a contract, that doesn't happen until I arrive on campus and after the summer meeting of the Board of Trustees - which, yes, makes me nervous given the economic slump).

Perhaps this is nothing I should be worried about. We shall see.