Legal Commentary

Tim Zinnecker asks for thoughts on how the job talk and lunch should be coordinated--Should lunch be before/during the talk? Shoud the talk come first, then lunch? Should lunch be at the school or at a restaurant or somewhere else afterwards? Small group or large group for lunch? Interesting stuff.

But I was struck by one anonymous commenter, who said he/she gave a talk at one school first thing in the morning. This idea is intriguing. You get the toughest part of the day out of the way at the start, when everyone is fresh and the adrenaline is going, especially for you. You certainly can be more relaxed and at ease (and maybe more yourself) in all the office meetings/interviews that follow, since the JOB TALK is not looming over you all morning. I suppose the downside is that, if the talk goes badly, it casts a pall over every single meeting that follows (as opposed to a bad lunchtime talk, which only ruins a few afternoon sessions). And it probably is a bit more difficult to get an audience. We have a lot of classes going at 9:30 or 10 in the morning, while there are fewer classes offered at noon so we can get more faculty to the talk (this is a big issue on a 25-person faculty).

Other thoughts on leading off the day with the job talk?