Dear colleague,

Since 2007, the HET community has adopted a universal agreement in which most institutions have pledged to set postdoc acceptance deadlines no earlier than January 7. This agreement has been critical for establishing a standard of equity and fairness in hiring and recruiting practices, allowing several generations of postdocs to make life and career decisions with the maximum amount of information at their disposal. It is thus imperative to preserve this concept of a common deadline.

The purpose of this survey is to gather information from the community on how well the specific Jan 7 deadline is working for them and whether shifting the deadline to later in January or February might be more optimal.  This effort is motivated by two themes that we have heard repeatedly:  

(1) The Jan 7 deadline is too soon after the holidays. On the applicant side, the timing can make it challenging to reach senior colleagues for advice on job options, and to interact with and/or schedule visits with prospective employers.  Additionally, community members balancing family commitments like child-care and elder-care during the holiday season can feel an extra burden. On the hiring side, the lack of administrative support during this time  makes it more difficult to respond promptly as initial offers are being declined. In addition, the holiday break makes it difficult to schedule time amongst colleagues to have thoughtful discussions about the candidates.