Respect should be a baseline, not something we have to fight for.

The academic hiring process is broken.

If you’re involved in academia or recruitment, it’s time to reflect on how candidates are treated. Researchers are exhausted, treated as disposable not only during the hiring process but often by their institutions and managers as well.

We know these applications take days to prepare. Researchers dedicate evenings, weekends, and so much emotional energy, only to be met with a void. No explanation. No insight. Just rejection without context.

How can we grow or improve if we’re never told what went wrong?

The hardest part? Not the rejection, but the silence. Not a single piece of feedback. Just automated emails after months of waiting.

He has everything you’d expect: first-author publications, teaching experience, independent grant funding. And yet, after applying to numerous roles across the globe, he hasn’t secured a position.

I’d like to be added!

I’d like to be added!