The Path to Graduate Assistant

When I was a graduate student, the department tried to find Graduate Assistant positions for as many students as possible. The department was relatively small and oversaw two ESL programs, which were staffed primarily by students. Although not all students would get a position, most of us would have at least a half-time (.25FTE) opportunity either teaching, doing research, or doing administrative tasks in one of the centers that the department oversaw.

I don't recall any strict application process to become a GA, though I think we had to submit a form that indicated that we were interested in a GAship. Sometime before the start of the semester, the department chair would get in touch and say "I think we can give a position teaching X? Is that OK with you?".

Fast forward several decades. I've just been through the process to hire a GA to work with me. After posting the position, I was expecting a handful of applicants during the week long application window, and was shocked with how many applications came in -- the final count was over 50.

Not only were there many more applicants than I had anticipated, most of the applicants had very impressive resumes. Selecting candidates to interview was not an easy task, and even during the interviews I could imagine each of the candidates contributing positively to the team.

In the end, I chose the person I thought would best be able to hit the ground running with what we needed.

The whole process made me reflect on the norm-referenced nature of these decisions. As an applicant, your fate is dependent not only on the quality of your background but also on the background of the other applicants in the pool. The same resume can be "strong" in one context and "average" in a different context. Had any of the applicants been the only person in the pool, they probably would have been hired (and probably would have been able to do a good job).