Les Bonnes Choses

Some number of months ago, I applied for an assistant professor position at a Canadian university. Now, despite the fact that the department to which I applied isn't particularly renowned, it is in the Ottawa area. There are few positions in Ontario, and I have always liked Ottawa and Rebecca and I have friends and family in the area, so I applied for the position anyways. So you can imagine what I think of the department now that I have received the following rejection letter via email (or at least, I think I received this letter -- the source of the confusion will be apparent shortly. I changed or obscured some names because it seemed prudent):

Andrew M______

Dear M_______,

Thank you for your interest in our Assistant Professor level position at the Institute of Mediocrity at Inattentive University. The applicant pool was extremely strong and I am sorry to have to inform you that you were not selected for an interview. Because of the numbers involved, it is not possible to provide individual reasons but generally candidates failed to be selected because of one or more of the following:

* Candidate was too senior for a position advertised as at the assistant level. We were required to adhere to that limitation.

* Candidate's research and/or teaching record was more limited compared to the candidates selected for interviews.

* Candidate had fewer credentials compared to the candidates selected for interviews.

Wishing you the best in your future endeavours,

John ______
Director, Institute of Mediocrity
Inattentive University
Ottawa-area, Canada

First, who the hell addresses people by their last name? I mean, emails that begin "Dear [your last name]..." are usually from someone claiming to be a barrister interested in transferring a large sum of money out of an African country. But what am I supposed to make of a rejection letter addressed to another applicant? I spent a good deal of time preparing and sending an application package. Could they not at least get mail merge figured out? I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, as this was the same department who lost reference letters from Marc and Paul, claiming never to have received them in the first place.

I'd be hesitant to apply there again, though clearly they need me more than they realize.