The way job positions in English studies are conceptualized, advertised, applied for, and awarded is defined by the conventional contours of literary study. The precision with which the "Job Information List" breaks down literature positions by national and historical categories reflects the desire of a great many departments to hire and train according to these classifications. The grafting of "rhetoric and composition" onto this system is fraught with problems. Departments that assume disciplinary status and uniformity, and submit an ad with no clear hiring criteria beyond the label "rhetoric and composition" may have no clear sense of who and why they are hiring. Three recommendations are in order. The first is to hiring departments: construct a one-page description of your department's position which includes the kind of preparation that typifies the ideal candidate and those matters that the application should address. The second is to those who train Ph.D. students in rhetoric and composition: use professional training seminars and ad hoc job search instruction to prepare students for interviews with schools unlike your own. The third is to aspiring applicants: avoid the scattering-gun form-letter approach. Target jobs you want and locate college catalogs and bulletins. Relate your experience to the hiring department. (TB)