Going on the Market
Words from the Wise
The Application Process
Job Listings

Applying for tenure-track teaching appointments can be a challenging and exhausting process. During your first academic job search, you will make the transition from being a graduate student to becoming a professional colleague. Many Brown Graduate Students who've landed tenure-track faculty positions say that it's crucial to make the psychological break from being a student to being a professor. Stop thinking about degree requirements and how to coddle your advisor. Start thinking about your research in broader terms. What's the significance of your research to your discipline as a whole? Learn to talk about how you've chosen to define your research project. Start thinking about why you make the pedagogical choices you make in the classroom. Start talking to search committee members as if they are colleagues inquiring about your research and teaching interests, not members of your qualifying committee grilling you on the minutiae of your field.

The requirements, demands, and timing of an academic job search vary from discipline to discipline. In some disciplines, the majority of interviews for faculty positions take place at a major conference; in others, the process is more decentralized. Because the nature of the academic job search differs from discipline to discipline, the scholars in your department are often the best source of information and advice. We can't stress this enough! Work with your advisor and committee members to figure out what the timing of the search process is in your discipline. If your department has a job placement officer, consult him or her for tips on how to navigate the academic job market in your field.

Although the process of looking for a faculty appointment differs from discipline to discipline, there are some common features. Expect to assemble a dossier of materials for your job application: each institution will probably ask you to supply a CV, a cover letter, at least 3 letters of recommendation, a writing sample, and transcripts. Depending on the nature of the institution you're applying to, you may be asked to provide additional supporting documents, such as a teaching portfolio, a statement of teaching philosophy, or a research statement. Oftentimes, you'll be asked for additional documents after you've sent in your initial application. Keep your files updated and stay organized! Many successful job candidates recommend using a spreadsheet or chart for tracking your job applications, noting which documents were requested and when you sent them.

On your academic job search, you will also go through several rounds of interviews. The first is usually a shorter interview that focuses on broader questions about the nature of your research and your teaching experience. The initial interview is often followed by a "campus visit," in which you travel to the institution and do several interviews with other faculty and administrators. During your campus visit, you will usually be asked to give a presentation. At a research university, you'll probably be asked to give a talk based on your research to the department. At a liberal arts school, you may be asked to give a teaching presentation in lieu of a formal lecture.

Be prepared for the time-consuming nature of the academic job search, particularly in the Fall, when many job announcements are published. Talk with your advisor about balancing the demands of the job search and finishing your dissertation. The sections below take you through some of the common steps in applying for academic faculty positions, and point you to some of the best job-hunting resources available on the web.

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Going "on the market"

Talk to any advanced graduate student who's been on the market, and you'll find that going on the academic job market can be a time-consuming and expensive process. In addition to drafting letters of application, CVs, and preparing for interviews and job talks, you'll spend a fair amount of time corresponding with the institutions you've applied to and traveling to conferences and universities for interviews. In the midst of all this frenetic activity, you'll probably need to be working on your dissertation. Search committees will want to know that you'll have your dissertation completed by the time you step into your new faculty position. You'll need to have your dissertation finished when you start your new faculty appointment if you want to be on schedule on the "tenure clock." Also, if you have most of your dissertation done when you go on the market, you'll be able to talk in greater detail and with greater confidence about the significance of your work to your discipline. And talking professionally about your research matters in interviews and job talks.

Each spring, Career Services offers "Preparing Now for Next Year's Academic Market," a program consisting of Brown Graduate Students who land tenure-track teaching appointments. We've included some of the advice these new faculty shared with us in this segment. For more detailed notes, see our handouts (Adobe Acrobat Reader required).

"Preparing for the Academic Job Market: General Advice"

"Preparing for the Academic Job Market: Advice on Interviews"

When going on the academic market, it's important to adopt a realistic attitude. You'll send out lots of applications. Some institutions will respond promptly, others not at all. Keeping a good attitude is essential to success:

• Consider this an adventure.
• Listen to yourself. If you get bad vibes about a school or a job, listen to your instincts.
• Oftentimes, the advice you receive from people at Brown is geared towards getting jobs at places like Brown. Follow your instincts about what kind of job you want.
• Keep your energy up, despite the exhausting process. Exercise, go out with friends, do whatever you like to do. It will help keep you energized. Don't stop being who you are, just because you're on the market.
• Practice detachment. Everyone gets rejection letters. Don't get bogged down in questions like: "Why didn't they want me?" or "What's wrong with me?" Search committees often make decisions based on field-distribution requirements. Don't take it personally.
• Don't be too picky about where you would like to teach. Don't cling too fast to the idea that your next job should be at a school like Brown.
• Use your support network of friends and colleagues.

Am I Ready to Go on the Market?

This can be a vexing question, particularly if you've only completed a chapter or two of your dissertation. Discuss the issue with your dissertation director and the other members of your dissertation committee. Ask them whether they think you are ready to go on the market.

Some questions to ask your advisor:

• What has the job market been like for recent Ph.Ds in the discipline?
• What do I need to have completed before I go on the market? A couple of dissertation chapters? A draft of the whole thing? Publications?
• What can I do before I go on the market to ensure that I'll be a strong job candidate?

Some questions to ask yourself:

• Am I ready to stop being a student and start being a colleague?
• Do I have enough of my dissertation done to be a viable candidate?
• What kind of academic job do I want? Do I prefer doing research? Or, would I rather teach?

Don't forget to ask other graduate students in your discipline what their experiences on the job market were like. They can be an invaluable source of information you might not glean from your faculty advisors: what to wear, the bureaucracy, dealing with the stress, etc.

Featured Article: "Getting Psyched Up for the Market" by Mary Morris Heiberger and Julia Miller Vick. The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Constructing a Timeline

The academic job search is a long and complicated one, so it's crucial to stay organized and set a schedule. However, the nature of the job search differs depending on the discipline. Find out how the job market works in your discipline! Is there a major conference at which most academic job interviews take place? If so, you'll need to structure your job search timeline around this major event. Even if there's a major convention in your discipline, remember that the hiring process goes on all year long. Always be on the lookout for job listings. You'll need to be able to keep track of rolling application submissions, so set up electronic or paper files--whichever you prefer--to keep track of your applications and correspondence.

Timing your job search can be stressful, since you must rely on others for things like letters of recommendation and transcripts. Avoid unnecessary panic. Ask for letters of recommendation early! Don't wait until September.

The following timeline is only a rough guide. Be sure to check with your advisor to see what the specific requirements of your discipline are.

The following websites also offer timelines for an academic job search:

"Typical Academic Search Timeline"
The University of Michigan's suggested timeline for an academic job search.

"A Timeline for an Academic Job Search in Mathematics"
An article featuring web resources from the Mathematical Association of America.

The Chronicle of Higher Education
A fantastic resource not only for finding job listings, but also for getting the inside scoop on the nature of the market this year. Their "Career Network" section offers first-person accounts of life on the market by current job seekers as well as advice from the pros, including faculty who've served on search committees.

Also check out the latest assessment of the Ph.D. job market from Occupational Outlook Quarterly

"Beyond supply and demand: Assessing the Ph.D. job market"

Figuring a Budget

Don't get caught off-guard by the expense of applying for academic jobs! From photocopying writing samples, sending dozens of dossiers containing CVs and letters of recommendation, to paying up-front for attending conferences and plane tickets.

Featured Article: "The Cost of Applying for Academic Jobs" by Emily Peters. The Chronicle of Higher Education.

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Words from the Wise

Talking to graduate students who've just gone through the process of applying for academic jobs, interviewing, and giving job talks can be a great source of advice and information about the process of going on the job market in academia. Grad students who've been through the academic hiring process can give you an insider's view on what to expect during interviews and campus visits, how to deal with the jitters, and unexpected issues that come up along the way. These sites offer some first-person accounts of the process of looking for an academic job.

Before You Go On the Market
The Chronicle of Higher Education runs a series of advice columns on different aspects of academia. A lot can be gleaned from these first person accounts of the trials and tribulations of landing an academic job.

Graduate Student Perspectives

While many of these grad student accounts are discipline-specific, they have useful advice for job seekers in all disciplines. In these accounts, you'll find a lot of useful advice that many official job search resources don't tell you, including how to handle scheduling, how to travel, how to deal with unexpected problem, and more.

"The Academic Job Search in Mathematics" by Darren A. Narayan.

"Tips for a Massive Academic Job Search" by Ellen Spertus.
Great advice on how to manage your job search: from organizing files, to preparing for campus visits.

"Getting an Academic Job" by Michael Ernst.

From the Search Committee's Point of View

Find out how search committees work, how they craft job announcements, and what they're looking for in prospective job candidates.

"The Hiring Process from the Other Side"
UC Berkeley's Career Center offers a perspective on how academic hiring committees work.

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