Academic Job Search VI - Rejections :-(

For other posts in this series:
Beginning a search  Networking    First Interview      On Campus Interview     Contract

I realized after I supposedly finished my series on the job search that there was still one more piece to consider: rejections.  There are a ton of them on the academic job search.  Philosophy PhD Husband annoyingly joked that I couldn't say much about rejections since I have a job.  I reminded him I had my fair share of rejections on the job market, to say nothing of all the other ways academics get rejected - publications, grant apps, fellowships, ultra-cool university committees (wait, are faculty ON any ultra-cool university committees???)

But obviously the subject is a sore one and a tough one to think about.  Philosophy PhD Husband is someone whose intelligence I respect a great deal, who has published in top philosophy journals, who has developed his teaching a lot over the years and who yet has never landed full time tenure track job.  Sigh.  It is the dark side of academia.  So here, sadly, are some thoughts on rejections.

Generally, academic culture pushes the view that the further out you are on the job market, the worse you must be as a candidate.  This is a kind of yard sale mentality - that if you arrive early, at 7 am, all the good stuff is there, but don't bother going at 3pm because the steals will be gone.  That kind of mentality is quite illogical.  Academics know, first of all, that there are more PhDs granted than there are jobs in most fields and unless we want to cast our own degrees in doubt,  we should not presume that unqualified people are somehow getting degrees and thereby deserve to be passed over again and again if they didn't get a job in the first go-round. Second, the yard sale mentality presumes that everyone is going to want the same things and so everyone's fighting for the same stuff available at 7 am.  But as a collector of fine china (not something that goes quickly off the shelves these days), arriving at 3 pm is perfectly fine.  Sure, if I want the Wii that is going, I'd better be in line before 7am.  But are we in academic only about the latest new thing?  I hope not.

Corollary to above - the ABD/PhD Problem: There's a weird kind of gap in academia - being ABD makes it difficult to get a job because schools want to know that you'll have your dissertation done and will, in fact, have a PhD.  So having the PhD is better because you clearly have done the work.  Except that then it starts you down the "yard sale" path mentioned above.  So being ABD is better.  Except that....

Generally, academic culture does not promote even the tiniest courtesy of sending notification letters to people that they are no longer being considered for the job.   Of all the job applications I've ever sent, I have only received one - that's ONE - letter informing me I was no longer being considered.  Now, part of this is, I am to understand, a legal thing: that until the search is closed, such letters cannot be sent.  What is interesting though is that the legal aspect translate into never ever sending such a letter.  I think we all collectively could do better here. 

So, if you are on the job market and do not hear from the school, do not consider that it is about you.  Quite the contrary.  The question of when to consider that the job opportunity has been lost is a tough one.  Some schools dawdle a bit about applications and won't contact applicants until even three or four months past the deadline.  Those schools tend to eschew the first round interviews and head right to the on campus interviews.  Other schools make determinations within days of the closing of the applications.

Things to Do After a Rejection:

Call the School or Not?  I'm up in the air on this one, truly.   I have heard of people calling and asking for advice on what they could have done better or differently.  I'm not sure they got satisfactory replies.  This is partly because, remember, the person on the hiring committee is a full time faculty member who has teaching and research responsibilities and who, having just finished conducting a search which has made his/her days at least 12-13 hours long, is now relieved to have found a candidate who signed on the dotted line and wants to return to some normalcy.

If you were never in the interview stage at all, I'd say probably don't call and instead, get to the career center and make sure your cover letter and CV are up to snuff.  But if you were in the interview stage, you could probably call.  Thoughts about this from others?

Indulge in a *little* self reflection, but then press on -  One of the best pieces of advice I ever had about submitting articles to journals is to make several copies of the essay and put them in envelopes addressed to several journals.  Send one; if it comes back as a rejection, immediately send out the next envelope and so on.  Don't even bother looking at the suggested comments for improvement because should the next journal accept it for publication, the suggestions for revision will invariably be different. This is with the caveat that the so-called mechanical aspects of writing - the grammar, the "flow" etc are in place.

I think this is good advice for the job search, too.  Remember that so much of the job search is NOT about you.  The things one school will determine not to make you a "fit" for them will be exactly what another school believes it needs.  But it is worthwhile to double check and practice the "mechanics" of the job search - have your CV and letters double checked and to do some practice interviewing, for example.

 Another thing that is well worth reflecting on is whether to get into the "whole academic gig" in the first place.  Are you trying for an academic job because everyone else in your program is, too?  Are you not sure you want to be dealing with teaching intro college courses forever, or constantly worrying about publishing, et cetera?  It's worth thinking about.

Don't Despair - It CAN happen, even years out from graduation.

Further Possibilities for Those Who Want Tenure Track Jobs But Don't Yet Have Them:

• Adjunct work - this has the advantage of keeping you in the teaching loop, but is distinctly disadvantageous because it is hard to have enough adjuncting work to make ends meet, you often end up having 7-10 "jobs" in a semester, and it doesn't pay benefits. Grrrr.  Talk about collective bargaining - I think adjuncts of the world ought to unite.

•  Online work - these days, adjuncting work can be done online, which can make life a bit simpler, at least in that you're not putting mileage on the car.  I enjoy teaching online classes myself, but many others don't.  It's worth a look, though...

• Publishing/editing - a great option, especially since you've undoubtedly honed editing skills while working toward that PhD.  It takes you a bit further afield but it is sometimes possible to get back into academia from publishing.
• Stay on as a graduate student for a bit longer...but see above corollary for the nifty little conundrum this brings.

Possibilities that Sometimes Merely Masquerade as Possibilities:

• Library Science degree
• Law degree 

 Everyone and their brother will suggest that you MAKE USE of your PhD by getting a degree in Library Science or going to law school.  I'm definitely not opposed to the idea of going back to school to get an MLS or a JD.  On the other hand, the whole "make use of your PhD" mentality is a red flag for me, not only because I believe that education and and developing thoughtfulness is good for humanity as a whole, quite apart from jobs, but ALSO because if you've gotten to the point where you think you want to go back to school anyway - why limit yourself to an MLS or a JD just because it helps you USE your Phd???

Academic Job Search V - The Contract

For other posts in this series:
Beginning a search  Networking    First Interview      On Campus Interview     Rejections

The contract stage - easily the most confusing stage of the job search.  Lots of people make the  mistake of being so overjoyed about having a job that they don't negotiate the contract.  Sometimes that's justified, other times not.  As I mentioned in Part IV, you want to make the job livable for you and the school has an interest in doing so as well, because they don't want to be back doing the same darned job search in a year or two or three.

So - things to consider requesting when you negotiate:

1. Salary - there is not generally a lot of leeway with the salary they quote you if you are a person entering the field for the first time.  That said, if you have have another job offer, you can do some negotiating - keep in mind disparities between cost of living in the two schools' areas before pushing for too much, though.  Also, if you've published a significant piece or two, or won an award for teaching or something else that gives you a bit of an edge, go ahead and ask for a bit of a salary bump. (By a "bit" I mean $1000-$3000 higher...)  They can always say no, but sometimes they'll give you something - less than you asked for, more than you were originally quoted.

Do double check the AAUP rankings (http://chronicle.com/stats/aaup/) if you didn't do this before the campus interview.  AAUP lists each institution and salary ranges by rank (and make SURE you're looking at the correct rank...); the lower end of the range is generally for first and second year assistant profs in humanities; the higher end is for econ and computer science (or law and business, if at a university) with 5-6 years' experience. Make sure that the salary they quote is at the least on the lower end of the range for that specific institution.  You can also double check institutions surrounding your potential institution.  If there are disparities between your quote and your institution's range, definitely ask for a pay bump by citing AAUP.  If there are disparities between your institution and surrounding institutions, you might be able to argue for a small addition in pay.

FYI: Many schools pay less for people who will come in with no finished degree.

2. Time - If you are ABD and anticipate still being ABD when you arrive, you can ask for a reduced course load or a delayed start to your teaching. (Say, spring semester rather than fall....)  This can give you needed time to finish the dissertation (which, again, the school has a great deal of interest in you doing).

You can also consider negotiating a reduced course load during the first semester to get acclimated.  I have known some people successfully ask for this.

Considering School C from my "Academic Job Search IV" post, I would definitely ask for "time" in my contract, especially since they expect a person to be heading up an institute.  I'd probably ask for a course release for the entire year, and perhaps stipulate that I have only two new preps (academic slang for course preparation) per semester, so that at least one of the courses is a repeat.

I might request "time" from School B as well, depending on whether they were able to provide a good salary or not (which, remember, would be one of my big concerns following the on campus interview).

3. Time further out - You may want to negotiate an earlier sabbatical depending on tenure requirements at the school.  Some schools automatically give third year sabbaticals; others may be research heavy but not give a sabbatical automatically.  Knowing tenure requirements will help you decide this. 

4. Maternity/paternity leave - You may also want to negotiate specific terms of a maternity leave or paternity leave even if not currently expecting and if your institution appears to have no stated policy.  Here it is helpful to know the laws of the state where you will reside: New Jersey has a paternity leave policy on the books.  Other states don't.

When it comes to maternity leave, I recommend at the very least negotiating that the semester in which you are due, you have no teaching responsibilities.  If your due date is post-Thanksgiving, I recommend negotiating for having the Spring semester off from teaching.  You should brush up on FMLA and also at least get the six paid weeks of full maternity leave (no research or service responsibilities either) but you might want to negotiate that for beyond six weeks too.

5.  Spousal hire - Many more academics arrive with spouses who are also academics than in the past and universities have become more open to possibilities regarding spousal hires.  You can request that the school help you find a job for your spouse.


6. Research equipment, books or money - This is specific to your research needs but often it is vital to have some extra funding to be able to do your research - consider a range of things you might need, including software, book allowance, specific scientific equipment, and the like.

7. Space - Particularly if you have special research needs, you may want to negotiate office space.  As a junior faculty member, you will not generally have your pick of office space (which is usually at a premium anyway) but if you're the only researcher doing X and X needs a certain kind of space, you've got good grounds for requesting it.


Consider the needs of the school too - do not try to negotiate more than 2-3 of these, so consider what you need to make this a good job for you.  Also consider, you will probably not get everything you want - ask for a bit more than you need with the aim always being to give yourself, and the school, the job you need so that you can commit to the institution for the foreseeable future.

Finally, those who have documented disabilities, do not be afraid to ask for the accomodations that you need for your work.  These are not negotiable, but are important things to bring up at this stage.

Any other tips out there that I've forgotten?

Academic Job Search IV - Making it On Campus

For other posts in this series:
Beginning a search  Networking    First Interview           Contract       Rejections

A call for an on campus interview requires a bit of a mental shift in thinking.  It is now about a 1 in 3 chance that this could be your future employer, so for the on campus interview consider that you're checking THEM out just as much as they're continuing to check you out.  I understand that you will feel like you've got to take the job if offered because it's THE option you have but you at least need to make sure that it's a place you can make work somehow, even if it's not quite the location/job type (more teaching over research or vice versa) you're looking for.

Actually, location and job type are much easier to deal with than some other things you might encounter....

Consider the Following Examples:

School A) School A invites you for a 2 day job interview and promises to reimburse travel.  The chairperson of the hiring committee also tells you you'll be receiving a packet of helpful information in the mail.  Your on campus interview consists of a teaching presentation before an actual class and a research presentation, and the chairperson asks you to prepare your teaching presentation based on the readings the students are doing.  The research presentation will be done before a variety of faculty members and is to be on your current research.

When you arrive at school A, you are immediately greeted by the chairperson and given the full schedule.  There is someone available to walk you to and from each place you must visit, and your schedule includes meetings with the president, the dean, and a representative from human resources.  You will also meet with students at a variety of times.  On all of the nights you will be there, the department is providing meals.  One dinner is with junior faculty, and one of the lunches is with a group of women faculty so that you can ask questions particular to these groups of people. In some cases, you may even be given "housing" or "town" tours so you can get a sense of the kind of living options in the area.

This is the ideal on-campus interview (And I am happy to say, really is the norm.  The vast majority of on campus interviews I've had were like this....).  This is a school that knows you're checking them out as much as they're checking you out, and they're giving you every opportunity to find out as much as you can about them.  One of the big reasons is that they don't want to have to do another job search for your position any time soon.

So in preparation for all of this, you need to be sure you have questions set up for each available constituency you'll meet. (You will, also, always be fielding the same questions you had at your first round interview about teaching, research and how you see yourself fitting into institutional aims):

President/Provost:  Where do you see the institution in five years?  How does the department of ________ fit in to this institution's aims?  What are some of the goals you have in mind for the humanities/social sciences/sciences division of the school? (For the dean specifically: What are the tenure procedures?)

Chairperson of the Department (May or may not be the same as the chairperson of the hiring committee): What will I be expected to teach and how often?  (Very Very Important)... Will I be able to teach a course occasionally that relates to my research?  What are some of the department's goals?  What are the procedures for getting tenure?Are there opportunities for faculty to meet and share research?  How often are there department meetings?  Are there opportunities for interdepartmental collaboration? Is this a new tenure line or am I replacing someone? 

Senior Faculty:  What are the students like?  What kind of direction do you see/do you want to see the department take?  What do you like about working at this institution?

Junior Faculty (who will have been at the school 6 years or less) :  How have you liked working here?  What are the students like?  What are the housing options here?  What kinds of activities do people do here?  (If in  a small town, you might ask if people live in the nearest large city and commute, or if they travel there quite a bit....)  Do you have any advice for settling in?

Undergraduate students: What do you like about the department? What led you to come to this school?  What do you like studying?

Human Resources: (NB: Before going to your on campus interview, check out the average salary of your institution for your department and rank at the helpful AAUP website...)  What is the process for requesting a leave here? (Note the singular, non-specific leave: this covers all kinds of leaves, including family leave, short term and long term disability leave, as well as personal leave and sabbatical leave)   How often are sabbatical leaves offered?  What other benefits I can expect?  NB: You probably won't need to ask any of these questions of the HR person (because they're usually a bubbly, outgoing, cram-every-piece-of-possible-paper-in-your-hand kind of person) unless you have no meeting with a human resources person.  In that case, ask these questions of the chairperson of your department.



School B)  School B  invites you for a job interview in a far away city sot that you must take a plane to get there.  They promise to reimburse plane far but "could you possibly pick up the shuttle to the airport?"  You do so and arrive at the hotel with no one to greet you and an entire evening and morning to while away (because the interview doesn't start till noon....)  The interview itself is short: it consists of three hours with a hiring committee and a couple hours meeting with students.  You do not meet with the president, provost, or human resources person and when you ask standard questions like "What is the average salary?" they reply (rather abruptly) that you can't get that information until you've been offered a position. 

What do we know about this school from reading between the lines?
1. It may have some financial difficulties, evidenced by the fact that they've not really been hosting you beyond the barest requirements and this is really quite a short on campus interview for a tenure track line.   (If it were a temporary or adjuncting position, this is more standard.)  You should therefore wonder if there will be leaves available at all, or whether you'll have to ration copies or other office supplies.  You should also wonder if you'll be overworked: will your contract require more of you than salary or time allow?  Will you be viewed as mostly a working person with no outside life?

2. This kind of interview should make you wonder what faculty collaboration is really like.   Is your department kind of a pariah at this school?  The lack of access to human resource personnel or to faculty in other departments should make you wonder, in a negative way.

3.  They're not thinking about you and your needs.  They're not giving you enough information to make an informed decision about the school.  Will you therefore be seen as a number, as insignificant?  Too hard to tell.

If School B ends up being your only offer, you will want to consider carefully how to negotiate your contract to make this as liveable a situation as possible for you in the long term.  This is the kind of school you may be plotting to get as far away from as soon as possible, but if that proves difficult, the initial contract negotiations will be imperative.

School C)  School C invites you for a fully paid on campus interview much like School A's.  One of the key differences that is immediately apparent, though, is that School C asks for an on campus interview in an email - to ALL the other candidates as well.

When you arrive on campus, you are met by wonderful people - who immediately apologize for the town, the school and the people. In the course of the interview questions you ask, you discover that WHILE having a 4-4 course load, the school also expects the person in this new position to do plenty of research ("to lead us toward R1 status) and to run a new "institute" on campus that is newly funded by an anonymous donor.

What do we know about this school?
1)  It is characterized by unprofessionalism.  This is not necessarily a deal breaker, but you might wonder whether the way things get done at this school is by round about means, via old boy networks. 

2) There is a lack of good administration at this school. The administration is clueless about faculty needs and abilities.  They are expecting quite a lot out of their candidate, and especially one that they know comes straight from graduate school.  This is going to be information that comes in especially handily when it comes to negotiating a contract.

3) We might also wonder about financial difficulties, instead of or in addition to administrative problems.  While this institution is not clearly in dire straits, the fact that they're already piling on duties (4-4 course load along with running an institute) suggests that they do not have the ability to hire the personnel they need.  You'll probably be overworked at this school.

To Sum it Up....

The questions asked of you are similar to the ones from the first round, though you will have time to deepen your answers.  Where your real work is, however, is in the questions you ask and the things you intuit.  This will help you immeasurably in determining what to do when it comes time for contract negotiations should they offer you a job.


Special for Women and Moms:

1. I have gotten mixed advice over the years on whether to ask directly about maternity leave, or whether to just be vague: "What is your leave policy?"  These days, I would probably ask directly, but depending on the situation, might ask it more of women faculty themselves.  Alternatively, do an internet search to see if you can find a copy of the maternity leave policy and if you can't find one, be prepared to ask for that in contract negotiations.

2. If the hiring committee doesn't arrange a meeting with faculty women for you, you might request a coffee with someone if there's down time at all.  (There usually isn't down time in these things, but if they ask you what you want, you might think about this.)  Such a meeting is a good time to ask questions about women to men ratio, whether they feel like they're "always" being asked to be on committees because they're women (an important clue to how overworked you may or may not feel) and whether the campus is mom-friendly.

3.  What if you're pregnant?  I think the same applies as in the first round interviews.  If you're past the time you can travel, I'm not sure what you might do.  There is always an option for virtual conferencing.  Anyone out there had the experience of being pregnant while on campus?

4.  What if you're breastfeeding?  Ah, well, I have a story about this. Having given birth to a premature baby who had JUST transitioned to breastfeeding from bottle feeding, I did not think I could leave my baby at home during a two day interview.  So I discussed it with the hiring committee chairperson and opted to bring the baby, PLUS my husband (at my expense) so that he could keep an eye on her.  I also petitioned for time to pump/breastfeed in between interview activities, which is very important.  (See here for a totally different story about breastfeeding and the on campus interview.)   The fact of my baby and her needs made me more direct at this point than I would have been at other times in the interview process, but this is partly to point out how distinctive the on campus round really is.  At this point, they really want to get to know you better, so you have a bit more leeway, PERHAPS

I think that you have think about the situation as a whole - recognize that having family there at the interview is not ideal by a long shot, but it MAY be necessary at points.  Most of the time, though, I'd not bring the family and ask about "down time" on the schedule - then use that time to pump.

Academic Job Search III - First Round Interviews

For other posts in this series:
Beginning a search  Networking      On Campus Interview      Contract       Rejections

So you got a phone call or email inviting you to the first round of interviews.  Excellent.  First hoop jumped through.

Much angst has been lived by graduate students worrying about whether their scheduled first interview time is "good" or "bad" for their prospects.  That is, if the main conference is held from Thursday to Sunday and your interview is 9:00 am Sunday morning, that's got to be "bad", right?  This is on the assumption that later in the conference people are tired and less likely to want to hear you.

That may be so. Truly I have no idea here, but this is, again, one of those things over which you have no control. 

There are two things that matter most, regardless of interview time:
1. First impressions do count.  What my dad always told me is true, even though he's an engineer and not "in academia".  Philosophy PhD Husband did not want to believe what my dad told him at first, because "obviously academia cares about your thinking first and foremost."  Not really.   

2. The hiring committee wants to know that you are "normal."  Read: Your presence in their department will not make extra work for them and, all around, you are the interesting person that they first met in your cover letter and other dossier materials.   In other words, they already suspect these things: confirm and develop them.

Luckily, these things relate to each other.

How to Convey Good First Impressions and Normalcy
You are on display (but only for about half an hour!), so consider carefully how you want to display yourself. (If you prefer a more academic tenor here, consider "performance" a la Judith Butler.)  From the committee's point of view, preferably the "you" that you are should match up with what they read in your cover letter.  (And yes, assume that they've read your cover letter...)
This is the one time where a suit is a good thing even though academic culture, for the most part, does not require suits.  

So what can you tell about someone on first impressions, especially in something as high stakes as a first round interview?

A) How well you deal with nervousness...can you press on despite your self-doubts, your anxiety, and the voices of your spouse/mother/children/friends screaming that THIS HAS GOT TO LEAD TO A JOB because you're broke.  Can you smile like you mean it, even if the rest of you is shaking?  (Cue Kipling's "If" poem here....)  Can you show your courage, your stamina, your ability to go with the situation as it is even though you have no control over it?

This is actually a key test in academia. I've been talking with graduate students over the last couple weeks about "Imposter Syndrome", the idea that one doesn't belong here, or deserve to be here.  The feeling never goes away, at least not for me.  I wonder, if it does go away, that might be just as detrimental as misplaced nervousness because you come across as too aggressive and sure or yourself.

But also consider - there will be many times on the job when you'll have a similar kind of situation: facing students in a new class, meeting the tenure and promotion committee, hobnobbing with the trustees, interacting with media calls (those rare times when non-academic media want sound bytes for their articles on homelessness or politics or women in the workplace or whatever).  Can you be the "expert" the world expects you to be because you have a PhD, even though you know, as Socrates did, that you really know very little?

In my very first first-round interview, I totally bombed it because I was so nervous that I spent the precious little time asking questions about people who were in the department but not in the room.  NOT a good strategy.   They thought I was just interested in the "big names" in the department and all my talk didn't give them a sense of me as a teacher or researcher.

B) How organized and/or prepared you are....  

The members of the hiring committee will likely ask three categories of questions:

• Teaching questions: How do you see your teaching role?  How would you teach _______ class?(usually they'll specify a class you'd teach in the ad or in the phone call inviting you to the interview) How do you teach writing?  How do you teach with technology?  And other specific questions related to the teaching paragraph and/or teaching philosophy you sent in your dossier.
• Research questions: Be prepared to discuss your dissertation in 3 minutes, pitched to educated lay people.  Don't presume your committee knows all of the big names you've studied for your dissertation, even if Mr. Studies Big Names himself is on the hiring committee.  Also be prepared to discuss further research directions.
• Institutional questions: have you looked beyond the job ad?  Do you care about the school for itself, or are you just looking like someone who applied for every.single.job advertised, regardless of potential fit?  Can you at least describe how you would fit into the school?

Prep those questions, write out the answers, and perhaps even put them in a nifty folder so that you can quickly review them before your interview because you will be too nervous to remember the cool answer you wanted to give.

One help for the nervousness that also makes you look amazing:

Bring handouts: extra CVs in case the committee needs them, copies of a potential syllabus or book list of a class, list of future research projects, abstract of a dissertation, and similar.

The All Important Post-Interview Tips:
1. Send a thank you note to the committee chairperson.  Email is fine, especially if that's the way they've been communicating with you.  Hand written is always nice, though may not arrive before the committee makes its decision, if that matters to you.

2. Indulge in post-interview review with friends, preferably ones who will tell you to let all the mistakes roll off your back, especially the ones that loom so large in your own eyes.  Learn from the big mistakes, forget the small ones.  One of my own big gaffes was answering a question about technology and teaching by giving a mini-lecture on why powerpoints are not a great thing in the classroom.  Not my finest hour and perhaps one of the reasons that they didn't call me back for a second round interview.  But it reminded me that the first round interview is NOT the place to give those mini-opinionated lectures!

The committee will probably see between 10-20 candidates, all of whom will be nervous, and all of whom will make some mistakes.  Will the hiring committee remember those mistakes?  Maybe, but they also remember the total picture that you present. If you did your research on the school and if you answered as positively as you could (and gave no stupid mini-lectures) you should at least be able to hold your head up high.  At this point, it is, yet again, not about you.

Special for Women/Moms: I'll just reiterate what I said in my "Networking" post about being able to speak to feminist concerns.

There is at least one special additional situation to consider, though: what if you're pregnant at that first round interview?  This has happened, and actually it happened to me... I was not able to attend the conference where all the hiring was done because I would have been 36 weeks along - no airline would take me - and of course, I knew this when I sent in my dossier.  In the cover letter, I mentioned that I wouldn't be able to be at the conference but would be happy to speak by phone further.  I did not mention the specific reason at that point, but I did mention it once they called for the first round interview.

How much do you say?  It's a bit of a tense situation to negotiate because you don't want "Might Immediately Take Maternity Leave When She Arrives Here" as a reason for them not to hire you.  It's illegal anyway, but the hiring committee may ask the gauche questions anyway.

I think it depends how far along you are. If you're in the first trimester, don't worry about saying anything at all, since it's fairly standard in the culture at large not to mention pregnancy until the highest danger for miscarriage has passed.  Bring along all the things that prevent you from having morning sickness or be prepared to excuse yourself quickly if need be.

If you're in the second trimester or early third trimester, and especially if you're showing, someone might actually ask the illegal questions.  They shouldn't but it happens.  You can elect not to answer.  You can take whatever action you might be able to take in that case.  You can also try to come up with a bland answer like that shows that you are (or seem to be) in control of the situation: "I am pregnant and we are developing a plan about the baby once I am working."  No need to give details.

Any other tips out there?  Things I've missed?  Please send them along....

Academic Job Search II - Networking

For the other posts in this series:
Beginning a search  First Interview       On Campus Interview      Contract       Rejections
In the general workplace, the standard job-seeking adage is: "It's not what you know, it's who you know."  That doesn't really work in academia because it IS, in part, what you know (or how you think?).  One of the standard adages in the academic job search is, instead,: "You get your first job because of your advisor's work; you get your second because of the work you do."  In other words, the network of people your advisor knows is really important for that first job; you, as a beginning graduate student, are presumed to have not much of a network.

This is a holdover from the days when previous generations of scholars really did rely heavily on their advisors for their jobs.  Indeed, I think many academics in the past could get away with not networking in the sense we might mean today. A phone call was often all that was needed to land a job somewhere and if one wanted to progress, a well-placed article in a top journal could do the trick.  The network functioned much differently than it does today, for the most part. (Philosophy PhD Husband claims that his field still does kind of operate in this way.)

I wonder how true this is anymore.  OF COURSE,  letters of recommendation are extremely important and in general I suspect that having a letter from a more well-known professor is a boon for an applicant. (Though it may also be a hindrance - students of Stanley Hauerwas have long suspected that they get jobs in certain places because of their advisor's work, while not even getting a second glance in other places, because of their advisor's work.  Is this true?  We shall never find out.  The academic job search is not known for transparency.)

On the other hand, there are schools (often smaller liberal arts schools) that tend NOT to hire those from big name schools or with big name advisors because they're worried about the Attrition Effect.  That is, there's a sneaking suspicion among academics that everyone wants a job "up the ladder" and everyone wants to be at an R1 (research school with low teaching requirement) university.  Students from big name schools, it is presumed, are the ones that especially can break into R1 atmospheres, and so they're the first ones to leave smaller schools.  So why not short-circuit THAT eventuality by hiring someone who is from a less-well known school and less hireable by R1s?

It's a cultural assumption and it's not clear to me how true that is. It's just not clear to me how much of a "ladder" really exists in academia.  It seems to me that it's more about figuring out what balance of teaching, research, and service works for you, and that the R1 hankering is more of a false desire instilled in graduate school because so many PhD programs are at R1s.  Plenty of PhDs have their fill of R1 academic life in graduate school and have decided it's just not for them because they love teaching more.  Plenty of PhDs at liberal arts colleges have found ways of doing good research even while having a high teaching load - and dare I say, even do better research than some at R1s because they've had to make time to do it and stick to it more than those who have perhaps a bit too much time on their hands.  (Which is to say: when you're applying, don't preclude community college jobs or high teaching load liberal arts colleges just because the prevailing attitude in graduate school is that an R1 is the best place to be.  Community college listings, by the way, do not tend to be listed in the national conference journals.)

All of the above ought to demonstrate what I pointed out at the end of "Academic Job Search I" - so much of the job search is NOT about you.  There's an "academic voodoo" at work that will leave you scratching your head wondering, "Why NOT me? Why didn't I get that interview/job/book contract?

So instead, let's focus on the things you can worry about when it comes to networking...

1. Do rely on your advisor, but not overly so.   Definitely get your advisor's advice but don't leave it there.  Do some networking yourself.

2. Network at national conferences - Most conferences now allow graduate students to be members - use that to your advantage.  Submit a paper proposal but even if you don't get one accepted, try to get to the conference anyway.  (NB: hostels and sleeping on floors are cheap housing options.)  Publishers flock to these things.  Use the time to browse the books of various publishers to see which ones publish in your area(s).  Perhaps even talk to an editor about your project and see what the result is.  Go to publishers' cocktail parties.  Introduce yourself to speakers at panel presentations and say what/how/why their work interests you, along with mentioning that you are a graduate student at such-and-such school and might be looking for a job in the near future.

3. Network at regional and institutional conferences - Be one of the people to volunteer to pick up people from the airport, or attend dinners with guests.   Paper acceptances are often easier here; use that to your advantage because you never know where that random conversation you have after your paper session will get you.

4. Devise a graduate student conference at your institution (with help from friends) -  Getting to know graduate students in your field is an excellent way to network.  That grad student you meet this year may be on a hiring committee at an institution in a year or two. Invite a non-grad student scholar to give a keynote.  A) It can go on your CV and B) it's another person you've gotten to know.

5. Research Assistantships - Take advantage of the work your professors give you to make connections with other scholars, if those opportunities come up.  Copy editing, organizing conferences, and the like are all helpful ways to network.

6. Others?  Any one else have good networking tips for graduate students or even faculty members?

Special Tips for Women and Moms: Women, I hate to say this (I really do) but it is still the case, I think, that women are expected to "know" something about feminist theory in relation to their fields.  While I think it need not be the case that you must write a dissertation on feminism, I think it is very likely that a school will presume "feminist theory" and ask you a question about gender.  So it's a good idea at least to have familiarity with gender questions in your field and to have read some books.  Take a class if you can; otherwise attend some feminist theory sessions at conferences (or attend a feminist theory conference) and do some networking there.  Women, too, have a network - it isn't just about the "old boys' network" anymore.

[NB: Men, I think it's often seen as something uniquely good if you, too, can contribute intelligently to gender conversations.]

At the same time, a caveat: women and especially moms, may find themselves gravitating toward precisely gender related topics that they're experiencing in their lives.  I'm currently on maternity leave and find myself suddenly interested in The Moral Life of Babies.  Other topics might include the history of motherhood or marriage, the biological mothering drive, the psychology of children, et cetera.  I think it's excellent to think about these topics.  I also think you'll want to consider carefully how wedded you want to be to "traditional women's issues."  Some people end up making that their focus; others end up feeling stuck there.

Academic Job Search I - Tips for the pre-interview stage

For other posts in this series:
Networking   First Interview       On Campus Interview      Contract       Rejections
I have been wanting to discuss job search tips (applicable to everyone but with some special considerations for moms on the job market) for a while now.  When I wrote the post, though, it turned into an extremely long post no one would want to read.  So, here for your reading enjoyment are shorter versions of that blog post (which people may ALSO not want to read, but at least I'll have tried ;-))

Usually, people come to me seeking tips on the academic job search in early fall.  I don't mind offering tips any time of year, but I hate to say it: early fall is just a tad too late when doing a job search.  So I'm posting this now in the hopes of helping people out a little sooner.

The academic job search is in a category all its own.  Imagine, first of all, that every.single.job offered involves a nationwide search (in many cases, international search), and then imagine that this job search only happens once a year (that's right: one time per 12 months or you have to wait a year), and then finally imagine that each spot will most likely have over 50 applicants, but more probably over 100 applicants for the spot.  With all that in your head, you're beginning to get a sense of the academic job search.

[You're thinking: there must be a caveat.  Well, there is, somewhat: the above is for full-time, well-paid, generally tenure track positions.  If you're just looking for a part-time temporary position, or adjuncting work (pay at $2500 or less per class per semester), those are usually offered (again, nationwide) between March and July - after people have said they're leaving to take new jobs elsewhere and institutions find themselves at loose ends trying to find someone to cover their fall classes.]

I've been on the job market three times and had countless first round interviews and eight second round interviews, and been on a few hiring committees myself, so I'm basing my tips on those experiences.  (My mistakes, mostly.... ;-)) This post is about the pre-interview stage, where you have to write the cover letters, CVs, teaching philosophies, research statements, and whatever else the school might be looking for, in the hopes of getting an interview. 

In a word: it's YOU, Academic (Cue those Dr. Oz books...).  It's all about you at this stage.  You're trying to showcase your best self (cue Oprah music).  So what does that mean, practically?

1. Take a close look at the job ad.  Is it focusing on research, teaching, or a little of both?  If you can't tell, presume a focus on teaching as that's where most of the jobs are.  If their focus is teaching, when writing your cover letter, you'll want to focus, therefore, on teaching as the second paragraph.  I can't tell you how many times I've seen cover letters focus on the dissertation.  Not a good strategy.

2. Take a close look at YOU in relation to the job ad.  I know the job market is tight.  I know that you're willing to take almost any job because it's a job.  But watch my words here: it REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, won't help to apply for a job that you know is way out of your field.  REALLY.

I cringe to think that I applied for a church history job in my first job-seeking round.  I really am a theological ethicist but I wrote my dissertation using Augustine to comment on the contemporary theological scene.  I milked that Augustine angle for all it was worth, but I'm just not a church historian.  I never got a reply back from that school, wasted postage and time writing a dazzling (but apologetic) letter explaining why even though I had a PhD that said "theological ethics" I could teach church history.

Don't waste your time and money on that kind of thing.  If it's a general position (includes the words "general" or "broad" or "multi-") then that might be worth your time, but if they're looking for someone that specific and you know it isn't you, don't do it.

3. Take a second look at the job ad in relation to YOU.  On the other hand, there will be job ads you might pass over automatically because you think it isn't "you."  Take a second look at those.  There will be some jobs that don't at first look like good fits, or maybe the job ads are just too vague.  In those cases, ask advisors and friends what they think about that position.  It might be worth a look.  My first real academic job was not one I initially thought I could apply for, but I am sure glad I did!

4. The mysteries of the "cover letter" revealed....  Fill in the blanks, amend as necessary for your particular skills...
Address
Date
Dear ____________

I am writing to apply for your job position that appeared in ________________.  I am ABD/PhD candidate at _____________ studying ______________  with (name of professor).  I believe I have the background and skills you are looking for.

Paragraph A.  Teaching paragraph (unless this is a research position, in which case switch with Paragraph B)  I notice that you are looking for someone with ______________ qualities and I see that your university/college has an emphasis on ____________.  I believe I have qualities you seek because I have already taught ____________ classes.  My students think I am awesome, based on my teaching evalutions.  In fact, one student suggests in a course evaluation, "_______________." My particular strengths in teaching include, but are not limited to, entertaining lectures, fast, fun-filled debates, amazing discussions that include acting out parts of the readings, and tests that my students enjoy taking.  I teach writing in the following way: _____________. I always ______________ when I teach because my students love it so much.  I have certificates in teaching with technology, teaching gender, teaching diversity, teaching practical reasoning, teaching students to read, and I won the "Best Teaching Assistant Award" last year. 

Paragraph B - the research paragraph:  I notice that you are looking for someone who has __________ interests; I share many of those interests.  My dissertation focuses on _____________. (Go on about your dissertation for no more than 2 sentences).  I am also interested in ____________, ___________ and ________ and hope to ____________, which fits with your university mission in ___________ way.  I have published articles in ______________ journals and won a research award last year so you won't be sorry you've hired someone who hasn't studied _______________.

I am enclosing my dossier and I look forward to discussing my application with you further.  I will be at the _________ conference but you may also reach me at _____________.

Sincerely,


NB: I, of course, had very few of the "extra" qualifications suggested in this letter, but I did tailor each letter to the school and explain why I thought I'd be a good fit.  That's really the most important thing: tell the school about you and why you think you're the one they need.

5.  The mysteries of the "teaching philosophy" revealed....   Some schools ask for these and lots of applicants find them mysterious.  Well, they are a bit mysterious, so here's a help:

Explore   Lecture      Write    Create       Guide     Think    Exasperate    Listen     Tell   Funnyquote  Discuss   Weirdquestion    Wastetime   Analyze     Mentor     Empathize    Sympathize     Regurgitate    Drinkcoffee

Circle the words that most appeal to you and then consider how your teaching fits (or not) with those words.  Then write a 500-750 word essay that discusses your teaching using the words you circled.

* Seriously, the purpose of the teaching philosophy is let the committee get some sense of why you want to teach and what style of teaching you have.  My own teaching philosophy started with "Funnyquote" and developed that theme, with a bit of "write" and "mentor" thrown in.

6. Research Statement -  First of all, DO NOT wax poetic about your dissertation.  Your research statement should give a sense of broad areas of research, and your next potential project in some detail.  Of all the things you write for the job search, this one is the most fun because a) it's neat to dream and b) it's fun to look back on this later and discover that none of the things you mentioned actually resemble your future research.

And while we're here, let me reiterate that you SHOULD discuss your dissertation in your cover letter, but keep it brief (like two to three sentences - you can do it!) and then demonstrate how awesome you are because you have research interests beyond your dissertation.  (You do, don't you?)

7. Don't lie on your CV.  All joking aside, if your paper isn't published yet, but you've sent it for review, just say it's being reviewed.  If you were a teaching assistant and not the main professor, say you were a TA.  Don't falsely bulk up your CV just because you're worried you won't stand out.  Those of us on the hiring committee well remember being graduate students trying to fit in to academia - and we're sympathetic to those beginning years.  You just simply won't have the publications, teaching experience and service that older colleagues will and that's okay.  Will it cost you an interview?  Perhaps - some schools do like to have people with some teaching experience so someone who's taught their own class may well win out over someone who's "just" TA'd.  Others may give an edge to someone with research experience.  But not always, and not necessarily even usually.  Sometimes the people who get the jobs are people who have no real time experience in either teaching or research, leaving you to scratch your head and wonder, "Why NOT me? I had this and this and this...."

8.  Which leads me to the following statement (and this will not be the first time I say this...):  Academic job searches are NOT rational, not ultimately.  It will make sense why a committee will reject some candidates (only has a master's degree in music when we're looking for an ABD or PhD in history) but it will not make sense why the committee doesn't call YOU for an interview.  Sometimes, you'll be surprised that they DID call.

To quote someone who once interviewed me: chalk it up to "academic voodoo." This is why, after you send off your application it is no longer really about YOU though you'll continue to need to put your best foot forward.  There are all kinds of reasons why someone might or might not call for an interview, including lack of funding, departmental personalities, institutional personalities, inside candidates, lack of funding, sudden change of heart, institutional donors, how large a department is, what someone had for lunch that day, and lack of funding. 


Special considerations for the women/moms out there: None at this stage, except to remind you that in this, as in all job searches, at the beginning stages you must pretend you have no family. In some fields, it helps that you're a woman (if your field is mostly male); in others, gender is a neutral thing.