academic jobs in a nutshell borrows heavily from tom wenisch’s “job talk” talk
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Academic Jobs in a NutshellBorrows heavily from
Tom Wenisch’s “Job Talk” Talk
Nate Derbinsky10 January 2012
Outline
1. Factors for Consideration2. Types of Institutions3. Types of Jobs4. Application Materials
1. Factors
• Autonomy• Salary• Resources• Responsibilities• Performance Evaluation• Timeline/Process• Prospects• Comparison to Industry/Gov’t
Autonomy
• Degree of supervision– Do you have a boss?
• Tenure– Freedom to pursue your curiosities (subject to
grants/centers, departmental initiatives, …)
Salary
• Sponsored/Soft money– Ongoing: you need to secure moneys to pay your salary
• Non-Sponsored/General fund– Your salary is “reliable” and guaranteed through some
process/fund external to your fund-raising efforts
• Absolute amount + potential for growth
• 9-month vs. 12-month
Resources• Graduate students
– Think about your life right now: these are the folks who do all the work
• Collaborators– Intra/Inter-departmental
• Administrative staff– Everyday, special projects (e.g. conferences), admissions, budgeting, etc.
• Teaching assistance– Lecturers, GSI/IA, feedback (e.g. CRLT)
• Institutional funding opportunities• Computational/equipment (e.g. cluster computing)
Responsibilities• Teaching
– Comfort zone vs. not, new vs. old, service• Research
– Grad vs. undergrad, self-promotion, raising $$• Service
– Committees, advising, research community (e.g. run a conference, review), leadership
• Mentoring– Grad vs. undergrad, placement
• Workload– Does the work ever end?
Performance Evaluation
• Research– Publications (venues), “impact” (e.g. h-index),
student progress/placement, letters (student, research community), bringing in $$, career award
• Teaching– Student evaluations, student letters,
innovation/publications• Service– “Take one for the team,” outreach, balancing T/R
Timeline/Process
• Typical– 3 + 3 (+1)– Startup package
• various colors of $$ (equipment, students, summer salary)• teaching
• Variables/Issues– Retention rate– Clarity of expectations
• Who is deciding (esp. relevant for co-appointment)• What are the baselines
Prospects• Basics
– Title: assistant, associate, full, endowed chair– Base-salary increase– Tenure (usually with associate)– Sabbatical (4/7 years, ½ + ½ pay)
• Tech transfer/spinoff
• Administration
• Program manager
Comparison to Industry/Gov’t
• Autonomy: > (e.g. 6.1 vs. 6.2-3)• Salary: <• Resources: <> (e.g. students, equipment/data)• Responsibilities: <> (e.g. teaching, funding)– Hours: worse (e.g. >80 hours/week), never-ending• But you are in “control”
2. Types of Institutions
• Teaching/Liberal Arts (T1)– Oberlin, Harvey Mudd, Swarthmore
• Comprehensive– Eastern/Western *
• Research (R1)– Stanford, Berkeley, MIT, CMU– Brown, Yale, Princeton, Harvard
Institutional Factors
• Degree offerings (BS, MS, PhD)– Location of program (e.g. Math, Engineering,
Business), own department?• Student population– Balance of undergrad vs. grad
• School location• Professional schools (e.g. Med)• Teaching load
Rough Categorization
T1• BS (maybe MS)• Small student pop. (1000’s)• More rural• No professional degrees• 3-4 courses per semester
R1• BS, MS, PhD• Large student pop. (10k’s)• More urban• Mix of professional degrees• 0-2 courses per semester
– Buyout!
3. Types of Jobs
• Post Doc• Research Scientist/Professor• Lecturer/Teaching-Professor• Tenure-Track Professor
Post Doc
• Temporary employment (1-3 years)– Usually research, maybe teaching
• Typically working for a faculty member– Possibly independent funding (e.g. fellowship)– Common to get position via “who you know”
• Sources: academic, gov’t labs (e.g. AFRL, NRL)
• Goals– Avoid the real world (travel!)– Better preparation for the job search
• Letters, experience/CV, job-market conditions• Make progress, distinguish from thesis/advisor
Research Scientist/Professor
• Research only, soft money• Variable autonomy• Rarely tenure track
Lecturer/Teaching Professor
• Teaching only (renewable appointments)– Some intermittent hires ~ enrollment
• Evaluated on teaching– High loads, lots of intro/service courses
• Rarely tenure-track
Tenure-Track Professor
• Autonomous from day-1– Must become a…• R1: World-class researcher & competent teacher
– Bring in $$, produce high-impact research, and place students
• T1: Innovative teacher & competent researcher– Teach lots of courses very well, and place students
Transitions
• Post Doc -> *• Academia -> Industry– Harder in reverse
• R1 -> T1 (not easy)– Harder in reverse
• Industry -> T1 (not easy)– Maybe via Community College
4. Application Materials
• Cover Letter• CV• Teaching Statement• Research Statement• Letters (3-5)
Cover Letter (~1 day, 1 page)
• Intended position• Summary of packet, relative to position• Opportunity to specialize to post
CV (~1 day)
• Arbitrarily long– Honors/awards– Publications– Service– Teaching
• Should be maintained incrementally– Have an easy-to-navigate website with links to your
papers and presentations
Teaching Stmt. (~1-2 wks, 1-2 pgs)
• Experience• Philosophy• Interests/Qualifications– Research seminar– T1: show flexibility, more detail
Research Stmt (~1-4 wks, 1-4 pgs)
• Broad vision• Dissertation work– Cite own papers
• Plan (5-years)– Build on strengths, expand, take some risk– T1: incorporation of undergrads
Letters• In-depth, extensive, “coded”• From…
– Committee– Better: internal collaborators– Better: external collaborators (academia > industry)– Best: academic leaders in the field
• How…– Collaborate– Visibility: good work, good talks, good questions
• Conferences, invited talks, service
• Provide application materials at least– Keep up with deadlines, coordinate with writers
Process
• Read posts (do not be dissuaded by fields)– Fall ‘X for Fall ‘X+1
• Submit materials (web, e-mail, snail)– Provide letter info (usually immediate request)
• Make sure recommenders submit letters
• Wait…– Possibly phone interview (T1?)– Onsite: 1-hour job talk, many 30-60-minute individual
meetings, student meetings, dinner– Offer scheduling
Misc
• Apply widely– But not where you wouldn’t want to take the job
• The goal of the application packet is to get an interview
• Two-body problems (& solutions)
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