Going on the Job Market

Paul Staniland

May 2015

“And the study finds that some institutions that may not have been historically at the very top in Ph.D. placement have been doing much better lately.For example, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Cornell University are 12th and 13th, respectively, on the list in terms of number of Ph.D. alumni in political science working as tenured or tenure-track faculty members at research universities. But they have more placements of assistant professors than does the University of Chicago (ranked 5th).”- Inside Higher Ed, September 3, 2013

“We code efficiency asthe number of candidates placed per faculty member of the institution” – Oprisko et al. 2013

Outline Timeline

Your Application

The Other Side

Dealing with job talks (and a lack thereof)

[Apologies for Powerpoint-iness; Kathy will distribute files to those who can’t make the talk]

Getting Ready Now: go to others’ job talks and practices Spring: meet with your committee

Get enthusiastic support Agree on a plan of attack; what is target?

Early summer: get full set of materials to letter-writers Writing samples Drafts of cover letter, research statement,

teaching statement Overview of your market strategy and how you

are framing yourself

Market Season August: job ads begin getting posted on

APSA e-jobs (continue through winter) Start practicing your talk now (in mirror, to friends,

to captive audiences, etc) APSA Meeting: interviews for some schools

Can lead to on-campus interviews, good practice September-December: core season

Keep committee up to date January-March: late fly-outs, postdocs,

VAPs/adjunct

Applying: Logistics Generic application requires:

Transcript 3 letters of recommendation* Cover letter* CV* Writing sample (varying lengths)* Research statement Teaching statement

* = really really important.

Your Letters Keys to the kingdom

Strong letters can make up for thin file; weak letters can doom seemingly strong candidate

This is why you need your chair’s buy-in and a committee that knows you and your work very well Long, detailed, substantive letters help cut

through incredibly noisiness of market But also networking and clubbiness effects Controversial but hugely important

Your Cover Letter 2 pages maximum Your chance to make a first impression:

Your research “elevator pitch” delivered as concisely and tightly as possible

Framed broadly for non-specialists on committee Link to department/university fit and teaching

approach Write numerous drafts, have friends and

advisers read carefully; get past copies Particularly important for ABDs

Your CV Look at CVs of others: what do they include?

What do they exclude? Get something professional-looking

Useful short-hand for whether this person knows how the business works Publications, conference presentations, fieldwork,

languages, methods skills, etc Also shows rough “quality” metrics like your

committee, fellowships

Your Writing Sample Usually dissertation chapter or two,

sometimes in article-ish format Length varies dramatically Have something that is relatively succinct – no

one wants to read 140 pages of ABD musings. Core argument and evidence needs to be

clearly and systematically presented Should be in good shape stylistically, but doesn’t

need to be perfectly polished Spend the summer getting this ready

The Other Side Committee, usually from within department

Sometimes inter-disciplinary lines have cross-department committees

Staggeringly opaque and contingent Committee haggles to arrive at a short-list of

people to invite Usually subfield-specific search, but committees

often cross-subfield: have to speak beyond narrow sub-specialty

Politics of coalitions

What Gets Attention

Clarity Should go without saying, but: convey crisply and

cleanly what your dissertation is about, why it matters, why your research is of high quality, and where you are going next

Distinctiveness

Portfolio

Distinctiveness Departments have limited resources and

opportunities You are asking them to burn a huge amount of

money and time on you What do you bring to the place, other than being

reasonably smart? Lots of reasonably smart people, exceedingly few jobs

Could be the question, evidence/interpretation/data, methods, framing – and has to be conveyed in accessible terms

Portfolio General sense of your trajectory and skill set

Methods Language Regional/field expertise Publications Fellowships Conference talks Teaching

Trying to suss out where you are going over next 5 years: do you have the skills and drive necessary to pull off a tenurable file? Some depts hire primarily based on skills

Job Talks & their Absence Practice your talk starting August

Regular presentation to self Several talks to small groups of friends Formal dept practice talk/s Prep Q&A: standard expected Q’s and your answers

Logistics Keep close watch on APSA e-Jobs website: make

sure not to miss anything Maintain detailed spreadsheet of ads and your

status with them Don’t want to miss deadlines, not include materials, etc

Waiting Very easy to lose entire fall, much of winter

Avoid blogs, 5th-hand gossip, etc. Assume failure in 1st time out and try to have

success be above baseline expectations Focus on writing and publishing above all

else That said, I spent much of fall 2009 playing Age of

Empires III alone. . . .

If you do get a fly-out Your talk!

Most important, especially Q&A Endless advice available about what a good talk

involves: seek it out and get feedback on yours 1-on-1s with faculty Meetings with chair and dean/administrators Meetings with students Teaching demonstration (sometimes) Dinners and lunches with faculty

Going into a Visit Memorized talk and prepped Q&A Research on university, department, and

faculty you will be meeting with Elevator pitch on your dissertation Teaching plans Talking points to address your weaknesses

Why no publications/teaching experience/etc? Strategy for signaling interest or providing

info on other talks

Dealing with no Talks/Offers Peer networks essential for surviving Not getting on job on 1st try is common, even

for people who end up with great job But still have candid talk with your advisers: better

to know the reality than be deluded As appropriate, think (and talk) through exit

strategy if academia unappealing Need to get over “stigma” of non-academic jobs Getting tenure-track academic job not the ultimate

measure of your human worth

Final Thoughts

Market shouldn’t drive major intellectual decisions

Ask, ask, ask – very few truly stupid questions

Preparation essential – cannot overemphasize this point

Questions?