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The Academic Job Search Handbook, Fourth Edition PDF

286 Pages·2016·34.54 MB·English
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5.99 PRICE £aAAw Price The Acadetiiif^ Job Search Handbook 06-23-16 U Fourth Edition Julia Miller Vick Jennifer S. Furlong The Academic Job Search Handbook Fourth Edition Julia Miller Vick and Jennifer S. Furlong PENN University of Pennsylvania Press Philadelphia Copyright © 2008 Julia Miller Vick and Jennifer S. Furlong Copyright © 1992, 1996, 2001 Mary Morris Heiberger and Julia Miller Vick All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations used for purposes of review or scholarly citation, none of this book may be reproduced in any form by any means without written permission from the publisher. Published by University of Pennsylvania Press Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-4112 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 A Cataloging-in-Publication Record is available from the Library of Congress ISBN 978-0-8122-2016-2 Contents Acknowledgments vii Introduction to the Fourth Edition 1 I. What You Should Know Before You Start 1. The Structure of Academic Careers 5 2. Hiring from the Institution's Point of View 10 II. Planning and Timing Your Search 3. Becoming a Job Candidate: The Timetable for Your Search 19 4. Deciding Where and When to Apply 24 5. The Importance of Advisors and Professional Networks 31 6. Conference Presentations and Networking 36 7. Letters of Recommendation 40 8. Learning About Openings 45 ili. Written Materiais for the Search: Suggestions and Sampies 9. Responding to Position Announcements 51 10. Vitas 52 11. Additional Application Materials 117 12. Web Sites 148 13. Job Hunting Correspondence 153 IV. Conducting the Search 14. Interviewing 177 vi Contents 15. Off-Site Interviews: Conference/Convention and Telephone Interviews 187 16. Campus Interviews 194 17. Job Offers, Negotiations, Acceptances, and Rejections 204 V. After You Take the Job 18. Starting the Job 219 19. Knowing About and Getting Tenure 225 20. Changing Jobs 229 VI. Additional Considerations 21. Dual Career Couples, Pregnant on the Job Market, and Related Concerns 235 22. International Scholars, Older Candidates, Gaps in Your Vita 246 23. Thinking About the Expanded Job Market 251 Appendices Appendix 1: National Job Listing Sources and Scholarly and Professional Associations 269 Appendix 2: Additional Reading 281 Index 285 Acknowledgments This fourth edition of the AcademicJ ob Search Handbook rests on the contri butions of all those who have been mentioned in the Acknowledgments of the first three editions. This edition builds on the previous work of the late Mary Morris Heiberger and adds the voice of new coauthor Jennifer S. Fur long. Thanks go to all past contributors—doctoral students, alumni, postdoc toral fellows, faculty, and administrators—^who provided insight and ideas, a reading of the manuscript, or actual job hunting materials. For years fac ulty members from the University of Pennsylvania and many local colleges and universities have generously shared their insight and experience at programs we have organized for graduate students and postdocs. It is impossible to thank all the speakers here individually, but we are well aware that but for them this book could not exist. Graduate students, postdocs, graduate alumni, and junior faculty members have discussed their own job searches with us; they have broadened our awareness of the range of what may happen and increased our ability to predict what is likely to happen. Our colleagues at Career Services at the University of Pennsylvania have been consistently encouraging and tolerant of the disruption writing a book imposes on a busy student services office. We feel fortunate that its director, Patricia Rose, has been uniformly enthusiastic about and support ive of this project since its inception in the early 1990s. Our colleagues at peer institutions, who use this book in their daily work advising Ph.D. students, graduates, and postdocs on career issues, provided ideas and direction for this edition. Our editor at the University of Pennsylvania Press,J o Joslyn, has provided valuable guidance. We are grateful to Theresa Mawn for updating the appendix of scholarly associations and Lori Strauss for updating the bibli ography. We are particularly grateful to the graduate students, alumni, and post docs from the University of Pennsylvania and other institutions who shared their sample job-hunting materials with us. Because we promised them anonymity, we cannot thank them here by name. However, their generosity has provided what many will find to be the most useful part of this book. viil Acknowledgments Mary Morris Heiberger's dedication to and love for excellent career advising for Ph.D.s lives on in these pages. Mary was an outstanding inspira tion for all of us who have the privilege of working with the talented men and women who pursue careers in research and teaching. In working with the third edition, it was a pleasure to regularly come upon a particular turn of phrase that was most decidedly Mary's. For twenty-seven years, she worked at University of Pennsylvania in Career Services, coordinating and providing career services to master's, doctoral, and postdoctoral students for nine of Penn's schools. Mary loved working on this book and was very proud of the third edition, which came out in 2001,j ust two years before her death from cancer. She knew there would be a fourth edition because there's always more to say about doctoral students, postdocs,j unior faculty, and their careers. This book is dedicated to the memory of Mary Morris Heiberger, Ed.D., Associate Director, Career Services, University of Pennsylvania. Introduction to the Fourth Edition The AcademicJ ob Search Handbook is designed to be a comprehensive guide to what is sometimes a needlessly bewildering process. It is written to help recent Ph.D.s, as well as junior faculty members who are changing posi tions, benefit from the experience of those who have successfully navigated the academic market. Our guidance is geared toward those conducting a Job search in the United States. Candidates looking forj obs in other coun tries may find our advice to be of use; however, it is beyond the scope of this book to comment on the nuances of the job search in other countries or regions of the world. Since the Handbook was first published in 1992, and even since the third edition in 2001, the ways candidates look for jobs have not substantially changed, so much of the original advice remains the same. However, we have added some new materials. We have enhanced the sections on interviewing, negotiating job offers, starting the first job, and expanded career opportunities for Ph.D.s. The sample job hunting materials have been updated and expanded to provide job candidates with an array of possibilities in terms of content, arrange ment, and format. We have added a sample teaching portfolio, a sample interview schedule, and a sample letter of offer. The book begins with an overview of academic careers and institutional structures. It then takes you step by step through the application process, from establishing relationships with advisors years before going on the mar ket to making the most of a new position. Steps discussed include position ing yourself in the market, learning about job listings, preparing vitas, cover letters, and other application materials related to teaching and research, discussing plans with those who will recommend you, participat ing in conferences, and negotiating offers. The final chapter reflects the reality that many people, while having an academic career as their first choice, are also considering other options as they pursue their academic search. Sample written materials, a timetable for your search, an appendix of scholarly and professional associations, and an appendix of resources are included. Because so many of the students and postdocs we work with are con- 2 I ntroduction to the Fourth Edition cerned with balancing family and a demanding career in research and teaching, we've expanded the section on dual career couples and included some first person narratives from members of academic couples. Similarly we have included the stories of candidates who've been pregnant or nurs ing when on the job market as well as suggestions concerning the "right time" to have children. It is our hope that these stories can provide Job candidates with practical strategies for negotiating these situations. Increas ingly universities are evaluating their family leave policies in an attempt to retain academics, particularly women,f or whom family is a priority. We feel this is a positive trend and are optimistic that these policies will continue to become more widespread. Though each discipline has its own customs we have found that there are fundamental similarities in effective searches, whether one is a scientist, a social scientist, a humanist, or an academic in a professional field. How ever, what is "right" is frequently what is done in one's own field. Thus, this guide should never replace the specific conventions of your discipline. You may find useful advice on job hunting from your national professional association. Faculty members in your own field will usually be able to give the best perspective on your search. In job hunting, as in anything else, unanimity is rare. When expert advice conflicts, we hope that the hand book will have given you a perspective from which to form your own judg ment. Even if you are particularly interested in a few specific topics, we suggest that you read the book in its entirety. If you do, you will begin to see how advice on one topic is related to advice on another. If you understand the logic of the approach suggested in the situations we do discuss, you will be able to improvise effectively when you encounter a new situation. We hope that this revised volume is helpful. Academic careers offer the opportunity for intensely satisfying and productive work. For many years we have worked with doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows at our own institution and corresponded with Ph.D.s nationally who read our online column for The Chronicle of Higher Education, We have also spoken with fac ulty and administrators across disciplines about all aspects of the academic job search, as well as with graduate career advisors at other institutions. We hope that by clarifying some of the processes by which positions are obtained, we can reduce some of the anxiety and uncertainty ofj ob hunt ing so that candidates can get on with their chosen teaching and research. Part I What You Should Know Before You Start

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