Job market well-wishes

Now that the first jobs of this year's academic job season have been posted to philjobs, I just wanted to wish all of the job-candidates out there the best of luck on the market. Having spent seven years on the market myself, I know very well just how grueling the market can be. Although, as we all unfortunately know, there are not nearly enough jobs for all of the talented and qualified candidates out there, my wishes and hopes are with all of you.

Also, if there is anything at all we here at the Cocoon can do--if you have any questions you would like to (anonymously) pose to the Cocoon community (about applying, interviewing, contract negotiations, whatever)--please do feel free to send them to me at [email protected]. The Cocoon community is always here to help!

Finally, for anyone who might have missed them, here are the posts from the Cocoon's Job-Market Boot Camp:

• Building a strong, competitive CV
• Organizing/composing the CV itself
• Securing good letters of recommendation
• The European job-market
• Using job-market consultants
• Developing a coherent research program
• Cover letters
• Teaching statements
• Teaching portfolios
• Research statements
• Diversity statements
• Cultivating an online presence
• Where and when to apply (addendum)
• Writing samples
• Skype and phone interviews
• APA interviews
• Campus visits
• British interviews
• Contract negotiations
• Emotional maintenance
• Mentoring
• Non-academic jobs

Additionally, here are a few posts from my Notes from Both Sides of the Market series:

• Building a strong CV
• Organizing the CV
• Teaching portfolio dilemmas
• Making teaching statements precise

Good luck, everyone!

Comments

[Pendaran Roberts]

The jobs for the UK this summer (normally heavy advertising time for UK) were sparse to say the least. I didn't do any calculations, but it seems to me to be a 30-50% reduction from last summer. I'm curious what the US job market is going to be like. I remember last year was worse than previous years.

[Justin]

Thanks for the well wishes, Marcus! And thanks for all the service you are doing for those of us trying to crack the market (I'd like to extend that thanks to Helen as well). I admire your dedication to helping those that seem most vulnerable in the academy.

Cheers to a productive academic year!

Best,
Justin