The Philosophers' Cocoon

Do publication venues matter for many jobs?

In our most recent "how can we help you?" thread, a reader asks:

I have heard that the venue of one's publications doesn't matter for many jobs. Is this true? I guess I have in mind TT (or otherwise permanent) positions that aren't R1 but which still have a research expectation. I am curious about this for both hiring and promotion reasons. Does publishing in, say, generalist journals outside of the top 20 or so look bad to a hiring committee? Could the venue of one's publications every be an issue for tenure or some other form of promotion? Is it better for junior members of the profession to publish anywhere rather than nowhere? Thoughts on any or all of these questions, especially from current faculty involved in these decisions, would be helpful.

Good questions - it would be great to hear from search committee members!

If you've hired before (or are hiring now), what kind of department/institution are you at, and how much (if at all) do publication venues matter to you (or committees you've served on) in hiring?

Submitting another paper to a journal after rejection?

In our most recent "how can we help you?" thread, a reader asks:

an editor suggested me to not succesively send papers to one journal and to wait for (at least) a few months before submitting another paper. Is this the norm in most journals? (I am new to the game and trying to make sure that I know the rules which are not indicated in the instructions) Thanks so much.

Some journals have explicit policies about this, but I don't know if beyond this there are any unspoken norms. 

What do readers think?

Job-market discussion thread (2024-25 season)

Now that it's September, I figured now is probably a good time as any to open up this season's job-market discussion board. After all, readers who will be heading out on the market may already have questions you'd like to discuss (about application materials, the application process, etc.). So, please feel free to bookmark and visit this thread throughout the job season to commiserate with others, or just to see what others are talking about!

As many readers of the Cocoon may recall, each job season the Cocoon hosts two different job-market threads:

1. A job-market discussion thread (the present thread): to commiserate about the market, discuss particular job ads, the market in general, questions about application materials, interviewing, alt-ac opportunities, and so on.
2. A job-market reporting thread: to post news about interviews, on-campus visits, offers, rejection notices, etc.

This post will serve as the discussion thread, and as in the past I will open the reporting thread at a later date, around or after most job applications become due.

Because someone always asks, "Why two threads?", there are a couple of reasons. First, some people may want to discuss the market but not stress over daily news regarding which jobs they still do or don't have a chance for. Conversely, others may not want to discuss the market but just want news about the jobs they've applied for. Second, these threads can get very long already, so I think the best way for people to get the information they want in a well-ordered format is simply to have two threads.

A few final notes:

• This thread (the post you are reading right now!) will be the home of this year's job-market discussion thread. So, if you want to discuss this year's job-market, just comment below.
• Please reserve job-market news (i.e. interviews, on-campus visits, hires, etc.) for the job-market reporting thread, which I will open sometime in September.
• A 'permalink' to this thread will be on the upper right of blog's right sidebar for the rest of the job season. -->
• Because of Typepad's functionality limitations (which only permits 100 comments before starting a new comment page), readers may elect to bookmark each new page of comments as each new page emerges. I recognize that it can be frustrating to scroll through page after page to get to new comments, and I think this is probably the best solution given Typepad's functionality limitations.

Finally, as always, readers are asked to please bear in mind the Cocoon's supportive mission. I try not to moderate with too heavy of a hand, as I don't like to squelch reasonable discussion and debate. I also realize that the job-market can be an emotional roller-coaster, and that passions can run deep on job-market issues. But the Cocoon has always been intended to be an unique oasis of sorts: as a refuge for early-career philosophers to support each other and discuss issues related to their careers and the profession in productive, supportive way. So, I will moderate carefully to ensure that these threads remain a welcome environment for everyone--and, of course, if anyone has any concerns, please do not hesitate to let me know.

All that being said, discuss away!

How to Cold-Contact People to Learn about Getting Out of Academia (By Greg Stoutenburg)

By Greg Stoutenburg (@LinkedIn, PhilPeople)

A few years ago, I wrote a piece for this blog about my own transition out of academic philosophy and into a role in industry, in which I tried to provide a high-level overview of how to make the same transition. You can see it here: How to leave philosophy (Guest post by Greg Stoutenburg) - The Philosophers' Cocoon (typepad.com)

Having just read through it again, I’m struck by just how much is squeezed into those ~3,000 words. So, I wanted to write a follow-up about one part that surfaced in the comments for seeming particularly impractical or anxiety-provoking: cold-contacting people for the purpose of learning from them.

I’m going to now ignore everything else involved in a career transition from academia and focus just on this one thing.

What is a cold contact?

A cold contact is someone you’re contacting and have no prior relationship of any kind.

Why are we talking about cold-contacting people?

Because a conversation with someone in a job you may be interested in is a fast way to gain knowledge of that career path. At the end of that conversation, you may be much more enthusiastic about that path or have been successfully persuaded that you are not interested in that path. (For me, it was usually the latter.) Either way, you’ll have acquired that knowledge in about 15 minutes, which is much better than if you just tried Googling it.

Why do I need to cold-contact people?

Because you are an academic philosopher and you only know other academic philosophers, and you already know you don’t want to be on this path. So unless you have a source of contacts that someone can introduce you to – and that would be a ‘warm’ contact – this will be an important way for you to talk with people to gain the knowledge you're after.