The Philosophers' Cocoon

Compendium of Job-Market Resources

Here's a list of links to the Cocoon's Job Market Boot Camp:

1. Building a Strong, Competitive CV

2. Tailoring your job-market strategy to your situation

3. Writing a good CV

4. Common mistakes with CVs

5. Letters of Recommendation

6. The European job market

7. Job-market consultants

8. Developing coherent research program(s)

9. The Cover Letter

10. The Teaching Statement

11. Common mistakes with teaching statements

12. The Research Statement

13. Common mistakes with research statements

14. How to cultivate a professional online presence

15. When and where to apply for tenure-track jobs

16. Where and When to Apply (Addendum)

17. The Teaching Portfolio

18. Common mistakes with teaching portfolios

19. Writing Samples

20. The Diversity Statement

21. First-round Interviews

22. Zoom & Telephone Interviews

23. The British interview

24. The Campus Visit

25. Teaching demos

26. Negotiating

27. Emotional Maintenance

28. Finding support from a mentor

29. When Spring Term Rolls Around

30. Opting for a non-academic career - when, what and how?

31. Teaching demos

 

This is a list of quick-links to our Notes From Both Sides of the Market series:

1. Building a strong CV

2. Organizing one's CV

3. Teaching portfolio dilemmas

4. Making the teaching statement precise

5. Standing out in a crowded field

6. Interpreting interview results

7. Standing out for teaching jobs

8. More on standing out for teaching jobs

9. The elusiveness of "fit"

10. Tenure requirements

11. Tenure requirements & decisionmaking

 

This is a list of links to our Secret Lives of Search Committees series:

1. Top 5 job-market tips

2. Tips from a Research University search committee member

3. Tips from a Liberal Arts College Committee Member

4. How 'fit' matters

5. How applications are read

6. How decisions are made

7. Originality

8. AOS and project choices

9. Staleness

10. Job candidate career stage

11. Teaching experience

12. 'Horse-trading'

13. Online presence

14. Interviews

15. Not acting like a grad student

16. What happens after interviews

17. Teaching dossiers

18. CVs

19. Recommendation letters

20. Job-talks at teaching schools

21. Jobs abroad

22. Campus visits

23. Apply again!

 

And here's a series of Tips from Search Committee Members:

1. How search committees read and evaluate CVs

2. How committees read cover letters

3. How committees read research statements

4. How committees read teaching statements

5. How committees evaluate teaching portfolios

6. How committees evaluate diversity statements

7. How committees evaluate writing samples

8. How committees evaluate recommendation letters

9. How committees evaluate candidates in interviews

Etiquette in job application materials post-PhD?

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

When I applied for jobs when finishing my PhD, I used my institutional email address and institutional letterhead in my job applications.

Now that I am in a TT position, I am not sure what email address to use (personal or institutional), nor whether to use my institutional letterhead, in my job applications.

What is the general etiquette for application materials when applying out of a professional appointment rather than a PhD program?

Apologies if this has already been answered and I've overlooked it. I can only seem to find a couple of posts addressing this, but from ~10 years ago.

Hmm... not sure I see any issues here. If you'd like to use your institution's letterhead and your professional email address, go for it. If not, then don't! Or am I missing something? 

What do readers think?

Miscellaneous CV questions

In our newest "how can we help you?" thread a reader asks:

I have questions about miscellaneous things for a CV.

Should conference panel moderating go on a CV and, if so, where?

Should academic journals or articles which are reviewed by the editorial board, but not external blind reviewers, go under the same heading or a different one from blind-peer review articles?

Is it still normative to include personal contact details on a CV in addition to institutional contact information?

I've seen some people put conference commentaries on CVs, but to me that and conference panel moderating seems like "CV padding" to me. Maybe if you don't have much on your CV, it makes sense--but I suspect it's not going to help anyone much. On the second question, I'm not 100% sure, but different categories seems nitpicky to me. As long as you're clear about the actual peer-review processes, say in annual reviews or tenure and promotion files, it seems to me okay to place anything that had peer review (anonymized or not) under a category of peer-reviewed publications. When it comes to contact information, I don't know.

What do readers think? Also, if you have any CV questions yourself, please feel free to ask them and discuss in the comments section below. It could be nice to have a discussion of "all things CV" in one place!

Asking if a department is hiring next year?

In our newest "how can we help you?" thread a reader asks:

Is it imprudent to contact schools you think you'd be a good fit for and ask if they anticipate hiring anyone in the next academic year? I want to do this for two reasons: a) I'm just really curious, and b) in the event they are, I don't want to i) risk missing their posting, and ii) I want to have time to cater a good job application that fits them well.

Hmm...I'm not sure. I seem to recall us discussing this before and some people suggesting this can be a fine idea, but I guess that surprises me. I doubt much if any harm can come from asking, but most departments don't hire most years, so could it come across a bit pushy?

What do readers think? 

Asking if a department is hiring next year?

In our newest "how can we help you?" thread a reader asks:

Is it imprudent to contact schools you think you'd be a good fit for and ask if they anticipate hiring anyone in the next academic year? I want to do this for two reasons: a) I'm just really curious, and b) in the event they are, I don't want to i) risk missing their posting, and ii) I want to have time to cater a good job application that fits them well.

Hmm...I'm not sure. I seem to recall us discussing this before and some people suggesting this can be a fine idea, but I guess that surprises me. I doubt much if any harm can come from asking, but most departments don't hire most years, so could it come across a bit pushy?

What do readers think? 

Questions to ask (chairs, deans, provosts, etc.) during a campus visit

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

I've been on the job market for a few years and I think I've pretty much perfected the "Do you have questions for us?" portion of the zoom interview. But I've been on very few campus visits and there seem to be meetings with deans and chairs where I'm the one who is supposed to be asking questions. Questions that I'm coming up with like "What kind of research budget would I have" feel weird, presumptuous or even off putting.

This is a long way of asking if any readers have advice on what questions to ask during a campus interview?

An excellent question! ;) I suspect the kinds of questions that one should or shouldn't ask depend a lot on the kind of institution. For example, if you ask about a research budget or course-releases from teaching while visiting a teaching-focused institution, that may run the risk of making you look like a bad fit. Then again, maybe not--so maybe it makes sense to feel out with a department chair during the on-campus which kinds of questions it is good to ask administrators? Given that you're a finalist, I suspect that in most cases, a chair or other department faculty might provide good guidance.

What do you all think? It would be great to hear both from past and present job-candidates, as well as from people on the hiring side of things.

Job market do's and don'ts: campus visits

I'd like to continue our new job-market do's and don'ts series today by asking search committee members to weigh in on what job candidates should or shouldn't do during campus visits / 'flyouts'.

I wrote one post on campus visits for our Job Market Boot Camp series, but I think it would be great to hear from other search committee members. Are there things that you’ve seen candidates do during campus visits that reflected well on them? Alternatively, are there things you've seen candidates do that came across poorly?

Finally, job candidates: feel free to ask search committee members in thread below any questions that you have (and search committees, feel free to answer)!

Job market do's and don'ts: teaching demos

I'd like to continue our new job-market do's and don'ts series today by asking search committee members to weigh in on what job candidates should and shouldn't do in teaching demos.

I wrote one post giving some tips for job talks at teaching-focused institutions in our Job Market Boot Camp series, but I think it would be great to hear from other search committee members.

Are there things that you’ve seen candidates do in teaching demos that worked particularly well? Are there particular things you want to see in a good demo? What about things you don’t want to see? What are the most common features of a good or bad demo? Are there any common teaching demo mistakes you’ve seen candidates make? Is there anything in particular that can 'sink' a candidate?

Finally, job candidates: feel free to ask search committee members in thread below any questions that you have (and search committees, feel free to answer)!

Job market do's and don'ts: research 'job talks'

I'd like to continue our new job-market do's and don'ts series today by asking search committee members to weigh in on what job candidates should and shouldn't do in research 'job talks.'

I wrote one post giving some tips for job talks at teaching-focused institutions in our Secret Lives of Search Committees series, but I think it would be great to hear from other search committee members, including people from research-focused R1 departments. 

Are there things that you’ve seen candidates do in job talks that worked particularly well? Are there particular things you want to see in a good job talk? What about things you don’t want to see? What are the most common features of a good talk or bad talk? Are there any common job talk mistakes you’ve seen candidates make?

Finally, job candidates: feel free to ask search committee members in thread below any questions that you have (and search committees, feel free to answer)!

Job market do's and don'ts: Zoom interviews

I'd like to continue our new job-market do's and don'ts series today by asking search committee members to weigh in on what job candidates should and shouldn't do in Zoom interviews. I wrote one post on phone and video interviews back in 2015 in our Job Market Boot Camp, but I think it would be good to hear from search committee members on what they think are do's and don'ts for Zoom interviews. 

Are there things that you’ve seen candidates do in interviews that worked particularly well? Are there particular things you want to see in a good interview? What about things you don’t want to see? What are the most common features of a 'good interview' or 'bad interview'? Are there any common mistakes you’ve seen candidates make that you think candidates should know to avoid?

Finally, job candidates: feel free to ask search committee members in thread below any questions that you have about interviews (and search committees, feel free to answer)!

Job market do's and don'ts: research statements

I'd like to continue our new job-market do's and don'ts series today by asking search committee members to weigh in on what job candidates should and shouldn't do in research statements. I wrote one post on teaching portfolios back in 2015 in our Job Market Boot Camp, but I think it would be good to hear from search committee members on what they think are do's and don'ts for research statements. 

Are there things that you’ve seen candidates do in research statements that worked particularly well? Are there particular things you want to see in a good research statement (such as a 5 year plan)? What about things you don’t want to see? Are there any common mistakes you’ve seen candidates make in research statements that you think candidates should know to avoid?

Finally, job candidates: feel free to ask search committee members in thread below any questions that you have about research statements (and search committees, feel free to answer)!

Job market do's and don'ts: teaching portfolios

I'd like to continue our new job-market do's and don'ts series today by asking search committee members to weigh in on what job candidates should and shouldn't do in teaching portfolios. I'm a bit surprised that no one has weighed in on our thread on teaching statements, as there were quite a few helpful comments in the threads on CVs and cover letters. So, I'm hoping people may have more to say on teaching portfolios. 

I wrote one post on teaching portfolios back in 2015 in our Job Market Boot Camp, and another post in our "Notes from both sides of the market" series in 2016. However, I think it would be good to hear from search committee members on do's and dont's for:

1. How long teaching portfolios should/shouldn't be (how many pages is too short/too long?)
2. What to include/not include in teaching portfolios
   • 'Selected' student comments vs. complete/unedited student comments?
   • 'Letters of recommendation' written by students?
   • Full syllabi vs. course descriptions + reading lists?
   • Syllabi only, or syllabi plus sample assignments?
3. How to format teaching portfolios
   • 'Raw' teaching evaluations (formatted by university) vs. candidate-formatted summaries
   • Etc.
4. Any other do's/don'ts?

On (4), are there things that you’ve seen candidates do in teaching portfolios that worked particularly well? Are there any common mistakes you’ve seen candidates make in teaching portfolios that you think candidates should know to avoid?

Finally, job candidates: feel free to ask search committee members in thread below any questions that you have about teaching portfolios (and search committees, feel free to answer)!

Listing works in progress? What counts?

In our job-market do's and don'ts thread on CVs, there was some discussion of whether job candidates should list works-in-progress (WIPs), and if so, whether listing too many of them can decrease a candidate's credibility. On early career person suggested it might be good to run a new thread on these questions, so here it is!

My own sense is search committees care far more about what you've actually published than WIPs. But still, these are fair questions:

1. Should candidates list WIPs?
2. If so, under what conditions? What counts as a WIP?
3. Is listing too many WIPs problematic? 

I don't have any clear picture on what the answer to (1) is. On the one hand, listing WIPs can show that you have potential publications in your research pipeline. On the other hand, listing WIPs shows that you haven't actually published them, and in terms of getting tenure and/or promotion, actually publishing is what matters. 

On (2), Bill Vanderburgh writes, "Be prepared to answer detailed questions about anything you list as in preparation." But, this actually seems to me to be too minimal of a standard. I've always been told that you should only list something as a WIP if you would be able to actually provide a paper draft, if asked. After all, it's entirely possible that someone on a search committee might be interested in one of your papers at some point and even ask to read it. Maybe the probability of this is small. But still, if my recollection serves me correctly, it happened to me as a job candidate on at least one occasion. So, I think it's probably a bad idea to list papers that are only partially drafted or which you merely plan to draft. 

On (3), I don't know. Bill Vanderburg writes, "listing more than two works in progress decreases credibility." Another Assistant Professor adds:

I don't know that I specifically endorse Bill's "list only 2" works in progress cap as a strict rule, but I appreciate the spirit of it.

Early Career notes that if you are ABD and have several accepted conference papers in the mix then you likely have 5-6 works in progress. Sure, but those things are also already represented on your CV, right? If you are presenting on the main program of the APA, we all know that you submitted a 3K word paper to get in, and so it is already on your CV, and you don't need to list it elsewhere. If you are ABD then we all know you are writing a dissertation with probably 4-6 chapters (some of which, presumably, will turn into journal articles if you aren't trying to make the whole thing into a monograph). But that is also already part of your CV. It seems a bit odd to then also list these things that would be on your CV in other places already *also* as "works in progress."

I would use a works in progress section sparingly, only if it helps signal *new* directions on existing scholarship (though you could/should also talk about these in your cover letter or research statement) and not just as CV filler (which it risks looking like for most folks).

I guess I think the last sentence of this comment is the most relevant one: search committees will probably consider your WIPs in context. So, if you have no publications, or maybe just one or two, then listing (say) 10 WIPs isn't going to look very good. It will look like filler, or worse: it will look like you have a lot of things you just haven't been able to publish! On the other hand, suppose you are a candidate who has 8 publications, and you list 10 WIPs. In this case, I wonder whether you might come across as extraordinarily productive--as someone who has not only published a lot, but who is likely to continue to do so moving forward. Then again, if you have 8 publications, do you even need to list WIPs at all? I'm not sure. The longer I was on the market, and the more publications I had, I didn't even bother listing them.

Anyway, these are just my thoughts on questions (1)-(3). What are yours? 

Job market do's and don'ts: teaching statements

I'd like to continue our new job-market do's and don'ts series today by asking search committee members to weigh in on what job candidates should and shouldn't do in teaching statements. I wrote one post on teaching statements back in 2015 in our Job Market Boot Camp, and another post in our "Notes from both sides of the market" series in 2016. But of course these posts simply reflect my own thoughts and experiences, and I think it would be good to hear from search committee members on what they think are do's and don'ts for teaching statements. 

Are there things that you’ve seen candidates do in teaching statements that worked particularly well? Are there particular things you want to see in a good teaching statement? What about things you don’t want to see? Are there any common mistakes you’ve seen candidates make in teaching statements that you think candidates should know to absolutely avoid?

Finally, job candidates: feel free to ask search committee members in thread below any questions that you have about teaching statements (and search committees, feel free to answer)!

Job market do's and don'ts: CVs

I'd like to continue our new job-market do's and don'ts series today by asking search committee members to weigh in on what job candidates should and shouldn't do on CVs. I wrote two posts on CVs in our Job-Market Boot Camp series back in 2015 and 2019, but still, I think it might be good to hear from people who have recently served on search committees. 

Are there things that you’ve seen candidates do in CVs that worked particularly well? Are there particular things you want to see in a good CV? What about things you don’t want to see in a CV? Are there any common mistakes you’ve seen candidates make in CVs that you think candidates should know to absolutely avoid? Finally, job candidates: feel free to ask search committee members in thread below any questions that you have!

Also, our first thread in this series, on cover letters, took a bit to get going yesterday, but there have been some good comments. So, do feel free to continue weighing in over there too!

Job market do’s and dont’s: cover letters

It’s been a while since we’ve had a new series on job market tips, such as our Job Market Boot Camp, Secret Lives of Search Committees, and Alt-Ac Transition Tips series. Given that this year’s academic job market will be ramping up soon, I thought it might be good to run a series soliciting tips from search committee members on things that job candidates should do and not do to be as competitive as possible.

I’d like to begin today with cover letters. I wrote on cover letters in the boot camp series, but of course that’s just my advice based on things that I experienced as a job candidate and search committee member. So, in today’s post, I’d love to hear from other search committee members on things they think candidates should do and not do in cover letters.

Are there things that you’ve seen candidates say in cover letters that worked particularly well? Are there particular things you want to see in a good cover letter? What about things you don’t want to see in a cover letter? Are there any common mistakes you’ve seen candidates make in cover letters that you think candidates should know to avoid? Finally, job candidates: feel free to ask search committee members in thread below any questions that you have!