Launching the Successful Job Search

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Launching the Successful Job Search
Colleen Cosgrove Hegg Michigan State
University hegg_at_msu.edu
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Dual-career job search

• 80 of academics have partners who are working
  professionals
• almost half of these partners are academics
• Intense competition to hire the best faculty has
  forced institutions to assist dual-career couples
  in finding suitable employment for the
  accompanying partner

The Two Body Problem - Lisa B. Wolf-Wendel, Susan
Twombly, and Suzanne Rice

http//www.provost.wisc.edu/hiring/spousal.html
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Succeeding in the job search requires

• Knowledge of self
• Knowledge of audience
• (search committee, department)
• Knowledge of process

Luck favors the prepared Albert Einstein (?) In
science, fortune favors the prepared mind Louis
Pasteur The harder I work, the more luck I seem
to have Thomas Jefferson
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Launching your job search
Self assessment Do you possess the skills
required to be successful? How competitive are
you? What are your long-term career goals? What
are your requirements for personal and
professional satisfaction? What is your work
style? Exploration Whats out there? What
options do I have? What jobs fit my skills? What
careers and industries can use them? Focusing Whi
ch organizations are a good fit? What is the
size and type of institution at which you would
like to teach? What do I need to do to be
competitive? What topics do you feel comfortable
teaching? Do you have dual-career
considerations? Will there be lifestyle and
personal issues that influence your search?
Early (Graduate Student)
Mid
Late (Post-doc)
On the Market
Knowledge of self
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Dual-career considerations
If you are in very similar fields, will you both
apply for the same jobs? How are you going to
feel if you end up competing against each other?
How far apart from each other are you willing
to live? Should you live apart a few years and
pursue your careers separately? If you are
willing to live apart, can you afford to maintain
two households? What will you do if you receive
jobs on opposite sides of the country? Should
one of you give up the offer for the sake of
staying together? And if you want to stay
together, which offer is better? Whose career
should take precedence?
Comic strip from http//www.phdcomics.com/ March
21, 2007
Knowledge of self
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The institutions point of view

• Filling a vacated academic position is not
  routinely granted
• Departments have to lobby the dean to obtain a
  replacement, and compete with other departments
  wishing to expand
• The advertised position can describe
• Need to replace a faculty member with a
  particular area of expertise
• Long-range plan to build up a particular area
• A fishing expedition to see who is out there
• Search committees
• May include all faculty members in a small
  department
• May be a subset of the department (4-6 members)
• May provide a recommendation to the departmental
  chair, who has the ultimate decision
• Have to read hundreds of applications in order to
  identify potential candidates

Knowledge of audience
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Academic Job Search Materials

• Application elements requested
• Curriculum Vitae (30)
• Letter of application / cover letter (30)
• Description of future research plans/interests
  (21)
• Letters of reference (17)
• List of references (12)
• Statement of teaching philosophy (8)
• Representative reprints (7)
• Description of research accomplishments (5)
• Transcripts (4)
• Descriptions of possible courses (2)
• Summary of career/professional goals (2)
• Survey of 30 life science-related faculty
  postings from Science Magazine and the Chronicles
  of Higher Education

gt50
Knowledge of process
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Application Materials

• Cover letter
• Know the institution, the department, the
  position (See also TAC 2008 Symp.)
• Curriculum Vitae
• You have the ability to control the first
  impression with the CV
• Formatting, order of sections, size of sections
• Research Statements
• Know the institution, the department, the
  position
• Resource Toolkit writing a research plan by
  Jim Austin (www.sciencecareers.org)
• a readable, compelling agenda that fits well
  with the needs, facilities and goals of the
  department and answers the question, why must
  this work be done? (See also TAC 2008 Symp.)
• References
• Keep your references informed of where you have
  applied, whether a letter needs to be sent, and
  deadlines for receipt of the letters

Knowledge of process
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Academic job search calendar
Before Sept.

• Make choices on types of positions and
  institutions to pursue
• Assemble application materials
• Update CV and reference list, have them proofed
• Request letters of recommendation
• Look for postings weekly
• Begin to apply
• Continue to apply
• Prepare for telephone/screening interviews
• Prepare for job talks
• Campus interview visits
• Negotiate offers
• Look for new job advertisements during the echo
  season

Sept. - Nov.
Nov. - Jan.
Feb. - May
April - Sept.
Knowledge of process
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Where can you find jobs?

• Internet
• http//aaas.sciencecareers.org/js.php
• http//www.Academic360.com
• http//www.cccu.org
• http//www.chronicle.com
• Publications CEN, Society publications
• Professional conferences
• Network

Knowledge of process
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Determining where to apply

• Taking into consideration your
• preferences of
• Institutional characteristics
• Departmental characteristics
• Geographical considerations
• Apply to all jobs that
• Are in your specialty area
• Are close to your specialty area

The only job you are guaranteed not to get is the
one to which you do not apply
Knowledge of self, process
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The Job Search Phenomenon
Figure 2 from Matt Anderson- So You Want to Be a
Professor! Physics Today.org, April 2001, page
50 http//scitation.aip.org/journals/doc/PHTOAD-f
t/vol_54/iss_4/50_1.shtml
Knowledge of process
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When to reveal the two-body problem

• Cover letter
• Phone call inviting you to the interview
• Interview
• After you have received the offer
• There are advantages and disadvantages

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Job search strategy
Example- Spreadsheet for September job
advertisements
Knowledge of process
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Other resources

• Academic job search
• The Academic Job Search Handbook Mary Morris
  Heiberger Julia Miller Vick. Univ. Pennsylvania
  Press. 3rd edition.
• http//career.berkeley.edu/PhDs/PhDAcademic.stm
• Dual-career job search
• http//people.mills.edu/spertus/job-search/job.htm
  l
• http//www.physics.wm.edu/sher/survey.html
• http//physics.wm.edu/dualcareer.html
• http//sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_develo
  pment/previous_issues/articles/2240/solving_the_tw
  o_body_problem
• http//www.cis.upenn.edu/sweirich/resources.htm
• Other career resources
• MentorNet - www.mentornet.net/
• http//www.the-aps.org/education/grad/car_res.html
  
• Your institutions career center, other
  institutions career centers
• Conference workshops
• Google youll find plenty of resources and
  advice just be cognizant of the source