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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
