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Academic Jobs in a Nutshell Borrows heavily from Tom Wenisch’s “Job Talk” Talk

Academic Jobs in a Nutshell Borrows heavily from Tom Wenisch’s “Job Talk” Talk. Nate Derbinsky 10 January 2012. Outline. Factors for Consideration Types of Institutions Types of Jobs Application Materials. 1. Factors. Autonomy Salary Resources Responsibilities

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Academic Jobs in a Nutshell Borrows heavily from Tom Wenisch’s “Job Talk” Talk

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  1. Academic Jobs in a NutshellBorrows heavily from Tom Wenisch’s “Job Talk” Talk Nate Derbinsky 10 January 2012

  2. Outline • Factors for Consideration • Types of Institutions • Types of Jobs • Application Materials

  3. 1. Factors • Autonomy • Salary • Resources • Responsibilities • Performance Evaluation • Timeline/Process • Prospects • Comparison to Industry/Gov’t

  4. Autonomy • Degree of supervision • Do you have a boss? • Tenure • Freedom to pursue your curiosities (subject to grants/centers, departmental initiatives, …)

  5. Salary • Sponsored/Soft money • Ongoing: you need to secure moneys to pay your salary • Non-Sponsored/General fund • Your salary is “reliable” and guaranteed through some process/fund external to your fund-raising efforts • Absolute amount + potential for growth • 9-month vs. 12-month

  6. Resources • Graduate students • Think about your life right now: these are the folks who do all the work  • Collaborators • Intra/Inter-departmental • Administrative staff • Everyday, special projects (e.g. conferences), admissions, budgeting, etc. • Teaching assistance • Lecturers, GSI/IA, feedback (e.g. CRLT) • Institutional funding opportunities • Computational/equipment (e.g. cluster computing)

  7. Responsibilities • Teaching • Comfort zone vs. not, new vs. old, service • Research • Grad vs. undergrad, self-promotion, raising $$ • Service • Committees, advising, research community (e.g. run a conference, review), leadership • Mentoring • Grad vs. undergrad, placement • Workload • Does the work ever end?

  8. Performance Evaluation • Research • Publications (venues), “impact” (e.g. h-index), student progress/placement, letters (student, research community), bringing in $$, career award • Teaching • Student evaluations, student letters, innovation/publications • Service • “Take one for the team,” outreach, balancing T/R

  9. Timeline/Process • Typical • 3 + 3 (+1) • Startup package • various colors of $$ (equipment, students, summer salary) • teaching • Variables/Issues • Retention rate • Clarity of expectations • Who is deciding (esp. relevant for co-appointment) • What are the baselines

  10. Prospects • Basics • Title: assistant, associate, full, endowed chair • Base-salary increase • Tenure (usually with associate) • Sabbatical (4/7 years, ½ + ½ pay) • Tech transfer/spinoff • Administration • Program manager

  11. Comparison to Industry/Gov’t • Autonomy: > (e.g. 6.1 vs. 6.2-3) • Salary: < • Resources: <> (e.g. students, equipment/data) • Responsibilities: <> (e.g. teaching, funding) • Hours: worse (e.g. >80 hours/week), never-ending • But you are in “control”

  12. 2. Types of Institutions • Teaching/Liberal Arts (T1) • Oberlin, Harvey Mudd, Swarthmore • Comprehensive • Eastern/Western * • Research (R1) • Stanford, Berkeley, MIT, CMU • Brown, Yale, Princeton, Harvard

  13. Institutional Factors • Degree offerings (BS, MS, PhD) • Location of program (e.g. Math, Engineering, Business), own department? • Student population • Balance of undergrad vs. grad • School location • Professional schools (e.g. Med) • Teaching load

  14. Rough Categorization T1 R1 BS, MS, PhD Large student pop. (10k’s) More urban Mix of professional degrees 0-2 courses per semester Buyout! • BS (maybe MS) • Small student pop. (1000’s) • More rural • No professional degrees • 3-4 courses per semester

  15. 3. Types of Jobs • Post Doc • Research Scientist/Professor • Lecturer/Teaching-Professor • Tenure-Track Professor

  16. Post Doc • Temporary employment (1-3 years) • Usually research, maybe teaching • Typically working for a faculty member • Possibly independent funding (e.g. fellowship) • Common to get position via “who you know” • Sources: academic, gov’t labs (e.g. AFRL, NRL) • Goals • Avoid the real world (travel!) • Better preparation for the job search • Letters, experience/CV, job-market conditions • Make progress, distinguish from thesis/advisor

  17. Research Scientist/Professor • Research only, soft money • Variable autonomy • Rarely tenuretrack

  18. Lecturer/Teaching Professor • Teaching only (renewable appointments) • Some intermittent hires ~ enrollment • Evaluated on teaching • High loads, lots of intro/service courses • Rarely tenure-track

  19. Tenure-Track Professor • Autonomous from day-1 • Must become a… • R1: World-class researcher & competent teacher • Bring in $$, produce high-impact research, and place students • T1: Innovative teacher & competent researcher • Teach lots of courses very well, and place students

  20. Transitions • Post Doc -> * • Academia -> Industry • Harder in reverse • R1 -> T1 (not easy) • Harder in reverse • Industry -> T1 (not easy) • Maybe via Community College

  21. 4. Application Materials • Cover Letter • CV • Teaching Statement • Research Statement • Letters (3-5)

  22. Cover Letter (~1 day, 1 page) • Intended position • Summary of packet, relative to position • Opportunity to specialize to post

  23. CV (~1 day) • Arbitrarily long • Honors/awards • Publications • Service • Teaching • Should be maintained incrementally • Have an easy-to-navigate website with links to your papers and presentations

  24. Teaching Stmt. (~1-2 wks, 1-2 pgs) • Experience • Philosophy • Interests/Qualifications • Research seminar • T1: show flexibility, more detail

  25. Research Stmt (~1-4 wks, 1-4 pgs) • Broad vision • Dissertation work • Cite own papers • Plan (5-years) • Build on strengths, expand, take some risk • T1: incorporation of undergrads

  26. Letters • In-depth, extensive, “coded” • From… • Committee • Better: internal collaborators • Better: external collaborators (academia > industry) • Best: academic leaders in the field • How… • Collaborate • Visibility: good work, good talks, good questions • Conferences, invited talks, service • Provide application materials at least • Keep up with deadlines, coordinate with writers

  27. Process • Read posts (do not be dissuaded by fields) • Fall ‘X for Fall ‘X+1 • Submit materials (web, e-mail, snail) • Provide letter info (usually immediate request) • Make sure recommenders submit letters • Wait… • Possibly phone interview (T1?) • Onsite: 1-hour job talk, many 30-60-minute individual meetings, student meetings, dinner • Offer scheduling

  28. Misc • Apply widely • But not where you wouldn’t want to take the job • The goal of the application packet is to get an interview • Two-body problems (& solutions)

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