[Itech] Fwd: Tomorrow's Professor eNewsletter: 1368. Advice on Successfully Navigating the Current Academic Job Market

Tue Nov 18 12:41:12 EST 2014

Hello Graduates:

For all of you who will be seeking faculty jobs in the future! :)  Some
good advice below.

Dr. Franklin

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Rick Reis <reis at stanford.edu>
Date: Mon, Nov 17, 2014 at 9:04 PM
Subject: Tomorrow's Professor eNewsletter: 1368. Advice on Successfully
Navigating the Current Academic Job Market
To: tomorrows-professor at lists.stanford.edu

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Teaching and Learning]

*The selected tips below not only represent my experience on successfully
navigating the academic search process, but also include insights that I've
learned from other academics on the subject. *

1368. Advice on Successfully Navigating the Current Academic Job Market

*Folks:*

[image: Rick Reis]

The posting below gives some excellent advice from a personal perspective
on navigating the current academic job market.  It is by Dr. Alvaro Huerta,
assistant professor of Urban & Regional Planning and Ethnic & Women's
Studies at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.*  Reprinted
with permission.

Regards,

Rick Reisr

eis at stanford.edu

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Tomorrow's Graduate Students and Postdocs
--------- 1003 words ----------
Advice on Successfully Navigating the Current Academic Job Market

As someone who recently accepted a tenure-track faculty position at a
four-year university, I want to share some helpful advice for those on the
academic job market. The selected tips below not only represent my
experience on successfully navigating the academic search process, but also
include insights that I've learned from other academics on the subject.
Like other academics, I lament the dismal academic job market, where we
have too many qualified PhDs applying for few tenure-track job openings.

Current Context

>From the demand side, the current saturation of PhDs on the job market is
primarily linked to several structural issues: (1) an overall decline in
state funding for public colleges and universities; (2) the
adjunctification of the academy, where adjuncts or non-tenure track faculty
consist of 75% of all instructors in higher education; and (3) the delayed
exit or retirement of tenured professors. Regarding the last point, given
that tenured faculty represent coveted positions associated with high
status, great benefits and lifetime job security (with some exceptions),
it's logical that professors hold on to their positions beyond the average
retirement age in the U.S.

>From the supply side, not only do universities produce too many PhDs for
the tight labor market, but there's also a surplus of PhDs from prior
years. Overall, those in the job market for tenure-track positions include:
ABD's (all-but-dissertation); recent PhDs; postdoctoral fellows; adjunct
faculty; visiting assistant professors; visiting scholars and researchers;
independent scholars; and those individuals working in a variety of
non-faculty positions with the goal of eventually securing a tenure-track
position.

Managing the Tight Job Market

In this context, I offer the following selected advice and strategies to
job seekers in this brutal job market:
Seek expert advice. Seek advice from your advisors, recently hired faculty
from your department and other academics who can provide valuable tips on
preparing application packets. In the social sciences, a typical
application packet includes a cover letter, statement of research,
statement of teaching, CV, three letters of recommendation, one writing
sample and, occasionally, teaching evaluations. Transcripts are usually
requested once an applicant secures an interview. Also, don't hesitate to
solicit successful sample applications from other academics. For further
excellent advice on this topic and related areas, refer to Karen L. Kelsky,
PhD, at "The Professor Is In" (www.theprofessorisin.com) and UC Berkeley's
Career Center website at "Academic Job Search" (
https://career.berkeley.edu/PhDs/PhDAcademic.stm).

Prepare in advance. Expect to allocate between three to six months to
complete your application packet. Given that each document deserves a lot
of time and effort, you should produce quality documents that reflect your
academic credentials, research interests and potential abilities in future
scholarship. This includes revising documents, proofreading, seeking input
from advisors and getting feedback from peers. After you've completed the
application packet, provide selected documents, such as CV, Cover letter
and research statement to your academic recommenders. By doing so, they'll
be able to write a stronger, more detailed letter for the job search
committee.

Be selective. Similar to applying to graduate school, be selective when
seeking tenure-track positions. That is, only apply to positions that
you're qualified for. Academic job descriptions clearly stipulate (or
should) the required qualifications and areas of specialty. Thus, if a job
description requires someone who specializes in quantitative research
methods, don't apply if you're an expert in qualitative research methods.
By narrowing your job search to positions where there's a likely "match" or
"fit," you will save time and energy in this time-consuming effort.

Act like an academic. Just because you don't have a tenure-track position,
it doesn't mean that you can't engage in scholarship and academic
activities to raise or enhance your scholarly profile. Try getting ahead of
your competition by taking part in activities that help to raise your
scholarly profile, such as publishing in scholarly journals, attending and
presenting at academic conferences, joining and contributing to academic
listserves and networking with other academics, especially in your field.

On being an adjunct.  On the one hand, there are three pros from this
status. First, you have the privilege of teaching, mentoring and preparing
tomorrow's leaders. Secondly, you obtain academic work experience to
include in your CV. This is important, since academic positions typically
require some level of teaching experience, especially for teaching-focused
colleges and universities. Thirdly, if successful in the classroom, you
acquire strong students evaluations that you can share with your
recommenders and, if you secure an interview, can provide to the job search
committee. On the other hand, apart from the job insecurity, low pay and
lack of benefits, there's the danger of being pigeonholed an "adjunct" by
tenured faculty, especially if you've been lecturing for several years
without any publications in scholarly journals. While there's dignity in
all honest work, unfortunately, in this tight labor market, perception
matters.

Be positive and confident. Just because you're on the job market for one or
more years doesn't mean that you should be pessimistic or insecure about
your academic job prospects. Remind yourself that by obtaining a PhD from
an accredited university, you've already accomplished a great academic
milestone and should be proud of yourself. If you display a lack of
confidence or competence to your recommenders and, especially, job search
committee members, you'll limit or eliminate your job prospects for a
tenure-track position. This is not to imply that you shouldn't share your
personal issues or insecurities with trusted advisors. In short, you don't
want to give anyone in a position of power (e.g., a "gatekeeper") an excuse
to not hire you, especially if you meet or exceed all of the job
requirements.

To conclude, while there's much more to say about the job search process, I
hope the aforementioned advice provides some job seekers with guidance on
this rigorous and stressful process. That said, given that we find
ourselves in an extremely tight labor market for tenure-track faculty
position, I empathize with all of those PhDs on the job market and hope the
best for all of you, be it inside or outside of the academy.

------

* Dr. Alvaro Huerta is assistant professor of Urban & Regional Planning and
Ethnic & Women's Studies at California State Polytechnic University,
Pomona. He holds a PhD in City & Regional Planning from UC Berkeley. He's
the author of the book, Reframing the Latino Immigration Debate: Towards a
Humanistic Paradigm (San Diego State University Press, 2013).
"Desktop faculty development 100 times per year."
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*"A teacher affects eternity; [she]he can never tell where the influence
stops." - Henry Adams*Dr. Teresa Franklin
Director, The OHIO Group
Professor, Instructional Technology
Fulbright Research Scholar to Turkey 2013-14
Department of Educational Studies
The Gladys W. and David H. Patton College of Education
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