While most job search timelines begin six months to a year prior to graduation, a job search in academia must begin earlier with the clarification of your professional goals.
First Year of Graduate Studies
- Keep record of your professional presentations, research projects, publications and teaching experience for inclusion in your curriculum vita.
- Establish mentor relationships with faculty members in your department.
- Try to publish as many articles as possible.
18 Months Prior to Starting a New Position
- Attend workshops and national conferences in your field.
- Clarify and gain expertise in your academic specialty by solidifying your research agenda or teaching philosophy.
- Whenever possible, present a paper or conduct an educational session or poster presentation at national conferences and annual meetings.
- Prepare of your curriculum vita (CV) and dissertation abstract.
- Have your CV critiqued by CRC advisers and make revisions.
- If you haven't already done so, obtain teaching and service experience.
15 Months Prior to Starting a New Position
- Open a Credentials account and line up references
- Search for postdoc opportunities:
- Postdoc Jobs.com
- PostDocme
- Submit proposals for professional/academic conference presentations on dissertation-related topics.
- Plan to interview during your final spring semester.
- Search for jobs and submit applications for positions.
- Revise your CV to fit specific positions.
- Write an original cover letter for each application.
- Respond to essay questions as requested by the institution.
- Finalize letters of recommendation.
- Prepare and practice Job Talks, whcih are 30-45 minute presentations that focus on dissertation research. The search committee will evaluate (1) your understanding of the discipline, (2) the quality of your research, (3) your teaching and interpersonal communication skills and (4) your interpersonal and professional fit with current department faculty
- Schedule a mock academic interview or enroll in the S.M.I.L.E. series at the CRC.
- Read a book on "Deciding Upon a Job Offer and Negotiating Salaries" in the CRC Library.
6-9 Months Prior to Starting a New Position
- Participate in on-campus interviewing, per invitation.
- Negotiate early job offers.
- Keep looking for late job postings and postdoc opportunities.
- Generate fallback options.
Summer Prior to Start Date
- Complete your Ph.D. if you haven't already done so.
- Begin preparing for the classes you will be teaching.
- Continue to work on your research agenda, with an eye toward tenure requirements.
- Find a place to live.
- Take time to rejuvenate!
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The curriculum vita (CV) is the United States standard for seeking jobs in higher education. It is more detailed than a traditional resume and highlights minute details of your career. Academic cover letters are your introduction to faculty and hiring departments. For more information about CVs or cover letters, visit the links below.
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What Is A Teaching and Research Portfolio?
A teaching and research portfolio summarizes who you are, what you value in your academic career and your philosophy about your past, present and future work. It provides evidence linking you to a department/organization and showcases your professional knowledge while providing documentation of your achievements.
You can use a portfolio to display your creativity, expertise and/or technological ability. A portfolio can illustrate gaps during your academic career and assist you during interviews/presentations.
Content Suggestions
- Title page
- Name
- Education area and level
- Contact information
- Table of contents
- Resume or CV
- Statement of Teaching/Learning Philosophy
- Personal statement describing goals for the next 5 years
- Teaching
- Research
- Service
- Samples of professional work
- Internships, Practica, and Research
- Coursework
- Volunteer experiences
- Special projects or skills
- Sample lesson plans, course syllabi, and/or WebCT or Blackboard pages
- Pictures of internship experiences
- Listing of coursework
- Class papers or projects
- Invitations to teach from outside agencies
- Presented papers or workshops on relevant topics
- Flyers
- Links to relevant information or organizations
- Samples of certificates
- Teaching evaluations
- Supervisor comments
- Testimonials from students
- Letters of reference
- Professional memberships
- Personal interests section (check for appropriateness)
Advantages to Electronic Portfolios
- Information can be easily stored and shared
- No size limitations
- Can be enhanced through music, pictures, graphics and video
- Easily modified or updated
- Displays technology skills
Disadvantages
- Limited by technological expertise of author
- Technological compatibility
- PowerPoint based Web pages work best with IE
- Requires internet access by viewer
Final Checklist
- Clear and easy to follow table of contents
- Use of pictures/images/sound to enhance content
- Overall design is professional and creative
- Suggested content areas represented
- Information is grammatically correct
- Links/contents are checked for accuracy
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Networking is about building positive relationships with others in your field of interest and play a pivotal role in all stages of your educational and professional development. The first step involves seeking out contacts in your career of interest. Networking can enhance:
- Access to Important Career Information
- Access to Professional Positions
- Career Planning and Strategizing
- Establishment of Mentoring Relationships
- Professional Collaboration
- Professional Support and Encouragement
- Personal Support for Special Interests
- Visibility and Upward mobility
- Intellectual Stimulation
(Links)
- General Tips for Successful Networking
- Networking Information Interviews: Gaining Information About an Occupation or Field of Interest (link to new Information Interview Page)
- Networking with Faculty within Your Department
- Networking with Faculty or Professionals at the National Level: National Meetings and Conventions
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There are different types of interviews, each with its own function. Know what kind of interview you are going to and prepare accordingly.
- Screening Interview: Brief, 15-30 minutes. Employers will focus on your qualifications and building rapport. Ex. Phone interviews, Career Showcase. Ex) phone interviews, Career Showcase
- Group Interview: Interview with other candidates in which employers evaluate interpersonal skills
- Site Interview (2nd or 3rd interview for advanced positions.)
- Frequently all day, including meals
- Includes traditional and behavioral interview questions.
- It is common to interview with the key decision maker/expert in your job role.
- You will probably meet the staff and go on a company tour.
- Informal, but be professional at all times.
- Remember names and observe company culture.
- Expect more technical and behavioral questions.
- Several interviews throughout the day, with people throughout the company.
Whether preparing for a screening interview or a formal, on-site interview, interviewing goals are similar. Be sure to:
- Establish rapport with your interviewers. Make a good first impression.
- Market yourself. Expound upon your abilities, skills and experience. Let them know why you are the best fit for the job.
- Ask questions about job responsibilities, professional expectations and departmental culture.
Typical Interview Questions What are your future research goals?
- How does your dissertation relate to your research interests in the future?
- What is your research agenda?
- Tell us about your experiences with quantitative/qualitative/mixed methods research.
- How did you decide on your research agenda?
- How will your research intersect with the interest of your potential colleagues?
- How can your future research plans enhance your teaching?
- What contribution is your research making to the field?
- What other research topics might you pursue?
- How do you plan to fund your research?
- How many publications do you plan to write for this particular project?
- How many presentations (and where) do you plan on for this project?
- How interested are you in collaborating with other faculty in other disciplines?
Teaching Position
- Tell us about your teaching methods, philosophy and goals.
- Tell us about your experiences working with diverse students.
- What was your best, worst, and average teaching evaluation?
- What kinds of pedagogical training would you need as a beginning assistant professor?
- What are your teaching strengths and weaknesses?
- How might you structure an introductory course in the field?
- What are your primary goals when teaching an introductory course?
- What do you most look forward to teaching?
- We need you to teach [a particular class/subject]. How would you approach the course and how do you feel about the subject?
- What are your biggest challenges teaching?
- Tell us about a time when you successfully managed a difficult student and a time when you did not successfully manage a difficult student.
- What students do you find most challenging to teach?
- What do you know about the typical students at this university?
- What sort of teaching technologies have you used before in your courses?
- How comfortable are you teaching via distance education courses?
Service Position
- Tell us about your service experiences.
- How have you managed your service commitments with teaching, office, hours, and research in the past?
- We need you to serve on the ___ committee. Would you be comfortable serving on that committee?
- What kinds of committees do you enjoy and why?
- What expectations do you have for service as an assistant professor?
- What professional memberships do you hold and why did you become a member?
Collegiality
- Tell us about your communication and teamwork skills.
- How do you successfully handle disagreements?
- Tell us about a time during your graduate education you were faced with a political situation. What was the outcome?
- How have you decided authorship (etc.) in the past?
- Tell us about your experiences working with others on a project before?
- How do you approach working with diverse students and/or colleagues?
From the Dean (and/or Department Chair)
- How do you see yourself fitting in with the university’s/college’s/deparment’s mission?
- What grants have you received before and what plans do you have to fund your research?
- What is your research agenda and how does that benefit this college or university?
- Why do you want to work for this university?
- What will be the easiest and most difficult for you to obtain tenure?
- What do you think could be streamlined in your department if you were hired?
- Have you ever been informally disciplined for student complaints before? If so, what occurred?
- Have you ever been formally disciplined for student complaints before? If so, what occurred?
- How will hiring you benefit this university?
Field Specific
- Who do you think is doing the most exciting work in our field today?
- What graduate programs would you recommend to a bright undergraduate in our field?
- How do you see the field changing in the next 10 years?
- What interests you most about this field?
- What do you hope to most contribute to this field?
General questions
- There are long winters [or other weather problems] here, which is very different than Florida. Have you ever lived in a Western/Midwestern/Northern/Northwestern/ Northeastern climate before? How do you anticipate adjusting to the climate change?
- What makes you want to leave Florida and relocate here?
- Gainesville is less/a little bit/somewhat/much more liberal than here, how will you handle that difference?
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