Preparing for the Academic Job Market

Finding the job you want takes many steps and involves many decisions. Below are four MAJOR steps designed to help you as you undertake the process of deciding the most satisfying direction for your career.  Discussing this process with a career counselor will be a significant help to you as you begin. 

• Starting Your Search
• General Resources
• Creating CVs & Cover Letters
• Writing a Teaching Philosophy Statement
• Writing a Research Statement
• Preparing a Teaching Portfolio
• Preparing for Interviews
• Job Offers & Negotiating
• Academic Job Listings
• Searching outside the US
• International Students Searching in the US

Starting Your Search

From the Chronicle of Higher Education:

• Career Talk:  Use Your Summer Wisely (beginning the academic job search)
• Information about faculty jobs, by discipline
• Landing Your First Job

Academic Job Search Guides from Various Sources

• The Riley Guide - http://www.rileyguide.com/educate.html
• Univ. of Chicago - https://caps.uchicago.edu/resourcecenter/academic.html
• UCSD - http://career.ucsd.edu/sa/PDFArticles/GAcadJobSearchHandbook.pdf
• Yale - http://www.yale.edu/graduateschool/careers/forms/Academic%20Job%20Search%20guide.pdf
• Princeton - http://www.princeton.edu/career/graduates/tool_kit/

General Resources

Preparing for the Academic Job Market The Academic Job Search, Stanford University: This Career Guide covers all aspects of the academic search.

Center for Career Education, Columbia University : Overview of academic job search, including timeline. 

Print Resources
.Vick, J. M., & Furlong, J. S. (2008). The academic job search handbook (4th ed.). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Rebecca Anthony & Gerald Roe, The Curriculum Vitae Handbook: How to Present and Promote Your Academic Career (Rudi Publishing, 1998

Acy L. Jackson and Kathleen Geckeis, How to Prepare Your Curriculum Vitae (McGraw Hill, 2003)

Creating CVs & Cover Letters

• Development of CVs & Academic Cover Letters: Brown University
• Resources & Tips for CV Writing: Center for Teaching & Learning, University of Minnesota

Writing a Teaching Philosophy Statement

• Writing a Philosophy of Teaching Statement: Center for the Advancement of Teaching, The Ohio State University
• Guidance on Writing a Philosophy of Teaching Statement: Center for the Advancement of Teaching, The Ohio State University
• Writing a Teaching Statement: University of Washington, Center for Instructional Development and Research
• Tips to Get You Started on a Teaching Philosophy: University of Washington, Center for Instructional Development and Research
• Four Brief Prompts for Writing Teaching Statements: Center for Excellence in Learning & Teaching, Iowa State University
• Online Collection of Teaching Philosophy Statements: Faculty & Teaching Assistants
• Experienced Graduate Student/ Teaching Assistants: Office of Instructional Support & Development, University of Georgia

Writing a Research Statement

• Definition, Content, and Organization of Research Statements: University of Washington, Seattle
• Writing an Effective Research Statement: Stanford University

Preparing a Teaching Portfolio

• The Teaching Portfolio: A Handbook for Faculty, Teaching Assistants and Teaching Fellows, Brown University, Hannelore Rodriguez-Farrar
• Peter Seldin, "How to Produce a Teaching Portfolio" - excerpts from Peter Seldin, ed. The Teaching Portfolio: A Practical Guide to Improved Performance and Promotion/Tenure Decisions(Anker, 2004)
• Developing a Teaching Portfolio: University of Washington, Center for Instructional Development and Research

Preparing for Interviews

The Chronicle of Higher Education offers valuable advice for the academic job seeker. In particular, the following articles provide useful information. Some pieces are dated, yet still relevant. Others address the changes in search brought about by technology.

• "A New View on Interviews", Peter S. Cahn
• "The Job Interview", Dennis Baron
• "The Campus Visit", Dennis Baron
• "Interviewing Before You're Invited to Campus", Mary Morris Heiberger and Julie Miller Vick
• "The Interview Circuit", Charles St. Clair
• "Asking the Right Questions", Julie Miller Vick and Jennifer S. Furlong
• "How to Handle Difficult Interview Questions", Mary Morris Heiberger and Julie Miller Vick

Job Offers & Negotiating

• University of Washington Center for Career Services
A close look at "what happens after the interview process." See section on Negotiations
• Academic Job Search, Stanford University Check out the section on offers and negotiating,
  including "Plan B"

Chronicle of Higher Education
• "Go Ahead, Haggle," By Rebecca A. Bryant and Amber Marks
• "Negotiating a Better Deal," by Julia Miller Vick and Mary Morris Heiberger

Job Listings for Academic Jobs

• AcademicCareers.com
• The Chronicle of Higher Education
• HigherEdJobs.com
• InsideHigherEd.com
• PhDs.org
• ScienceCareers.org

Searching Outside the US

For specific links on working abroad, see international careers and education careers in the researching careers section of our site.

International Students Searching Within the US

International students can best prepare themselves by reviewing the information on International Student Resources page.