A Graduate Student's Job Search Leads Her Far Afield

Would-be professors must plan strategy on everything from knocking on doors to describing their research

By ROBIN WILSON

At 11:15 a.m. on the Saturday after Christmas, Kris Fresonke stands outside Room 1212 of the Madison Hotel in Washington and knocks assertively. After a moment or two, the door opens, and a professor from the Farmington campus of the University of Maine ushers her in.

Her job interview is under way.

The annual meeting of the Modern Language Association is always a nerve-racking "meat market" for graduate students and recent Ph.D. recipients. Ms. Fresonke