Yeah, it’s tough . . . But don’t give up just yet.

You decided to spend a lot of money and some of your prime earning years getting a doctorate, assuming it would lead to a position as professor or higher ed administrator.

Yet, despite applying for a number of positions, you’ve landed no more than a part-time temp job that pays less (with no benefits) than you could have earned as a high school teacher.

Before giving up

Before giving up, consider trying one or more of these approaches. Here, I use a tenure-track professorship as the goal, but similar strategies can be used in seeking a position in administration.

Unless you’re a star, a cv is unlikely to make you stand out from the pack. Here are some ways that mere mortals can rise from the crowd:

— On your website, post a video of your teaching. If you’re not currently teaching, ask a friend or colleague who is teaching a class to let you be a guest instructor, and hire someone to video it. Edit it down to the best three minutes of 15- to 60-second snippets.

— Write a one-page case for why you can be expected to have a productive research agenda: the case for your research agenda’s importance, and for how your approach to getting it funded is likely to bear fruit.

— Make superlative presentations at local, regional, or national meetings attended by people in a position to hire you. Toward the end of each presentation, subtly, perhaps with humor, let it be known that you’re looking for a tenure-track position. Not sure your presentations will be superlative? Consider asking a faculty developer to help you.

— (Bold, time-consuming, potentially audacious, but sometimes highly effective … ) Develop an ongoing relationship with some department chairs, deans, or key professors, including those not advertising an on-target job opening. That relationship can give you a significant edge when a position becomes available.

Start by asking your professors and others for referrals to such people, but even without a referral, you might want to write to 10 or 20 on-target department chairs, deans, or professors. Briefly but compellingly request a bit of counsel on how you might best go about landing your target job.

True, most of those people will brush you off or not respond, but if your letter is substantively impressive yet human in tone, at least a few are likely to agree to speak with you. If the person is local, do it in-person rather than by-phone.

Normally, your initial meeting will not sufficiently motivate the person to help you. It’s important to build the relationship. For example, send articles of interest to that person, keep the person apprised of the results of your following his or her suggestions, invite her or him to lunch, attend his or her presentations at conferences and share your reactions (especially the positive ones), offer to help out on one of that person’s projects, for example, a grant proposal, revamping the department’s website, or putting together a symposium.

This approach may, in fact, turn off some recipients of your letter—they don’t want to be bothered, but you only need one yes. And remember that you’ve imposed for only the one minute it takes to read your brief letter. You routinely take up that much of a stranger’s time every time you stop someone on the street asking for directions. Before giving up the career you’ve worked so hard to attain, I believe this strategy if often worth attempting. Of course, be sensitive to a person’s perceiving you as a pest or too aggressive.

In my next post, I’ll offer suggestions on what to do if you decide to look for a career outside of academia.