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[new on search committee]

I know someone else got reamed for offering advice to job seekers, but I'm going to do this anyway. I'm on my first search committee and just went through a big pile of applications. Contrary to some of the claims on this forum, the candidates are not all equally qualified. But aside from that, I'm dismayed by how poorly many applicants are presenting themselves. Here's my (non-exhaustive) list of dos and don'ts. Try not to get defensive; as a very recent job-seeker myself, I have much sympathy for job-seekers and am trying to help.

* DO say when you will be getting your Ph.D. In your letter. On your CV. Somewhere. Please. Don't make it a guessing game. Of course, if we're interested in you we'll have to call your advisor anyway to get the real scoop on your progress. But really, help us out here.

* DO have your letters address progress on your dissertation if you're not finished. Letters dated from 2003, telling us a complete draft is expected in 2004 when you are still not done in December 2005, are not a good idea.

* DO make sure your letters are current (see above).

* DO tell us, in your cover letter, the title of your dissertation, what it's about, and why it's important.

* DON'T pitch the explanation of your research to specialists in your field. Most committee members reading it are not specialists. If I can't understand what your work is about from reading your letter, I'm probably not putting you on my short list.

* DO explain, somehow, why you, an associate prof, are applying for our assistant prof job.

* DON'T clutter up your cover letter with the name of every course you've ever taught or TA'd; save that for your CV. Instead, allude to your areas of teaching in the teaching experience/pedagogy section of the letter. It's fine to name one or two courses if you have something specific to say about them.

*DO list the names of all courses on your CV, but please group courses you've taught separately from courses you've TA'd. Big difference.

* DON'T refer to us as a "major research institution" if we aren't.

* DON'T tell us how well you'll fit into an interdisciplinary program we don't have.

* DON'T use acronyms on your CV, e.g., for associations sponsoring conferences where you've presented. Again, only specialists in your field may know what they mean; the rest of us don't want to page through all of your materials trying to figure it out.

* DO be aware of what letters are in your file. A committee member's negative review of your dissertation, and letters from people who tell us that they don't know anything about your teaching or research but you seem like a good guy, are NOT helpful to you. Have your credentials file sent to a faculty member you trust, so they can tell you what to pitch.

* DO consider the possibility that, if you have only two chapter drafts done, zero publications (not even a book review), and no presentations except at the grad student conference you and your friends organized, you may not be ready for the job market.

[%sig%]

[balance]

This is a great list, ideologically-neutral, and respectful to job seekers.

[abd]

This is all great advice.
Everything seems so obvious now, but when I think back when I started the job search and I had know clue about what is crucial to include, omit, etc. I learned so much in these 3-4 months since I started the job search. Luckily, I got a lot of feedback from people who know all these things, and I encourage everybody to ask for a lot of advice from people with more experience about the job market.

[Diogenes]

NSC suggests something I'd also endorse.

Vet your letters of recommendation.  Some departments have a graduate placement officer who will do that with the university's dossier service.  But if not, do what NSC suggests.  Have all the letters sent to a colleague/former teacher/disinterested party at another institution and have that person read through each letter.  Certainly get rid of negative letters.  But also get a sense of which letters "damn with faint praise."  After a couple of years holding visiting positions, you'll probably have 5+ letters you can use, so no need to use those that are anything except detailed, careful, and worth reading.  I know this seems obvious, but just the other day I read a letter of reference by a senior faculty member at my school, and whether the senior faculty member was suffering from dementia or what not, the letter had a total of about 200 words, and basically said "I like the person in question" with no supporting details.  Said senior faculty just isn't of sufficient weight in academia to place people with such praising but basically useless letters.  Weed such garbage out of your dossier if at all possible!

[Fiona]

And, of course, read Heiberger and Vick's THE ACADEMIC JOB SEARCH HANDBOOK.

That covers most of what you need to know.

[%sig%]

[anon]

You don't need to read a book to get an academic position.  If you aren't prepared for the academic job search, then your advisor hasn't done his/her job.  Also, most colleges have someone (typically one of the associate deans) who helps Ph.D. candidates prepare for the job hunt by helping them fine tune their CVs and cover letters.

[Diogenes]

Anon,

Colleges usually don't produce ph.d.'s.

And associate deans usually have a little more to do than proofread CV's.  

Indeed, unless the associate dean was from your own academic discipline, the person may have no idea how to fine tune a CV for your intended audience.

Some departments have a faculty member who serves as a graduate placement officer, but please--may no recent ph.d start knocking on the doors of the dean's office to see if someone can take time to vet their CV's!

[9:03 anon]

job seekers must get a lot more support at your institution(s) than they do at any that I have been at.

[Dean Donts]

Nothing of the sort. Most graduate programs do usually have a placement director whose responsibilities include review of job app. materials. So, there's help, just as in any other program, but just not from the Dean!!

[to diogenes]

I have a Ph.D.  I hardly need you to explain academic organization to me.  Colleges as in colleges within universities.  In the college at the university where I earned my Ph.D., one of the associate deans works with doctoral candidates to help them prepare for the job search.

[Diogenes]

You wrote:
"Also, most colleges have someone (typically one of the associate deans) who helps Ph.D.s"

On the basis of your post, you should have written "at my college an associate dean helps ph.d.s."  The inclusion of "most colleges" and "typically one of the associate deans" are rather precarious generalizations from your singular personal experience.  I've NEVER heard of a school where someone like an associate dean had the time to vet the application letters and CV's of recent Ph.D.'s.  Given that a single recent Ph.d might write 25+ different application letters and go thorugh several modifications of one's CV's in a single year (not to mention, having to do it all over again several years in a row, until a TT track was acheived), for an associate dean to undertake this role for ALL recent ph.d.s from ALL departments at any major university (where upwards of 50+ Ph.d.'s might be awarded each year, including in fields with which the dean might be completely unfamiliar with hiring practices) is hardly typical or usual.  The person would basically be a full time career counselor.  Maybe your "college" hired associate deans to do that sort of work, but I doubt many others do.

[2 More Cents]

anon says,"You don't need to read a book to get an academic position. "

Maybe not, but it certainly can't hurt, and may very likely be quite helpful.  If nothing else, reading a book such as "The Academic Job Search Handbook" (which I highly recommend) can provide a perspective that one's advisors may not have.

This particular book is regularly recommended on this forum, which leads me to believe that many people find it helpful. I bought a copy based on these recommendations and now count myself among those finding it to be a very helpful resource.

An unrelated question for English majors:  In the above, I placed the title of the book in quotation marks.  I realize this is not actually correct, that it should be underlined or in itallics, but there is no way to do this in a text based medium such as this.  Given that, what is the correct way to refer to a book title in this type of setting?

[Boldly Go]

Actually, as has been mentioned here and there, very occasionally, there are ways to format text here on these forums.

Precede the word you want to change the style of with an open bracket [, place in the bracket either b for bold, i for italics, or u for underline.  Close the bracket with a close bracket ].

To turn off the formatting, an open bracket at the end of the text [, a backslash /, the letter b, i, or u that you used in turning on the formatting, and a close bracket, ].  As you see from samples in my first text line, it works.

Glad to help.

[%sig%]

[slap happy]

2 More Cents wrote:

> anon says,"You don't need to read a book to get an academic
> position. "
>
How 'bout:  "You don't need to read the Chronicle Forum to know everything anon already knows"?

[reluctant]

Diogenes may come across as a self important in her/his/its post to anon, but I must agree with her/him/it.

I have never heard of an institution that has someone remotely near the Dean level who performs the functions anon referenced.  Anon was lucky to have that, but in the biased sub-sample of the institutions with which I am familiar, it is unheard of.  Most do have some type credentials repository (even if it is just a file in the Admin Asst desk), but anything more is rare.