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[aristof_ns]

I know there are older threads on this topic, but when I tried to reply, the system suggested I start a new thread, so....

I understand that as an ABD, I'm going to be trumped by PhDs. And I've read comments that say that even if I plan on graduating before the "degree in hand" date listed in the ad, I will still be at a disadvantage with the SC, since they have no way of being sure I will in fact graduate.

My problem: This is my second year ABD, and I was planning on it being the first year of my job search. However, my department nominated me for a dissertation-completion grant, which I received. Good news, except that the grant REQUIRES me to graduate this year (or else the department gets penalized in the future). Therefore, I now have only this one year to find a job before I lose my assistantship and my housing.

And right now, the prospects are looking bleak. My question is, what do I do if I have to graduate without finding a job? Should I be spending less time on TT positions and focusing more on visiting positions?

[phdbliss]

I'm ABD with no set defense date and I went ahead and applied for a few jobs - this time next week I'll be interviewing for two, and I've already had one phone interview that yielded a campus visit.

I think you're right to try not to be too ambitious - for TT posts, a Ph.D (at least in my MLA field) will usually trump an ABD. The positions I applied for were either Lecturer, Instructor, or one-year sabbatical replacements.

There's another hiring wave coming up after the holidays - start tuning in to see what might fit your skills and experience to date. Sometimes it's not about the status of your dissertation at all - but whether or not you're the right fit for the department/school/job.

[titania]

The one-year position openings continue over the summer as well - I remember last year noticing one or two that opened up even in August and were desperate for candidates.  You just have to live with the uncertainty, that is the tough part.

[marichiweu]

I'm on the market this year as ABD, with just the same kind of situation - a dissertation completion grant that stipulates I MUST finish and graduate. That internal deadline has been a significant source of stress, since I face the same end-of-funding nightmare, but it's also been an advantage. I made clear in cover letter and conference interviews the status of my disseration and defense, and the grim deadline - I also had my recommenders do the same. So SCs have had a good some indication that my confident claim to be done by April is supported by evidence. It seems to have worked - I had several conference interviews, several shortlistings, and a TT offer in hand. So I don't know what your timeline is, OP, but don't let the ABD stipulation hold you back.

Of course, if work doesn't come through and your funding is over, I'm not sure what to recommend. I think that these days, though, most PhDs finish without a permanent position lined up, and we have to expect to spend a year or more stitching together adjunct work until our applications look competitive enough. Does your university have classes that you could teach after graduating? Are there other schools in the area that need instructors? These are the things you might want to start trying to line up in case the job market really does let you down.

[rekishi]

I was on the market for two years as an ABD and had no luck until I had my degree in hand. It did not help that my degree was from a less-than-prestigious school. If you are graduating from a prestigious school, do work in a hot field, or have wicked connections then your luck may be better than mine.

You are disadvantaged in many ways for being ABD, but you can attempt to counter this by having your dissertation chair clearly state a completion date in his/her letter of recommend. But even then, SCs like those with a degree in hand because many ABDs do not finish on time and spend their first year working on their degree.

But, as mentioned before, there are many temporary positions that become available throughout spring and summer. These are a great way to transition into a tenure-track position. I ended up taking a visiting position and then moved to a tenured position.

[paprof]

As someone who accepted a position ABD, I will say that it can be done. However, as the chair of numerous search committees, and someone who has done it, I do not recommend it, unless you have a reasonable certainty of finishing before you start the position.

I actually sent an application to the institution where I was hired (and still am employed by) because a friend of mine had turned the position down in a previous year (better offer for him came along-geographically) although he thought highly of it. I thought that it might be good practice to interview and was surprised when I got the offer. As it turns out, the fit was right for both me and the institution.

However, looking back, I can now see that I was at a great disadvantage in terms of my ability to negotiate a salary. I started as an Instructor and although I am now a full professor, I am still not paid as much as an associate professor who was hired at the same time as I was! (Just FYI- I spent two full years as an Instructor, as I wrote my dissertation.) I expect that in the next two years, I will make up the gap, but it is frustrating to see the disparity that began because I was hired as an Instructor and he was hired as an Assistant Professor! Also, it is brutally hard to work on completing your degree when you are faced with multiple new preps, and then committee work!

Our search committees have seriously considered ABDs, but only when it would appear that they added something unique to ur institution and when there is a high likelihood of them finishing by the end of their first semester. In a search I am conducting this year, we turned down an ABD who we gave an initial telephone interview to because s/he was not near enough to completion. S/he would have been a good fit for us, but the uncertainty about completion finally took them out of the running.

I hope this helps! Good luck with your job search!

[msparticularity]

Also, it is brutally hard to work on completing your degree when you are faced with multiple new preps, and then committee work!

My chair told me that the completion rate for people who are hired into full-time positions when they are ABD is less than 40%. I don't know how that relates to the overall completion rate for those who reach ABD (I think it's only about 50%?) but without a doubt the demands of a new position would be a substantial challenge!

[trabb]

Just to make sure I'm clear about something - it sounds as if the terms of the fellowship do not, in fact, require you to finish.  You're placing that demand on yourself out of some sense of obligation to your department.  Is that correct?  Because if it is, you may be able to use that to your advantage. 

I was in the exact same position a few years ago, and I too felt the need to finish.  However, by the terms of the contract I'd signed when I started grad school, my program owed me one more year of a teaching fellowship.  Since the dissertation fellowship did not technically require me to finish and since they technically owed me another year, I could have used it.

I approached the department chair.  I explained that I was ready to defend, that I wanted to defend, and that defending was beneficial to everyone involved - I am a more viable candidate, and the department might get the same fellowship for its students in the future.  I also explained my situation; I'd had only one interview despite being an obviously qualified candidate.  Thus I faced a dilemma.  Do I defend with no prospect of employment, or do I use that last year of teaching support?

As a result of this conversation, the department created several postdoctoral fellowships to provide support for people in my situation (whether they'd had a dissertation completion fellowship or not).  Keep in mind that no department chair wants a) You not defending after having a dissertation completion fellowship, or b) Any graduate student not defending due to lack of a job. 

If you do end up defending next year instead of this spring, check into a December defense date.  I've known several people who arranged late December defenses.  The defense date was after the date that grades were due, so the candidate could not graduate in December, meaning that he/she could keep departmental teaching support in the spring.  At the same time, these candidates could honestly state in job letters that they would defend before the convention.  This seemed greatly to increase the number of interview calls they receive, I think because committees knew they could ask at the screening interview if the candidate had, in fact, defended.

[apablo]

I was on the market for two years as an ABD and had no luck until I had my degree in hand. It did not help that my degree was from a less-than-prestigious school. If you are graduating from a prestigious school, do work in a hot field, or have wicked connections then your luck may be better than mine.

I'd say that's exactly right. I got my PhD from a top-15 public R1 dept (MLA field) and every year the placement rate is roughly 75-80%. Roughly 80% of those who find jobs do so ABD. Everyone I know who's gotten a job in an MLA field has done so ABD, but they all got their degrees from schools in the top-15 bracket. So I think the major factor is *where* you're doing your PhD. As a matter of fact, our placement director always says that it's better to look for a job ABD, as PhDs have a relatively brief shelf life on the job market once they're granted.

I secured my postdoc last year ABD, and in my limited search this year as a PhD I did a little better in terms of numbers (6 interviews out of 36-38 applications last year; 3 interviews out of 11 applications this year), but not tremendously better.

[august_leo]

You could apply for post-docs too. That might work out well if you don't get a tt or vap.

[aristof_ns]

You just have to live with the uncertainty, that is the tough part.

Yep -- I just increased my anti-depressant dosage to help.... =(