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[janewales]

Another good thing about leaving extra examples out of the job talk-- it gives you more material to which you can refer in the question period. We often put a great deal of weight on how candidates handle the questions after the talk, and if you have a whole store of additional material, it's far easier to impress.

[history_grrrl]

Oh, and I forgot to mention that, of my campus visits, the only one where I got to use the revised job talk was also the only one that resulted in a job offer, which I happily accepted.

[berkeleygirl]

Wow, thanks everyone for this excellent and needed advice! It's priceless!

[kunsthistorikerin]

Agreed - thanks for the advice everyone, it's really very helpful, and soothing to be reminded that I don't have to present all 300 pages in 50 minutes.  My new mantra is that it's not a dissertation defense, it's a lecture on a topic I happen to know and love.  That makes me feel much better!

[firstgeneration]

Hi everyone!  I just received a fairly amazing job offer from my first choice institution.  I have been floating for the past 12 1/2 hours since I learned about it. 

I've talked things over with my advisors.  It's time to begin calling SCCs at institutions where my candidacy is still active, and to learn where things stand.

Good luck, berkeleygirl & kunsthistorikerin!  Definitely follow the great advice given by janewales and history_grrl.  I have given my job talk at several different universities now; the first time was a dud, but the last went very well.  If I'd known then what I know now...

[promovenda]

Congrats, firstgeneration!

[shrubbery]

Congrats to everyone getting jobs!  It's good to see it happening and keeps me motivated for next year!

[berkeleygirl]

WHHHHOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO firstgeneration! You get the big gold unicorn sticker for that one!

[hobbit]

I like H_G's tactic of "telling an interesting story".  Make the story the focus, and use it to illustrate what your main sources are and the tendency of your research programme.  It can be beautiful, and is way better than an assault of data and sources, that just leaves people bewildered.

I like this idea, too - I did this by default at the last place I interviewed because a quick scan of the faclty research interests showed that very few were involved in my research area. Of all the job talks I've given (5, including the most recent one), this approach was much better received, and I felt much more relaxed, too.
Of course, this might be discipline specific, so YMMV.

Another good thing about leaving extra examples out of the job talk-- it gives you more material to which you can refer in the question period. We often put a great deal of weight on how candidates handle the questions after the talk, and if you have a whole store of additional material, it's far easier to impress.

To be ready with a few additional slides for anticipated questions sounds like pure genius, janewales. Thanks for the idea!


I'm waiting to hear from the SC where I interviewed last - I should hear in another week if their timeline is correct. I'm just about going crazy. I was so impressed when I visited. The collegiality, the scope of faculty activity, the positive relationship with other departments, the community - everything seemed to offer great opportunities. But the waiting is the hardest part. It's hard to be motivated to do much else until the decision is made. 

And congrats, firstgeneration!

[kunsthistorikerin]

Firstgeneration, that's such fantastic news, I'm so happy for you, and thanks so much for sharing...we come here so often to share our anxieties and our fears; it's really wonderful when colleagues come to share their happier moments as well.

I am revising away, and will take all the good advice I can get.  Still not certain about the "extras" that will not really be part of the talk -- whether to put them on the screen in a quick survey, or whether to simply have them in my pocket so to speak (or in the ppt after a few blanks to pull up as needed during Q&A) -- but I think this has to do with my specific topic rather than with the wisdom of the advice offered above. 

One of the nice things about the topic is that I have objects that make a big impression when you flash them on the screen for a minute or two -- they are simple enough for any audience to grasp the image at a glance, and yet exciting enough that they will elicit good questions, I think.  I'm not sure the audience would think to ask me "so, what else is in your dissertation?" on their own, but if I make it clear that "ok, the talk is on this small selection, but to give you an overall sense of this genre of artworks here are a few brief examples that set the stage" then I think those brief examples are memorable and interesting enough that I will get asked to talk about them more in the Q&A...but we'll see what happens.  Dry run coming up, so hopefully friends at home Uni will help me sort this out.


KH

[prephd]

Yay for job offers!

[ochreluna13]

Hello!  I wanted to introduce myself, as this is my first post here.   I am ABD and looking for a job...  So far one phone interview and a lot of rejection letters.  :(  I have a pretty tough skin generally, but am getting quite disappointed over such overt rejection.  Out of desperation I've begun applying for out of academia opportunities as well...   

I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions about how to get my application packets to stand out in the pile???

Also, good places to look for job postings or advise?  I've seen reference to wikis?

My field: Environmental Science (I'm looking in Geology, Geography, and Environmental Science areas and a few Science Education positions, as I was a high school science teacher in a past life) 

[berkeleygirl]

Welcome ochreluna13!

As a fellow ABD, I have no idea what makes applications stand out, but do know that a lot of factors go into making the short list, some of which are out of your control.

As for job sites, the wiki is okay, but most jobs are posted after their due date, so I would recommend searching the following sites (in addition to The Chronicle of course):

higheredjobs.com
hercjobs.org

Also, you might want to look at shovelbums.org, which is an archaeology job site, but often has crossover listings in environmental sciences.  I worked in "Environmental Studies" for years and most companies have staff geologists. Also, depending on where you live, look at the state job sites.  For example, Virginia has a lot of Environmental jobs on their state site, as do others. Lastly, do a search of environmental companies in areas you would like to live/work, and then look at their individual job ads. This along with sending out a cover letter and c.v. to some of the bigger companies might land you a job outside of academia. Many of these places do not advertise on large job sites, so good luck! If you would like more information about this please feel free to send me a message, I am more than happy to share my insights.

 

[firstgeneration]

Thanks everyone!  I'll gladly take those unicorn stickers, berkeleygirl.  I'm in the process of negotiating the terms of my offer.  It's been a crazy week, but I think things will settle down soon.

One casualty of the job market was that I didn't defend yesterday.  My committee decided that I needed more time.  So I defend next month instead.  :)

[berkeleygirl]

Congrats FG and good luck on your defense!