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[cresskit]

Please bear with me here--I'm an American with a few questions about how job searches work in the other hemisphere.

Firstly, I'm very curious about how timelines work for jobs in Oz and NZ that are advertised without particular start dates. For instance, I've seen a number of job ads posted in October, November, or December that don't list a specific start date. Are search committees who post at that time of the year hoping to find someone to begin virtually immediately (for the start of the academic year in January or February)? Or are they more likely expecting the candidate to begin in mid-year (i.e. June or July)? Or are they posting far, far in advance for a job that isn't anticipated to begin for 12+ months? I'm largely curious about this because of the obvious clash in term dates between schools in the northern and southern hemispheres. Are universities in Oz and NZ flexible in negotiating start dates for foreign faculty who are currently employed in places where the term dates simply don't line up with their own?

Secondly (and I realize this may vary between countries as well as schools), I'm curious as to how much weight is *typically* put on the various components (e.g. references, writing sample, cover letter, cv) of one's job application materials in NZ and Oz. My interest here is specifically in humanities-related subjects, not sciences or business, etc. For instance, for the (admittedly few) North American-style job searches in which I've participated, we've put an enormous amount of weight on the quality and content of an applicant's cover letter. In contrast, I know this is not true in the UK--and the almost laughably (from my perspective) brief letters that I've sometimes seen from UK-trained applicants attest to the fact that cover letters have entirely different functions in the UK system. A second example would be letters of reference. In my experience, unless the letters are negative, we really don't put much weight on them at all. Everyone seems to have such glowing letters these days that we've found it hard to use them as a basis upon which to distinguish between candidates. Where do search committees in Oz and NZ generally stand on issues like how much the applicant's cover letter or references are worth? What is typically considered to be the most important part of a candidate's application materials?

Finally, I also have a few questions about how shortlisting *typically* operates (again something that I realize may vary depending on country and school). My experience with North American-style job searches in the humanities is that there are almost always two rounds of interviews. The first involves a large-ish pool of shortlisted applicants and is either conducted via phone/Skype or in person at a major disciplinary conference; the second round typically happens on campus when the shortlist is narrowed to 2-4. In NZ and Oz, do universities tend to use a similar system of multiple interview rounds with decreasing numbers of finalists in each round? If so, any idea as to how many finalists would be typical at each stage? And do they usually invite multiple candidates to visit the campus in the last round?

[scarlettnz]

In my experience, start dates are negotiable, especially when appointing from overseas.  It's not uncommon for the successful applicant's start date to be anywhere from 6 to 8 months after they've accepted the offer (I've seen several which were up to 12 months later, especially for senior appointments).  If you need to obtain a work permit then that's probably going to take 4-6 months to come through (this is highly variable depending on where you apply and if you apply for a work permit or permanent residence).

As for the selection process - at our institution once all the applications have been received the selection panel chooses a long list, referees reports are called for and the long list is then reduced to a shortlist.  Depending on the size of the shortlist, phone or video conferencing interviews might be held.  The final shortlist is usually no larger than 3 (although might stretch to four, depending on the candidate's location) and these candidates are invited to interview in person.

[dizietsma]

Secondly (and I realize this may vary between countries as well as schools), I'm curious as to how much weight is *typically* put on the various components (e.g. references, writing sample, cover letter, cv) of one's job application materials in NZ and Oz. My interest here is specifically in humanities-related subjects, not sciences or business, etc. For instance, for the (admittedly few) North American-style job searches in which I've participated, we've put an enormous amount of weight on the quality and content of an applicant's cover letter. In contrast, I know this is not true in the UK--and the almost laughably (from my perspective) brief letters that I've sometimes seen from UK-trained applicants attest to the fact that cover letters have entirely different functions in the UK system. A second example would be letters of reference. In my experience, unless the letters are negative, we really don't put much weight on them at all. Everyone seems to have such glowing letters these days that we've found it hard to use them as a basis upon which to distinguish between candidates. Where do search committees in Oz and NZ generally stand on issues like how much the applicant's cover letter or references are worth? What is typically considered to be the most important part of a candidate's application materials?
In NZ and Oz, do universities tend to use a similar system of multiple interview rounds with decreasing numbers of finalists in each round? If so, any idea as to how many finalists would be typical at each stage? And do they usually invite multiple candidates to visit the campus in the last round?

Hi, cresskit!

Often the job application pack will include a statement of key selection criteria. The will typically be something like,

1. Publish in world class journals
2. Teach undergraduate classes
3. Be nice and pull your weight
4...........

You are likely to be asked to address these selection criteria in a document. While you might include a c.v. and letter, often this selection criteria document is the core document for shortlisting. You can duplicate info here from your c.v. and letter, but the selection criteria is the core doc.

There are guides online for addressing selection criteria which may be useful. If you look online you may find application packs for current jobs which will give you an idea of selection criteria.

On interviews, I can't contribute much except that the campus visit seems to be much less of a palaver than in the U.S. For senior roles the University might ask for a research talk, but I haven't heard much about the sort of visits to Deans and dinners in the evening that forumites speak of, certainly not for local applicants. Does anyone else know what happens with international visitors? I have noticed in Australian HR practices seem to assume that favouring someone because you like them is a bad thing and unfair. Perhaps that's why there are fewer social things.

On the process, once you find a job that interests you, or a University, you could call the human resources section. You might find that they are pretty forthcoming with information about the process.

My experience is that letters of reference tend to be a hurdle requirement, to make sure the potential hiree is not a total fruit loop, or to decide between finalists.

Good luck! DS

[sockdolager]

As dizietsma said, the selection criteria are important and there are several websites that offer advice on how to write these. Most are aimed at applicants for government jobs, but you can get enough advice.

I have only been involved in job searches as a grad student or a candidate, so I am not sure how many "rounds" they conduct. The final round generally seems to involve interviewing ~4 candidates on campus. If it's a lecturer/senior lecturer position, particularly a continuing (permanent) position, this will likely involve some kind of job talk as well as an interview. You may get taken out to lunch by some people from the department. My department did this for both local/interstate and international candidates. Research-only contract jobs (RA, postdoc, etc) will probably just have an interview (by phone and/or in person, depending on where you are).

Start dates are variable. See if you can work out who you would be replacing and then look up which semester(s) they teach in. If they are advertising for teaching jobs now, they are possibly looking for someone to start in time for semester 2 (July).

[cogdoc]

Are there any dual-career (spousal-hire) policies?

[totoro]

I'm a professor at a Go8 uni in the social sciences so this could be different in the humanities.

Firstly, I'm very curious about how timelines work for jobs in Oz and NZ that are advertised without particular start dates. For instance, I've seen a number of job ads posted in October, November, or December that don't list a specific start date. Are search committees who post at that time of the year hoping to find someone to begin virtually immediately (for the start of the academic year in January or February)? Or are they more likely expecting the candidate to begin in mid-year (i.e. June or July)? Or are they posting far, far in advance for a job that isn't anticipated to begin for 12+ months? I'm largely curious about this because of the obvious clash in term dates between schools in the northern and southern hemispheres. Are universities in Oz and NZ flexible in negotiating start dates for foreign faculty who are currently employed in places where the term dates simply don't line up with their own?

If we were advertising now we'd be looking for you to be in place and ready to teach in July. We have people arriving all the time though as we are a research intensive place and with a 12 month contract, pay isn't tied to teaching per se. We are used to things being different in the NHEM.

Secondly (and I realize this may vary between countries as well as schools), I'm curious as to how much weight is *typically* put on the various components (e.g. references, writing sample, cover letter, cv) of one's job application materials in NZ and Oz. My interest here is specifically in humanities-related subjects, not sciences or business, etc. For instance, for the (admittedly few) North American-style job searches in which I've participated, we've put an enormous amount of weight on the quality and content of an applicant's cover letter. In contrast, I know this is not true in the UK--and the almost laughably (from my perspective) brief letters that I've sometimes seen from UK-trained applicants attest to the fact that cover letters have entirely different functions in the UK system.

We expect candidates to address the selection criteria and otherwise have a perfunctory cover letter. We are used to foreign candidates who don't understand that. But at some of the less international places maybe HR would have a problem with applications which didn't address the selection criteria. I don't know. Not here. I read the CV first and only look at the selection criteria or cover letter for candidates that we are thinking of short-listing and maybe not really then either...

A second example would be letters of reference. In my experience, unless the letters are negative, we really don't put much weight on them at all. Everyone seems to have such glowing letters these days that we've found it hard to use them as a basis upon which to distinguish between candidates. Where do search committees in Oz and NZ generally stand on issues like how much the applicant's cover letter or references are worth? What is typically considered to be the most important part of a candidate's application materials?

At my school we only ask for references after the interview in the model usually used in business. The CV is the most important thing. Publications, citations, place you got your PhD, how well your research fits our school are the things we are most interested in.

Finally, I also have a few questions about how shortlisting *typically* operates (again something that I realize may vary depending on country and school). My experience with North American-style job searches in the humanities is that there are almost always two rounds of interviews. The first involves a large-ish pool of shortlisted applicants and is either conducted via phone/Skype or in person at a major disciplinary conference; the second round typically happens on campus when the shortlist is narrowed to 2-4. In NZ and Oz, do universities tend to use a similar system of multiple interview rounds with decreasing numbers of finalists in each round? If so, any idea as to how many finalists would be typical at each stage? And do they usually invite multiple candidates to visit the campus in the last round?

For economics departments recruiting in the international market they tend to go to the ASSA meeting in the US to interview. My school (= large department) doesn't bother with phone interviews. Currently we use a very short short-list (2-3) and invite those candidates to campus.

The on campus interview will at least consist of a formal interview with the full selection commitee and a presentation. There may be add-ons to this at more internationally oriented places. We are likely to take foreign candidates to dinner and I was even taken to dinner as a local candidate at an economics department. More typical was a group lunch that all candidates attended. Or there may only be one candidate there that day. Or you could spend a day and half on campus meeting people in the department as in the US but a bit less intense. All these experiences are at econ departments in Oz.