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By Julie Miller Vick and Jennifer S. Furlong

Question: How can I make the transition from adjunct to tenure-track faculty member? I am a Ph.D. with extensive teaching experience (I recently received a teaching award) as an adjunct at a number of academic institutions. However, I have found it extremely difficult to attract serious consideration from search committees for full-time positions.

Answer: It's hard to answer your question without knowing your field, the types of institutions you have worked at or applied to, and how long you have been working as an adjunct. However, we'd still like to offer a few general suggestions.

First, don't expect any of the institutions where you are working as an adjunct to hire you to a tenure-track position, even if you seem to be in good standing with the department. It happens, but it is not something you should count on. Maintain a cordial relationship with people in the department(s) where you teach, while simultaneously looking elsewhere for opportunities.

Be mindful that, with each passing year on the adjunct track, it will probably be harder for you to be seriously considered as a tenure-track candidate. Again, some people do land a tenure-track job after years of adjunct work, but it is not the norm. That is perhaps one of the cruelest realities of working as an adjunct -- most departments looking to fill permanent positions will be on the hunt for "new meat" -- that is, fairly recent Ph.D.'s, or, in the sciences, those who have recently completed postdoctoral appointments.

So actively apply for tenure-track positions each year, but think about developing other skills that might lead to full-time employment in a different field.

Keep up with your research. Being an adjunct can be intellectually, emotionally, and physically overwhelming. However, if you're looking to move to a full-time job at a four-year institution, you have to make the time to stay current in your field. For many institutions, your research will be just as important, if not more so, as all of your teaching experience.

Last, don't isolate yourself. Try to maintain a collegial relationship with the members of your dissertation committee. Keep them abreast of your research and teaching so that they will be able to write fresh letters of recommendation for you. Try to widen your network of contacts by attending conferences and presenting your work. Keep in touch with colleagues from graduate school who have gone on to tenure-track positions. They can be great sources of support and feedback on your job materials.

Although being an adjunct can often make you feel like a second-class citizen, hold your head high and be proud of your professional accomplishments.

Question: I spent seven years teaching at a small accredited community college in a remote island nation. When applying for jobs, I've been including the accreditation information when I first mention the college, both in my cover letter and on my CV, but always I feel a bit funny about it, as if I'm drawing attention to something that I'm embarrassed about. I don't have any real faith that a committee member would know what the accrediting group is anyway. What do you recommend?

Answer: In your cover letters, you should concentrate on why you are interested in the position and in articulating the ways in which you are a good fit. If, for instance, at your current institution you teach a majority of students who aren't of traditional college age, and you apply to a place where there will be a similar population, talk about that and how you work especially well with those students.

You might add a paragraph two-thirds into the letter that describes your institution: "As you may not be familiar with ABC College, let me briefly tell you that it was founded in [add the year] as the first institution of higher education in its nation and has played an important part in the development of the nation. There are X full-time faculty members, Y full-time students, and Z part-time students. It is similar to XYZ College in the United States, and is accredited by [add the accreditor's full name]." And then go on with your letter.

Question: I recently had a few conference interviews and I am wondering how to follow up. Should I send an e-mail? Send a card? Do nothing?

Answer: While most conference interviews for this academic year are a thing of the past, the hiring cycle will be starting up again very soon.

We think it is always appropriate to send a brief thank-you message after any kind of interview. You can send it to the head of the search committee or the faculty member who set up the interview. An e-mail message is fine and can include mention of how you enjoyed talking with Professor X and Professor Y. You should be sure to reiterate your interest in the institution. The message doesn't need to be long, but if you promised in the interview to follow up on some question -- perhaps providing a copy of an article or the URL for an interesting Web site -- include that with the message.

Question: I am visiting from Britain and have decided to apply for jobs in the States. The common practice regarding letters of references in Britain is that they are sent directly by the applicant's referees to the institution offering the position. Hence, the applicant does not see the references. What is the accepted practice here? Does the applicant collect letters of references from referees and forward them to the hiring panel along with your CV? Does the CV need to include contact addresses of referees? How would an institution verify that letters of recommendation are genuine?

Answer: The practice here is that letters of recommendation are confidential -- the applicant doesn't see them and certainly doesn't send them. How they are sent can vary from institution to institution and department to department.

Most university career-services offices have a credentials or dossier service that stores and sends letters of recommendation. At our university, some departments use our Credentials Service exclusively. In other departments, after the faculty member has written the letters, a departmental administrator sends them out.

Authenticity is not an issue since most letters will be sent out either on institutional letterhead, or with some type of cover sheet to guarantee their provenance.

Most job openings request a list of references even if they don't request letters to be sent with the initial application. Your CV should list the names of references along with their titles, institutional affiliation, and contact information.

Question: Last spring I was denied tenure by the provost of my institution, despite the positive recommendations of the dean of my college, chair of my department, and personnel committees of the college and department. I am now in my terminal year and am applying to other academic jobs. Am I still only qualified to pursue the rank of assistant professor even though I have already held that rank at my current institution for more than six years? Also, what is a positive way to address the issue of being denied tenure if it comes up in an interview?

Answer: Tenure denial is a traumatic experience, especially when you have had a positive relationship with, and positive feedback from, the members of your department. Most faculty members, deans, and provosts will tell you that it is the worst thing that can happen to you in academe; indeed, a recent columnist on this site called it a "near-death experience."

People do recover from tenure denial. For some, it's a sign that academe wasn't the right place for them, and they explore a new career. For others, their commitment to the profession is reaffirmed once the feelings of disappointment and frustration begin to fade.

We'll start with your last question. It's difficult to put a positive spin on a tenure denial, so you need to think about how to deal with this issue long before the interview process begins.

Start by asking the dean of the college, your department head, and other colleagues to act as advocates on your behalf. They could write letters of recommendation that explicitly mention your excellent performance, the disappointing decision made by the provost, and the loss to the institution that your departure will entail. Long before any interview takes place you should practice talking about what happened in a calm, collected, professional way. Practice out loud in front of the mirror and with colleagues, friends, or partners until you can talk about the experience without tears, or visible signs of anger.

You should apply for positions advertised at the assistant or associate ranks. You might be hired as an assistant professor and go up for tenure early, or you might be hired as an associate professor without tenure, and apply for tenure the following year. Policies on that will vary from campus to campus.

You are not alone. Many academics have been denied tenure, and gone on to satisfying, productive, and illustrious careers elsewhere. As awful as it is, it is not the end of the world.

We would like to take this opportunity to remind readers who are wrapping up their job searches, or planning for a job search in the fall to ask questions about tenure while you are going through the negotiation process and before you accept a job. Make sure you understand what it takes to earn tenure in a given institution, and that you have what it takes to get it. Knowing in advance what the requirements are, how the review process works, and things like the percentage of junior faculty members who get tenure can save you a good deal of heartache down the road.

A Final Note: At the end of every column, we advise readers that we cannot answer every question personally, much as we would like to. We both have full-time jobs and see many, many students and postdocs at our own institution. If you need individual assistance with your application materials or career counseling, you might find some help in our past columns, but you should also get in touch with your degree-granting institution and see what kinds of services are available to you.

Julie Miller Vick is associate director of career services at the University of Pennsylvania. Jennifer S. Furlong is a graduate career counselor at the university. Vick is one of the authors of The Academic Job Search Handbook (University of Pennsylvania Press), along with Mary Morris Heiberger, who was associate director of career services at Penn.

You can order their book directly from the University of Pennsylvania Press or from either of the online booksellers below.