First Person

What Worked for Me

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By Tom Mason

When I submitted my first column last summer about my search for a tenure-track job in the physical sciences, I did not expect to receive much response from readers.

And indeed, my first two columns generated only a few e-mail messages from people offering words of support and a bit of advice, both of which I appreciated. Then my third column appeared. I wrote about my indecision over whether to take a job offer from College A (a truly exciting position that suited me professionally but was located 10 to 12 hours away from my nearest relatives) or from College B (a less exciting, though still fine, position that had the advantage of being located within two hours of my extended family).

Soon I was receiving e-mail (forwarded by The Chronicle) from strangers who were strangely invested in my career options. The letter writers seemed evenly split between people telling me to take the offer from College A and others urging me to go with College B.

The response was less balanced, however, once my column became the topic of a thread in the forums. Many of the posters expressed anger and confusion about my dilemma (How dare I complain about being torn between two offers? Was I gloating?), and did not seem to understand why family was an important factor in my decision.

In fact, some posters made a point of telling me that I was too close to my family. I had a little chuckle over that one. Anyone who knows me will tell you that is hardly the case. Yet family is important to me and my wife, and always will be, so to leave that factor out of the equation would have been shortsighted.

Let me end the suspense: I accepted the job at College A. It offered better salary and benefits, better students, better collegiality among faculty members, and more resources and encouragement for professional development. The only advantage that College B had over College A was location, which was not enough for me to accept its offer.

Now that it's over, I have had some time to reflect on the hiring process. I began my search last August with a semi-shotgun approach. I knew that I wanted a teaching-oriented position so I applied only to jobs at community colleges and a few small liberal-arts colleges. But I was terrified that next summer would arrive and I would have no job. So, to calm my fears, I began filling out applications for all teaching-focused jobs open in my field across the entire United States. I figured that the more jobs I applied to the better my chances, right?

Early on I came across two positions at community colleges in California. One had a standard, fill-in-the-blank, human-resources form. I started filling it out until I came to a box that asked me to describe in detail all of my past teaching experiences and qualifications for this position. The box was literally the depth of my thumbnail and the length of my thumb. I stared at it for a few moments to make sure I had not misread what was being asked. I thought about adding a separate page until I noticed this statement at the bottom of the application form in bold letters: "Any additional pages will be discarded."

Another position at a community college in California stated that the successful applicant would be required to complete two on-campus interviews, each of which would last no more than an hour. Applicants would have to pay their own travel expenses.

I ended up tossing both of those applications into the trash. I did not want to live in California. My wife did not want to live in California. (No offense to those who live in California.)

From that point forward, I applied only to positions located in a place where I could see us being reasonably happy. I sent out a total of 20 applications, received about five interviews and five rejection letters. I have heard nothing from the remaining 10.

As a newcomer to the job market, I offer the following advice to other first-time job searchers:

Limit Your Search

Apply only to those types of institutions that are the best fit for you. Do you think your best fit would be at a community college? A liberal-arts college? A large university? Obviously there may be some overlap, but if your main goal is to teach, do not try to fake your way through an application to Big Research University. The hiring committee will see through your ruse.

A colleague of mine applied one year for more than 300 positions -- to high schools, community colleges, liberal-arts colleges, large universities, and industries. That colleague received exactly one offer and accepted it, so I suppose the shotgun approach worked. But think of all the time spent filling out those applications when a more focused search of 30 positions probably would have worked just as well.

Think About Where You Want to Live

If you cannot fathom moving to a certain region of the country, why bother applying for a position there? If you like moving around, then go that route. But if you want to settle down somewhere specific, focus hard on applications in that region.

Make sure you have a backup plan if a job offer in your preferred region is not forthcoming. Finding adjunct work in my field is fairly easy, so I was willing to do that for a year and start applying again next year if I came up short on the market.

Read the Job Description Carefully

If you see something you would never be willing to do, such as teaching a certain class, do not apply. At College A, the head of the search committee said that during the phone interview stage, two of the candidates stated outright that they would not teach a class that was specifically listed in the job description. As you might expect, their applications were tossed out at that point.

Try to Have Fun

That is easy for me to say now that I have a job, but it was not easy to follow while searching for one. In fact, I failed miserably at that, and spent much of my time this past year seriously stressed out. Once I received an invitation for a campus interview I calmed down a little. I guess what I am saying here is do as I say, not as I did.

Well, that's it -- a bit of advice from someone who probably is not all that qualified to give it. Look, everyone has his or her own view of the best way to find an academic job. This was my approach and it worked for me.