The Tenure-Track Job Search Process
in Science/STEM Education: Advice & Recommendations from Two Recent
Job-seekers
Joshua Rosenberg, University of
Tennessee, Knoxville
Tina Vo, University of Nevada, Las
Vegas
Hi
again everyone! Josh and Tina back again. In our last post we discussed some of the overall
expectations you should have when thinking about the coming job cycle. This
time around we’re writing about the type of preparation we did when ‘going on
the market.’ Again, please remember to take what we’re saying with a grain of
salt. We likely have not covered all the parts of preparing to apply for
academic positions; rather, we want to provide some of the insights we’ve
gleaned during this process.
Setting the Stage to Apply
The first
steps in job market preparation are organizing letter writers and job
documents.
● You need 3-5 people who are willing
to be your letter writers and be your references. One should be your adviser.
● For the rest? Pick people who you
have worked with on projects, or TA’d for, who have mentored you (committee
members, department chairs), who have vested interest in your success.
● Sidebar: We became friends because a
mutual mentor introduced us. We both asked her to be a letter writer as well!
There is no way to ever thank her enough for what she has given us, but a shout
out to Dr. Christina V. Schwarz, someone who has always encouraged deep
thinking, discussion, and connection.
●
Ask
letter writers far in advance
● This is a large commitment on their
behalf.
● As long as you are applying, these
people are writing you letters (6-8 months, years in some cases).
● Look into management systems like Interfolio
(letter writers can upload one generic letter through this service, though it
may not carry as much weight as letters that are customized to the position) if
the people you choose have tighter schedules or are not writing tailored
letters
Preparing
Job Documents
There are also a number of other
documents that are good to begin to prepare in advance.
● Curriculum Vitae (CV)
o
Everyone
does theirs differently with different sections, but don’t forget to include
‘papers in progress & submitted’ and an ‘honors and awards’ section
● Cover letter (on
departmental letterhead; 1-2 pages)
o
Remember
to address it to the chair of the search committee. Don’t know who they are?
Call the department and ask an administrative assistant.
o
There are a million resources; read them! But also get examples from your
field. Nothing is better than asking around your research group/peer groups and
seeing what others’ look like. Peer review each other's work! (Tina might have
accidentally spelled a department’s name wrong…thank goodness for peer review!)
o
Be
specific with concrete examples!
o
If
you’re applying for an R1, link your teaching and research (1-2 pages)
o
Write
one, but tailor it for different types of institutions: R1,R2,R3 (1 statement
for all of these) or M1,M2,M3 (one statement for all of these) (1-2 pages)
o
Normally
in line with specific institutional missions (1 page)
● Other Statements
o
Don’t
prepare this now, but be aware that you may be asked to write other statements,
i.e., letters speaking to the university mission
● Writing samples
o
Most
places will require 1-3 writing samples. Show them your range, but remember
your audience. R’s will want to see more research intensive/first author
pieces, but a strong Science and Children/Science Scope/JCST piece could still go a long way
● Transcripts
o
Have
all of them on hand; you will likely have a few be requested (undergrad,
masters, PhD)
o
You
will have to send a final transcript once you complete your degree
Organizing letter writers and
generating overall versions of job documents are
meaningful benchmarks towards being ready for the next step.
To sum up, get
buy-in from your letter writers early,
make sure there are as many eyes on your
documents as possible. Pull examples from your friends and your lab, but feel
free to look across the department and from other universities. Pulling
together rough documents as early as possible is important. In the next post,
we discuss the solicitation and application process: The time when you actually
submit versions of the documents you have prepared.
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| https://xkcd.com/1977/ |
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