Academic Jobs in a Nutshell Borrows heavily from Tom Wenisch’s “Job Talk” Talk Nate Derbinsky 10 January 2012

Outline 1.Factors for Consideration 2.Types of Institutions 3.Types of Jobs 4.Application Materials

1. Factors Autonomy Salary Resources Responsibilities Performance Evaluation Timeline/Process Prospects Comparison to Industry/Gov’t

Autonomy Degree of supervision – Do you have a boss? Tenure – Freedom to pursue your curiosities (subject to grants/centers, departmental initiatives, …)

Salary Sponsored/Soft money – Ongoing: you need to secure moneys to pay your salary Non-Sponsored/General fund – Your salary is “reliable” and guaranteed through some process/fund external to your fund-raising efforts Absolute amount + potential for growth 9-month vs. 12-month

Resources Graduate students – Think about your life right now: these are the folks who do all the work Collaborators – Intra/Inter-departmental Administrative staff – Everyday, special projects (e.g. conferences), admissions, budgeting, etc. Teaching assistance – Lecturers, GSI/IA, feedback (e.g. CRLT) Institutional funding opportunities Computational/equipment (e.g. cluster computing)

Responsibilities Teaching – Comfort zone vs. not, new vs. old, service Research – Grad vs. undergrad, self-promotion, raising $$ Service – Committees, advising, research community (e.g. run a conference, review), leadership Mentoring – Grad vs. undergrad, placement Workload – Does the work ever end?

Performance Evaluation Research – Publications (venues), “impact” (e.g. h-index), student progress/placement, letters (student, research community), bringing in $$, career award Teaching – Student evaluations, student letters, innovation/publications Service – “Take one for the team,” outreach, balancing T/R

Timeline/Process Typical – (+1) – Startup package various colors of $$ (equipment, students, summer salary) teaching Variables/Issues – Retention rate – Clarity of expectations Who is deciding (esp. relevant for co-appointment) What are the baselines

Prospects Basics – Title: assistant, associate, full, endowed chair – Base-salary increase – Tenure (usually with associate) – Sabbatical (4/7 years, ½ + ½ pay) Tech transfer/spinoff Administration Program manager

Comparison to Industry/Gov’t Autonomy: > (e.g. 6.1 vs ) Salary: < Resources: <> (e.g. students, equipment/data) Responsibilities: <> (e.g. teaching, funding) – Hours: worse (e.g. >80 hours/week), never-ending But you are in “control”

2. Types of Institutions Teaching/Liberal Arts (T1) – Oberlin, Harvey Mudd, Swarthmore Comprehensive – Eastern/Western * Research (R1) – Stanford, Berkeley, MIT, CMU – Brown, Yale, Princeton, Harvard

Institutional Factors Degree offerings (BS, MS, PhD) – Location of program (e.g. Math, Engineering, Business), own department? Student population – Balance of undergrad vs. grad School location Professional schools (e.g. Med) Teaching load

Rough Categorization T1 BS (maybe MS) Small student pop. (1000’s) More rural No professional degrees 3-4 courses per semester R1 BS, MS, PhD Large student pop. (10k’s) More urban Mix of professional degrees 0-2 courses per semester – Buyout!

3. Types of Jobs Post Doc Research Scientist/Professor Lecturer/Teaching-Professor Tenure-Track Professor

Post Doc Temporary employment (1-3 years) – Usually research, maybe teaching Typically working for a faculty member – Possibly independent funding (e.g. fellowship) – Common to get position via “who you know” Sources: academic, gov’t labs (e.g. AFRL, NRL) Goals – Avoid the real world (travel!) – Better preparation for the job search Letters, experience/CV, job-market conditions Make progress, distinguish from thesis/advisor

Research Scientist/Professor Research only, soft money Variable autonomy Rarely tenure track

Lecturer/Teaching Professor Teaching only (renewable appointments) – Some intermittent hires ~ enrollment Evaluated on teaching – High loads, lots of intro/service courses Rarely tenure-track

Tenure-Track Professor Autonomous from day-1 – Must become a… R1: World-class researcher & competent teacher – Bring in $$, produce high-impact research, and place students T1: Innovative teacher & competent researcher – Teach lots of courses very well, and place students

Transitions Post Doc -> * Academia -> Industry – Harder in reverse R1 -> T1 (not easy) – Harder in reverse Industry -> T1 (not easy) – Maybe via Community College

4. Application Materials Cover Letter CV Teaching Statement Research Statement Letters (3-5)

Cover Letter (~1 day, 1 page) Intended position Summary of packet, relative to position Opportunity to specialize to post

CV (~1 day) Arbitrarily long – Honors/awards – Publications – Service – Teaching Should be maintained incrementally – Have an easy-to-navigate website with links to your papers and presentations

Teaching Stmt. (~1-2 wks, 1-2 pgs) Experience Philosophy Interests/Qualifications – Research seminar – T1: show flexibility, more detail

Research Stmt (~1-4 wks, 1-4 pgs) Broad vision Dissertation work – Cite own papers Plan (5-years) – Build on strengths, expand, take some risk – T1: incorporation of undergrads

Letters In-depth, extensive, “coded” From… – Committee – Better: internal collaborators – Better: external collaborators (academia > industry) – Best: academic leaders in the field How… – Collaborate – Visibility: good work, good talks, good questions Conferences, invited talks, service Provide application materials at least – Keep up with deadlines, coordinate with writers

Process Read posts (do not be dissuaded by fields) – Fall ‘X for Fall ‘X+1 Submit materials (web, , snail) – Provide letter info (usually immediate request) Make sure recommenders submit letters Wait… – Possibly phone interview (T1?) – Onsite: 1-hour job talk, many minute individual meetings, student meetings, dinner – Offer scheduling

Misc Apply widely – But not where you wouldn’t want to take the job The goal of the application packet is to get an interview Two-body problems (& solutions)