1. The jobtalk

2. About me Education in Europe and US
BS & MS in Theoretical, Cognitive Psychology (Statistics!), University of Leuven (Belgium), 1996
MS & PhD in MIS, University of Arizona, 2003
All my jobs have been academic, also short stints at NLM
Visiting Scholar, US National Library of Medicine (NLM/NIH), 2003 and 2006
Assistant Professor, IS, Claremont Graduate University,
Associate Professor, IS, Claremont Graduate University,
Associate Professor, MIS, University of Arizona,
Professor, MIS, University of Arizona, 2017-current
Research
NLP, Text Mining, mostly in medicine/healthcare environment
All funded
Service:
Focused mostly on diversity and inclusion
Contact at:

3. Phases of the jobtalk
Before
During
After

4. Before the job talk You will have invitations to different places
Understand the environment you will be going to and tailor your job talk
Usually people don’t want a ‘clone’ of someone but a new person who brings new talent, topics.
The job description will make it clear what a department is looking for
Your job talk can be different (slightly) for each campus visit

5. Before the job talk Content Common sense: Start with a slide about you
No typos!
Good color scheme that is tested on different computers, save in different types (pdf, ppt, other)
Find a good way to show the structure of your talk (intro, lit review, …)
Start with a slide about you
Gives your audience a better idea about your background, your interests
Include educational history, industry experience, projects you have worked on, service (if you have anything that makes you stand out).
Limit the personal information. Lots of unconscious bias, especially related to women. Keep it professional and avoid it.
Start with an introduction everyone can understand
This is the ‘why should I care’ portion of your talk
Why is this work important? What type of problem does it solve? Who is involved?
How does it fit in with other big problems, with other research
If you worked in a team, explain what your part is of the work (I make students create a diagram with color coding for what their work is … bright red or so)

6. Before the job talk Content Literature review
No laundry list, no table with a list of papers you read
This should tell a story
What has been done
What has not been done
Where do you fit in
While it’s necessary, this should also be short because it’s pretty boring compared to talking about new results (yours)
Content can be technical, detailed
Include a ‘wow’ slide, e.g., a diagram showing all your studies, showing the architecture of your system
For studies: be clear on design, analysis, data
Include examples, visuals when possible
BUT: Make sure you understand your own graphs (don’t copy and paste visualizations that you do not understand)
Make sure to conclude with a conclusion everyone can understand
Make sure the audience understands this is your conclusion
Be clear about your contribution (you don’t have to call it ‘my contribution) but also about the limitations
Don’t make sweeping conclusions based on a small experiment or project. Be realistic.

7. Before the job talk Practice Should know talk by heart, slide by slide
Practice out loud without audience
The first few slides are usually the hardest
Keep time. You may NEVER go over time.
Make sure you pronounce important words correctly, especially when not a native speaker
You should be able to finish a talk without having to stop at least 3x before you are ready for a real audience.
Practice talk in front of an audience
Invite people from different backgrounds, experience
Encourage them to ask questions (I make everyone in the audience ask at least 2 questions)
The more questions you get, the better prepared you will be

8. Before the job talk You will have practiced so much that
You know the order of all slides without even looking at paper  NEVER look at notes
You can jump to a later section when time is short NEVER run out of time
You can make last minute adjustments if there is a change in plans (e.g., you are told last minute that half the psych department is also attending)

9. During the job talk
Two important characteristics that you cannot forget
SMILE! It’s much nicer to listen to a friendly person than a grumpy one, you’ll get a friendlier audience
Be interested in your own work. Show it. Show enthusiasm. If you are not interested, why would your audience be?
The content
Make sure the structure is clear: introduction, background, …
Don’t do anything new. People have a mental model of what is coming, don’t upset it. You can do that once you’ve become famous.
In the introduction – everyone should be able to follow this
The meat of the presentation – can be detailed
The conclusion - Should be clear for everyone
Thank your study participants, acknowledge funding (if it was funded)

10. During the job talk It’s OK to look at the time and make adjustments
Skip ahead a section
Do NOT start speaking faster or flipping through slides
Stay calm and in control (you will be since you memorized your slides)
Answering questions
Be honest. If someone asks about an angle/analysis you haven’t done, then say so.
Don’t say “That’s a good question” or ”Thank you for your question” every time.
It’s OK to repeat the question to make sure you understood it correctly.
If someone starts arguing, suggest to continue the discussion after your talk. You need to control the situation (the audience may be just as annoyed as you are with the person  )

11. After the job talk Conclude any discussions if necessary
You are done. Relax. Smile.