Blue Lab Coats

Your seminar-giving, interviewing, chalk-talking skills are going to get better and better the more interviews you go on. But you will not get better at waiting for the search committee to decide on their favorite candidates. As Physioprof pointed out in the comments to my last post about this (Pt. 12), it’s very appropriate to inquire about the status of a search, and inform the chair of other offers once you have an offer in an institution of equal or greater quality (I don’t know if that’s the right word but you get my drift). Every search committee I have been on has interviewed all 4-5 candidates they flagged for an interview before they have a discussion about/make a decision on who is the top candidate. I think that sometimes when there is a clear favorite, an offer goes out prior to this- but I haven’t personally seen a situation where that happened. Then, if you are the lucky winner, the chair of the hiring department Continue reading ‘Unsolicited Advice: Job Search (Pt. 13)’

In the last post about this I covered the basic ‘structure’ of the interview itself, and gave some hints about what to do, what not to do…. I didn’t talk much about the one-on-one interactions you will have with faculty during your interview visit… but Physioprof has previously posted on this over at the old DM site in glorious detail.. and with many excellent comments.. Also, I found this list of inappropriate questions you may encounter on an interview (from the Chronicle of Higher Education). But- one Continue reading ‘Unsolicited Advice: Job Search (Pt. 12)’

Interviewing.

Now that we have covered the preparation and practice of your interviewing ‘seminar’ and the chalk talk- we can spend a few minutes on the interview itself. Usually the inviting department will prepare a schedule for your visit- hopefully you will get a copy of this schedule a few days before you are to travel. Make sure you get a copy in advance… if necessary, ask nicely. Continue reading ‘Unsolicited Advice: Job Search (Pt. 11)’

Chalk Talks. A second type of talk you may be asked to give on your interview visit for an academic position is a more informal presentation called a ‘chalk talk’. Some places will ask you to give these, some will not- and the format varies between institutions. I know of departments that ask you to prepare a short PowerPoint presentation for your chalk talk, others that ask you to use the board and go sans slides- and use actual chalk, and some that don’t give you an idea of the format up front. If the place that you are visiting falls into this last category- feel free to politely ask the search committee chair prior to your visit if the search committee prefers a particular format. Who will be the audience for this? Continue reading ‘Unsolicited Advice: Job Search (Pt. 10)’

There are three rules about choosing great investments in real estate (Location, 3x)… Similarly, there are three rules about prepping for giving a great talk….

PRACTICE.

PRACTICE.

PRACTICE.

You must practice public speaking in order to be good at it. A few people (and I mean VERY few), are gifted with public speaking and require less practice than the rest of us… but don’t go on a job interview assuming you are one of them. Continue reading ‘Unsolicited Advice: Job Search (Pt. 9)’

Job Talks – This is a huge subject so be patient…and feel free (as usual) to add in the comments anything I forgot! PhysioProf has also previously posted on this subject… so compare and contrast …

I have a list of things I think about when I think about giving a great seminar- Continue reading ‘Unsolicited Advice: Job Search (Pt. 8)’

Here are a few things to think about while waiting for that phone call inviting you to interview for a faculty position. First, you may have been thinking about/comparing all the places you applied to, since you have been reading a bit about each place and probably talking to your significant other (if you have one) about what life would be like in some of these places. DO NOT turn any invitations for interviews down on the basis of these thoughts and discussions (really the only reason to turn down an interview is if you have already accepted a position elsewhere). I have witnessed postdocs declining a request to interview for reasons of geography or spousal happiness.

And you may say, drdrA- why should I interview in a place I think I don’t really want to go to? Continue reading ‘Unsolicited Advice: Job Search (Pt. 7)’

My postdoc advisor had a terrific habit that I have shamelessly stolen and use frequently. When he attended a Gordon Conference/CSH meeting/and the like, he would send me (and others in the lab) emails at convenient intervals summarizing the interesting talks that he attended during that session or day. Needless to say, I like to have my finger on the pulse of what is going on in my field- so I ate up these emails. When he returned from whatever meeting he was attending he would co-opt lab meeting, and give a rundown of all of the talks that he found interesting or relevant to what we were working on.

I have taken this habit and practice it in my own style… Since I was in professional school back in the dark ages before paperless curricula, and syllabi that contain the lecturer’s every utterance were not even a twinkle in anyone’s eye- I am an incessant note-taker. When I worked in industry and couldn’t take my lab notebook of the premises- I developed a habit of carrying one of those bound composition notebooks (the cheap ones) – at that time for thoughts about experiments, notes on papers etc. That habit has stuck with me, and now I drag one of those notebooks with me to every seminar and every scientific meeting (these notebooks are great because when you have a full one you can put in those little sticky tabs so you can find things easily… or you could just do this on a laptop like the rest of the 21st century universe). I send my lab members updates from meetings by email, and when I return I give a summary of everything that I picked up, not only for my lab- but for a group of 3 labs with similar/complementary interests to ours. This exercise serves two purposes for my people…it’s still shocking to me that I actually have MY OWN people. First, they get the newest and greatest from the meeting, so hopefully they actually learn something.… but second- they also learn from my example that I have a very serious attitude about scientific meetings (although I’m no saint so there is always a teensy-weensy bit of goofing off they don’t need to hear about), scientific meetings are professional gatherings and are all about business, best behavior and game face on. And, when I come home I try to treat them like a learning experience that goes beyond just me.

When I send a student or postdoc to meeting that I don’t attend, I expect them to deliver a meeting report in similar style to all of us upon their return…

Moving from the RESEARCH TRACK to the TENURE TRACK…

There is no delicate way to talk about moving from the research-track to the tenure-track. Many institutions have Assistant Professor for Research positions (on the non-tenure track, also sometimes called Assistant Professor(R) and may be similar to Instructor positions). These are useful positions, because typically they allow you to write and submit your own grants, but in reality they are glorified post-doc positions in many cases. These are generally soft-money positions- meaning that the institution doesn’t contribute much (if at all) to the salary of these employees. Different institutions have different requirements for giving these titles, and different policies about how the salary gets paid. I am not trying to be overly negative about these positions (I had one myself, after all)- because actually they give you something you didn’t have as a post-doc- the ability to write/submit/and hold a federal grant…. And this is enormously valuable prep and pay for if and when you seek a tenure track position.

Make no mistake though- a tenure-track position will not be handed to you as the next step up in the department where you are non-tenure track faculty. You will have to go out on a national job search, and probably get a written offer from another institution- before the institution where you are non-tenure track faculty will offer to put you on the tenure track. Why? I hear you cry. It’s pretty simple. Departments like to hire candidates that they think are competitive in the market, and that are going to be able to successfully get federal grants. They have to use their judgment in many cases on that second part- but as for the first part- how can you possibly be considered competitive in the market if you apply for only one tenure-track job…. In the department where you are currently non-tenure track? Right- you won’t be.

I have met a whole lot of two-academic-science-career couples where ½ of the party is in a non-tenure track faculty position… usually the woman. From personal experience I know that these fine and capable women will NOT be offered a tenure track role without a going on a national job search- even if the tenure-track (or tenured) part of their party is federally funded, a great colleague etc. Unfair, maybe- shortsighted, probably- and in fairness there are lots of reasons for this that would take me pages and pages to elaborate upon (note both PP and Drug Monkey’s comments). So- if you are in a non-tenure track position and have aspirations for a tenure track one (regardless of your situation) don’t WAIT for a tenure track job to fall from the sky, and don’t wait for one HOPING that somebody notices how hard you are working and how valuable you are. YOU MUST ACTIVELY GO ON A FULL FLEDGED JOB SEARCH, even if what you want is to convert your current non-tenure track position into a tenure track one…

Ok, gotta go- getting questionable sideways glances from other soccer moms… plus I have twice almost gotten hit with the soccer ball while writing this. It’s a sign.

Here we go again- more unsolicited advice. I was working up to cover letters and which jobs you should apply for when you look at the ads (only to be interrupted by multiple soccer games, all of which were won- but that’s not the point- everyone had fun!).

Cover letters- (also see ‘Application Pkg.’). These letters are your introduction to the search committee, and should be written very carefully. I have seen cover letters that are pages and pages… and I don’t recommend doing this. Search committees are made up of busy busy faculty… who… in addition to their regular jobs generating data/writing papers and such… are now invited to review piles and piles of applications. I recently was on one that reviewed nearly 100 applications, and this was on the lighter side for some of the other searches that I know about going on around campus. So in the letter- state what job you are applying for and how you heard about it. Then, briefly introduce yourself and your work… in such a way as to make the reader WANT to look at the rest of your paperwork. Spelling and Grammar should be immaculate, that goes without saying…

As for what ads you should respond to- here’s my humble unsolicited opinion. You may find out about jobs from various sources, print or online ads or word of mouth, but apply for EVERY job in your field that you seem to fit, DO NOT limit yourself and your options at this early stage!!

First, apply regardless of whether or not you fit EVERY criterion in the ad. It’s pretty rare that the search committee finds the exact candidate that they fantasize about… and in my experience search committees like to entertain really high quality candidates- whether or not they fit the exact description of the position. Take a look at the advertising departments’ web pages- check out their faculty and what they do (Other advice on where to find information about a department/institution can be found here courtesy of the Chronicle of Higher Education) . I have been on search committees that ended up being wowed by candidates that weren’t at all what was advertised for… and those resulted in multiple hires… so don’t be afraid to send in an application for a job that you don’t completely fit the description for- especially if you know the makeup of the department and think you might find colleagues with overlapping or complementary interests, and a good fit there.

Second, a couple of words about geography- apply for positions regardless of whether or not they are in a geographic area where you want to live. You narrow yourself unnecessarily too early in the search by using geography as a criterion. The goal here is to get a job, and you get an academic job by getting an interview… and preferably multiple interviews, and the deal gets closed when you have a written offer- preferably multiple written offers… and your chances of making this happen are just better if you apply to as many positions as possible.

And third, spouses- this is a tricky subject, but I think doesn’t really impact things at this stage. Of course you and your spouse will talk about these places, but unless you get beyond the interview, don’t limit yourself now…