Foremost, the odds of "success" with an academic job search are quite low. From various websites and the occasional article, after completing a Ph.D. the chances someone ends up in a tenure-track faculty position at a 4-year or higher institution range from 10 to maybe 40-percent (loads of factors cause the variability). Whether that's true or not, there are many things that everyone who wants to go this career route must seriously consider.
1. Apply Everywhere — This is the sage advice given to me when I was a grad student. I went with it during my first search fresh out of my Ph.D. program, and ended up being a finalist at around 10 different positions that varied from a great post-doc opportunity to some okay SLACs to some pretty bad state colleges to an R2. At the time I had only a few publications. Your odds of landing a job in say North Dakota are far better than California or Massachusetts. Desirable, more idealized, locations attract many more great candidates.
In fact, applying to positions in attractive locations as a post-doc or ABD is even more unlikely to succeed as these places get applicants who are already assistant or even associate professors at other institutions in less desired locations. I know this is very true as I've kept track of who's seemingly wound up hired at places I applied for. Quite a few of the better SLACs, R1s for sure, and even many R2s in desired locations hire people who were already faculty elsewhere. In addition, I have a couple of colleagues who were willing to step down from associate rank to assistant (with some years toward tenure tossed in) to get to a stronger institution/location.
Bottom line - if you're only applying to positions in the Northeast or Pacific West, you're already dooming your chances.
2. Teaching Route or Research Route? The R1 and elite SLAC path has very low odds of success. These positions attract the top candidates in the field, to include people who are tenure-track faculty elsewhere, are making a name for themselves, and have NSF or NIH grants under their belts. At one elite SLAC hiring this year, I happen to know their position attracted some international superstars. If this is your dream, go for it. But, I recommend following point one and applying for those R1s or elite SLACs in rural areas where many people might pass on.
The R2, regional state college, and non-elite SLAC route is much less clear. Yes, you can get hired at these places with a post-doc, but there is a lot more variability in the institutions. In general, the more teaching load faculty have, the more wary people are probably going to be about applicants with post-doc experience but no formal teaching appointments. The reason is two fold: a) we faculty at such places wonder if the post-doc applicants are using us as a backup. With our heavier (3/3 or greater) teaching loads, a faculty search is simply added hassle. We want long term hires. b) even if we lack those doubts, candidates who lack recent (i.e., within 2 years) teaching experience - or - have only teaching assistantships are at a disadvantage.
If you want to get into the non-R1 and non-elite SLAC faculty stream, do yourself a favor and do a multi-year VAP over a post-doc (or after a post-doc). Show us you can teach as well as you can do research.
3. Customize Your Materials — I can't emphasize this one enough. If you are applying to both research and teaching oriented positions and lack a CV and research statement for each, you're doing it wrong. As for cover letters, each one you send must be customized, especially for teaching oriented positions. For teaching oriented positions, the CV needs to put the teaching stuff close to the beginning; research needs to come second. Also, the research statement here needs to emphasize how you can significantly involve undergrads in your research and perhaps show how you've mentored and worked with undergrads. If your past research has relied on expensive, specialized equipment, this will also scare off some R2s and perhaps many non-elite SLACs / regional state colleges.
My very last note is that the hiring process involves something mysterious called "fit." Search committee members, especially outside of the R1 world, are looking for colleagues who will "fit in" with the campus culture, be good people to work with, get along well with students, and contribute to the institution's success. A phone or Skype interview is largely to establish this. I've been on a search committee, and we've ruled out some applicants who look great on paper but who seemed aloof, disinterested in our position, or focused on research with seemingly little passion for teaching.
I hope some of this might be useful, and wish you good fortunes with the search. There's still some time left with this cycle!
bluh (guest) 26 Feb 2016 02:19
