Applying for US jobs from the UK

Applying for US jobs from the UK

UKApplicant 17 Sep 2016 10:41

I am an American completing my PhD in the UK. I would like to apply for US jobs TT jobs at SLACs, but I've suddenly considered that not being located in the US might hurt my chances of obtaining an in person interview? (If I should be so lucky to make it to that stage!)

I will be in the US for a month towards the end of March and beginning of April (possibly too late for the interview cycle anyway?), would it make sense to state this in a cover letter? TPII blog has suggested that it might be appropriate to say that you will be travelling to the US for a particular conference/available to interview in a cover letter, but it does feel a bit presumptive to me. Do you think not being stateside might hurt my chances?

Re: Applying for US jobs from the UK

DocJ 17 Sep 2016 19:51

SLACs might well still be conducting searches in March or April, of course these will usually me middle-ranked ones as opposed to the more elite institutions. That said, I see no reason why mentioning your travel plans would hurt in a cover letter. I'd not worry as much about your chances. If you're a strong candidate and catch an institution's attention, they'll likely find a way to make it all work. When I was on a search committee at a SLAC we flew an international candidate in for an interview and we were definitely not an elite institution with unlimited budgets. Good luck!

Re: Applying for US jobs from the UK

UKApplicant 19 Sep 2016 06:01

Thank you! I think of all things, this should be the least of my worries right now, haha, but it just popped into my mind the other day and seemed like something I should consider.