It’s that time of year, and I thought it would be wise to consolidate all the job market-related posts under a single umbrella. They so seldom wear their wellies.
If you’ve stumbled upon these posts for the first time, please know that they represent a) only one person’s perspective, a perspective informed by only a few go-rounds on the market as a job seeker and one as a member of a search committee and b) they were originally written at a time (2008-09) when the job market was unusually unkind. The coming year may not be much kinder, but if these posts seem durable, I’ll leave them up even if I walk away from the blog.
The string of posts corresponds approximately to the contours of the long search season–the first offers some preliminary thoughts, and the last offers some recommendations on handling the aftermath. I’ve fielded occasional questions in the comments section, and I’ve embedded some links that may lead you to other resources you can use.
- Part I (preparatory overview)
- Part II (one search committee member’s point of view)
- Part III (recommendations for the cover letter)
- Part IV (the curriculum vitae)
- Part V (more search committee insights)
- Part VI (the MLA interview)
- Part VII (the MLA aftermath)
- Part VIII (the campus visit in general)
- Part IX (the teaching presentation)
- Part X (the research presentation)
- Part XI (negotiation)
- Part XII (at search season’s end)
- Addendum (a few stray thoughts on the 2008-09 search season)
- Various and Sundry (notes on search term queries)
I hope that makes life a bit easier on the keyword searchers. Also be sure to visit the English Literature Job Search Wiki, but be forewarned: more than a few folks have noted that the wiki experience can be a little obsessive, a little addictive. The English Who_Got_In lounge also addresses the thrills and spills of the job search and is a nifty resource that covers even more aspects of the academic life.
It goes without saying that you’ll want to pay weekly visits to the MLA Job Information List (which should punt you over to ade.org once the season officially opens on September 17th), and don’t forget to keep tabs on the list over at The Chronicle of Higher Education, which often features gigs that go unadvertised on the MLA site.
I get to take the year off from search considerations (we’re looking for folks in English Education and Rhet/Comp, or so we hope, and we have a gaggle of faculty better equipped to evaluate candidates), but I’ll try and offer fresh perspective if new insights come to mind.
Good luck in your searches; here’s to hoping this year will be friskier than the last.
Bill:
I’m currently on the market for an English Education position. This site gave me some very good advice. Thanks a bunch!
I’m glad the posts were of use. Good luck in the hunt!
Thank you so much…these posts really de-mystify the process and the sense of humor & perspective is much appreciated!
Thank you; I hope they help folks navigate through some of the fog. Good luck to you if you’re searching!
[...] that pays a living wage, and I’ve devoted a goodly portion of this here blog to the dispensation of job market advice in the hopes that it will speed the searches of those who may feel like they have not received [...]
[...] posts on negotiating the academic job market. You can find the master link to the lot right about here. Nothing authoritative there, of course, but some bits and bobbins I hope are useful. It looks [...]
[...] those of you swooping by Otherwise, Lightning for the first time, here’s a line to the majority of my posts pertaining to the academic job market in English language and literature. It’s topically [...]