academic mamas--going on the market--what's the "calendar?"

[readytobedone]

sorry i keep monopolizing the board lately

i did a search but couldn't find anything explicitly about this subject. i will be meeting with advisers and colleagues soon to discuss the specifics of this in my field, and for me personally, but my general question is:

in the year you go on the academic market, when is the most labor-intensive part? is it the summer before, the fall of, or what? how much of it could be done in advance if need be (letter writing, putting together the dossier)?

and when do the job listings come out? i assume you can only do so much beforehand since you need to know what specific jobs you're going to be applying for

i'm asking because it may impact when we TTC.

[calicocj]

From what I've observed in my DH's last 4 years on the market and my 1 year on the market, it seems to vary a bit by field, especially if your field has a big national conference where they do the cattle call interviews...

But a very general pattern seems to be that job postings for the next AY start appearing on Chronicle, Science, etc. in August-Sep of the year before, then start really increasing through Oct-Nov, with many application deadlines in Oct-Dec, phone/conference interviews Nov-Jan, campus interviews Nov-Mar, and offers Jan-April. That is a huge generalization

So a lot of the work of prepping the application goes in the fall, and much can get done ahead of time, but it is still very labor intensive tailoring the application material to each institution you apply to. but then there is a huge window of time in the late fall/winter/early spring where the work has to be put in for interview prep, institution research, traveling, interviewing, etc...

Then you have like a secondary job cycle in the spring, when some positions that were frozen might open or when schools start looking to fill visiting positions, etc...

But the huge caveat in all of this is the crummy academic job market this year. There are a lot of hiring freezes and people don't expect them to fully thaw for a few years.... Our experience - My DH applied to >60 jobs this year, over 3/4 of which have now been canceled or frozen, including one he had a plane ticket to go interview at. Of the others, they are getting 300-800 applications, so it is insane. (again field specific).

because of all that, I wouldn't necessarily try to schedule TTC around this, it is so unpredictable :

hth!

[slsurface]

I think this might be discipline specific. My field does not have a lot of post-doc opportunities. Usually people go straight from grad school to either a visiting professor position or a tenure track position. In my field, most job postings come out in the Fall through early winter. Interviews can occur any time from late Fall to late spring, depending on the department or university. Usually positions begin in the Fall semester. Tenure-track positions expect that you will publish at least 2-3 articles a year, as well as teaching 2-3 courses, and writing research grants/conducting research. Generally, you have 3 years to prove whether you are tenure material.

I've been ABD for a couple years and have been continuously updating, revising, and improving my C.V. and teaching/research statements throughout this time. I've been applying for positions for a couple years too. Although I know it's a long-shot, since most departments won't hire an ABD even if they know that person is defending before the position starts, but it's a good way to refine my cover letter, CV, and statements.

I know how you feel about trying to balance the job search with making a family. I would like to be preggo with #2 before the end of 2009. This means that I could possibly be interviewing while preggo next academic year. I'm not sure how this will affect my job prospects, I suspect it will hurt me. So far I have encountered a lot of hostility about having a family while a graduate student. But my clock is ticking and I'm not getting any younger. There is no "perfect" time to have kids, so I don't plan on waiting any longer.

Good luck!

[slsurface]

Originally Posted by calicocj

But the huge caveat in all of this is the crummy academic job market this year. There are a lot of hiring freezes and people don't expect them to fully thaw for a few years.... Our experience - My DH applied to >60 jobs this year, over 3/4 of which have now been canceled or frozen, including one he had a plane ticket to go interview at. Of the others, they are getting 300-800 applications, so it is insane. (again field specific).

Yeah, I ran into this too. I applied to 25 positions and I think all but two of them was frozen. It sucks to be on the market in the worse economic downturn in decades!

[XanaduMama]

What field are you in? In my field (English) it's pretty fixed:

the list comes out in early October (via the MLA or ADE: you need to have a membership ID to log in; your department should give you one if you don't)

Applications are usually due Nov through mid-December, and usually involve:

- a formal letter, which will probably take the longest to write. This is something you can work on during the summer (and, if you're teaching in the fall, I'd recommend doing that)

- CV

- dissertation abstract (can def be done in advance)

- sometimes upfront, or they might ask for it later, a 20-30pp writing sample (you should have this already, might involve some editing/framing)

- "dossier" (letters of recommendation, which your dept may mail out for you). Make sure you ask your profs about this and nag them until they're done.

- sometimes, a "teaching statement" and (more rarely) a "statement of research interests". These can be time consuming too, but whether you need them will depend on the type of jobs you're applying to

- teaching jobs might also ask for sample syllabi, evaluations, and other "evidence of teaching effectiveness"

The time consuming part, IME, is the actual compiling/mailing of the applications, which can't really be done in advance. But it's manual, rather than intellectual labor, in many respects--so you could get someone to help you do it, if that's an option.


OK, then in December you hear about interviews, which happen at the big annual convention between Xmas and New Year's. This year in Philadelphia.

Jan/Feb, if you're lucky, you'll get calls for campus visits.

As for when to TTC, I went on the market last year while heavily pregnant, including traveling for campus visits when 7mo along. It's definitely possible...PM me if you want to talk about that specifically, or anything else.

good luck!

[readytobedone]

Originally Posted by XanaduMama

What field are you in? In my field (English) it's pretty fixed:

the list comes out in early October (via the MLA or ADE: you need to have a membership ID to log in; your department should give you one if you don't)

Applications are usually due Nov through mid-December, and usually involve:

- a formal letter, which will probably take the longest to write. This is something you can work on during the summer (and, if you're teaching in the fall, I'd recommend doing that)

- CV

- dissertation abstract (can def be done in advance)

- sometimes upfront, or they might ask for it later, a 20-30pp writing sample (you should have this already, might involve some editing/framing)

- "dossier" (letters of recommendation, which your dept may mail out for you). Make sure you ask your profs about this and nag them until they're done.

- sometimes, a "teaching statement" and (more rarely) a "statement of research interests". These can be time consuming too, but whether you need them will depend on the type of jobs you're applying to

- teaching jobs might also ask for sample syllabi, evaluations, and other "evidence of teaching effectiveness"

The time consuming part, IME, is the actual compiling/mailing of the applications, which can't really be done in advance. But it's manual, rather than intellectual labor, in many respects--so you could get someone to help you do it, if that's an option.


OK, then in December you hear about interviews, which happen at the big annual convention between Xmas and New Year's. This year in Philadelphia.

Jan/Feb, if you're lucky, you'll get calls for campus visits.

As for when to TTC, I went on the market last year while heavily pregnant, including traveling for campus visits when 7mo along. It's definitely possible...PM me if you want to talk about that specifically, or anything else.

good luck!

thanks so much, xanadumama! i'm in the same field as you, so this was extremely helpful and exactly what i was looking for!