Highlights from the Preparing for the Academic Job Market Series
The Kaneb Center in collaboration with the Graduate School Professional Development Team recently offered the Preparing for the Academic Job Market Series. Below are a few highlights from the series, just in case you could not attend.
Preparing for the Academic Job Market I: Putting Together Application Materials
Dr. Matthew Capdevielle, Director, University Writing Center
Dr. Capdevielle presented on two important documents typically included in application materials: the CV and Cover Letter. He offered a brief overview of what to include in each of these documents and discussed examples. A teaching statement and research statement were also briefly discussed. For more information about this workshop, please check out the workshop slides.
Preparing for the Academic Job Market II: Interviewing, the Job Talk, and the Teaching Pitch
Dr. Cindy Bergeman, Department of Psychology
Dr. Bergeman outlined what to expect during a typical on-campus interview. She shared tips for preparing chalk talks and mock lectures. Common interview questions were discussed as well as ideas for questions to ask on an interview and how to handle difficult questions. For more information about this workshop, please check out the workshop slides.
Preparing for the Academic Job Market III: Faculty Panel to Discuss Working at Different Types of Institutions
Dr. Cassie Majetic, Department of Biology, St. Mary’s College
Dr. Kelcey Parker, Department of English, Indiana University South Bend
Dr. Alan Huebner, Department of Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics, University of Notre Dame
Our faculty panel had experience working in small liberal arts institutions, regional public institutions, teaching positions at research institutions, and industry. The panel members were all currently in academic positions with teaching loads ranging from 3-2 to 4-4 (courses taught per semester), and many of the panelists had repeated preps. All panelists were involved in some sort of research depending on their positions. The “Scholar/Teacher” model was discussed. In this model, faculty members are expected to teach courses and contribute to scholarly work. Depending on the institution, the definition of scholarly work may include pedagogical work. Dr. Cassie Majetic stated that she often does most of her research in the summer, in part due to the high teaching load but also due to the nature of her research. Dr. Kelcey Parker described working at a regional public university where she is actively engaged in research and teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses. Dr. Huebner shared his experiences going from industry to academia and stressed the importance of maintaining an active research program while working in industry if you intend on returning to academia.
As far as applying for jobs, the panel advised to keep on open mind – the job that you think you are the best fit for, may not be the job you interview for. The panelists also stressed that it is also possible to find a good fit with a job that you do not initially think is the best fit. To stand out from a pile of applicants, panelists recommended that it is important to demonstrate that you are familiar with the department that you are applying to. They encouraged participants to do their research ahead of time, learn about the area, the type of institution, the mission statement, the faculty research interests, standard teaching loads, etc.
For more information on upcoming workshops, please check out our Fall 2013 Workshop Series.
