Careers In Academia
The Career Services Center offers programs and online resources to assist graduate students with the academic job search. These resources greatly complement, but do not replace, the specialized knowledge that faculty and alumni in your academic department can share with you in your specific discipline. Because practices vary among academic disciplines, job candidates are encouraged to work closely with their departments, in addition to the Career Services Center.
Advertised Positions
Most tenure-track positions are advertised nationally through multiple sources. General resources are listed below. Job candidates need to be aware of the opportunities within their discipline, which are shared in scholarly newsletters and journals, by job-email alert services, and with postings at conferences.
Surviving the Job Search
Understanding the academic hiring process prior to sending out application materials will greatly help you effectively and efficiently approach institutions. The timeline for hiring a tenure-track position assistant professor position can start nearly two-years prior to them making an offer.
Review the UC San Diego Academic Job Search Survival Handbook,
to understand the hiring process from the institution's perspective. Also find information on creating quality and appropriate application materials. Prepare for your interview, campus visit and job talk. Negotiate an offer with confidence.
This page includes information regarding:
Postdocs, grants & fellowshipsTeaching & Non-Faculty Careers |
| Finding Jobs General Resources |
The Chronicle of Higher Education is the most well-known resource for comprehensive information concerning the academic market. Subscribers receive the weekly print version and access to all articles and resources online. Most of the Chronicle is accessible online to non-subscribers. Readers can also utilize their job alert service, too. Scholarly & Professional Societies a searchable database of over 1700 scholarly associations. Below are links to several additional, discipline and area-specific resources compiled by the by the University of Waterloo. Academic 360 a resource on an array of scholarly organizations, listservs, and other discipline-specific career-related info. Academic 360 can aid in identifying where to find academic and nonacademic job postings. Academic Careers Online includes faculty, research, postdoc, adjunct, administrative, and senior management positions at institutions of higher learning and research centers worldwide. PhDs.org provides job and postdoc listings, mostly in science, math, engineering, but not exclusively, as well as valuable articles and advice. Education Week provides info on a multitude of positions, some academic. Especially useful to administrators, curriculum designers, and consultants in education and not-for-profit organizations. Higher Ed Jobs is one of the largest databases of open positions in higher education, for tenure track and adjunct faculty, staff, and administrators. Southern California) Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC) is a web-based search engine that includes faculty and staff job listings at all member institutions in Southern California focused on helping dual-career couples. |
| By Discipline |
Comprehensive Faculty Jobs The Chronicle of Higher Education |
| Credentials: Cover Letters, CVs, Teaching Portfolios and References |
Create an Effective CV & Samples CVs - Elements Of and How to Put Them Together Courtesy of UC Berkeley Application Materials & Samples Courtesy of the University of Virginia Life & Social Science Samples and Resources Courtesy of UC San Francisco Elements of an Effective Teaching Portfolio Courtesy of UC Berkeley |
| Interviewing, Salary, & Negotiation |
The Academic Interview from the telephone to the "job talk": a comprehensive lists of tips and strategies that will help you successfully navigate the faculty interview process, Courtesy of the University of Virginia Average Faculty Salaries The Chronicle of Higher Education Negotiation |
| Related Articles |
The Hiring Process from the Other Side The Chronicle of Higher Education "So You Want to Be A Professor" Matt Anderson, Ph.D., Asst. Professor, Physics, San Diego State University (UC San Diego's Academic Job Search Series panelist, Spring 2008) How We Did It (from the academic search committee's perspective), The Chronicle of Higher Education Mastering Your Ph.D. Series Mastering Your Ph.D.: Survival and Success in the Doctoral Years and Beyond (Springer, 2006). |
| Recommended Reading |
Electronic The Academic Scientists' Toolkit a valuable services of articles and resources which is a must read for scientist Going on the Market. James Austin,Science Careers (2004) Tomorrow's Professor seeks to foster a diverse, world-wide teaching and learning ecology among its over 30,000 subscribers at over 600 institutions and organizations in over 108 countries around the world. Are You Ready to Go on the Market? Mary Morris Heiberger and Julie Miller Vick, The Chronicle of Higher Education Getting Psyched Up for the Market Mary Morris Heiberger and Julie Miller Vick, The Chronicle of Higher Education Dual Academic Career Resources Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC) Going on the Market... by Joy Connolly, Classics, New York University Landing an Academic Job Jonathan A. Dantzig, Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Champagne-Urbana Making the Right Moves: A Practical Guide for Scientific Management for Postdocs and New Faculty Securing an Academic Job in Music Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester Surviving and Thriving in Academia Committee on Women in Psychology and American Psychological Association Who Are You? David B. Rivers, Inside Higher Ed The Academic Job Search Handbook, (Fourth Edition), Julia Miller Vick and Jennifer S. Furlong (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008). Academic Couples, Marianne Ferber and Jane Loeb (University of Illinois, 1997). The Adjunct Professor's Guide to Success, Richard E. Lyons, Marcella L. Kysilka, and George E. Pawlas (Allyn and Bacon, 1999). Advice for New Faculty Members, Robert Boice (Allyn and Bacon, 2000). The Chicago Guide to Your Academic Career: A Portable Mentor for Scholars from Graduate School through Tenure, John A. Goldsmith, John Komlos, and Penny Schine Gold. (University of Chicago Press, 2001). The Chicago Handbook for Teachers, Alan Brinkley, Betty Dessants, Michael Flamm, Cynthia Fleming, Charles Forcey, and Eric Rothschild (The University of Chicago Press, 1999). Faculty in New Jobs, Robert Menges and Associates (Josey-Bass Publishers, 1999). Job Search in Academe, Dawn M. Formo and Cheryl Reed (Stylus Publishing, 1999). Tomorrow's Professor: Preparing for Academic Careers in Science and Engineering, Richard M. Reis (IEEE Press, 1997). A Ph.D. is Not Enough!: A Guide to Survival in Science, Peter J. Feibelman (Addison-Wesley, 1994) |
PhD & Master's Students
Development Seminars
- Academic Interview Basics for PhDs
- The Academic Job Search Series
- Mastering the Academic Job Talk for PhDs
For further details and to register for these and other Graduate Student Seminars & Events, please log into Port Triton.