Overview
The second half of the Graduate Research Network (GRN) at the 2014 Computers and Writing Conference featured a workshop about the job market. Quinn Warnick of Virginia Tech organized this particular section of the day-long workshop, which began with two speakers, Crystal VanKooten and Tim Lockridge, addressing their experiences on the job market this past year. Both Crystal and Tim offered advice and encouragement that I'll address in a subsequent post.
For the rest of the session, graduate-student participants circulated to four of approximately eight stations set up around the room, spending twenty minutes at each one. At these stations, 2-3 professors or experienced lecturers answered questions pertaining to particular aspects of the job search process.
I went to the following tables and spoke with the following advisers:
Analyzing Job Ads
Jennifer Stewart, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne
Lillian Mina, Indiana University or Pennsylvania
Suzanne Blum Malley, Columbia College Chicago
Non-R1s, SLACs, and Alt Ac
Kyle Steadman, Rockford University
Rik Hunter, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga
John Walter, SLU's Ong Archive
Disclosing Personal Information
Cindy Selfe, Ohio State University
Doug Eyman, George Mason University
Melanie Yergeau, University of Michigan
Negotiating Job Offers
Jim Kalmbach, Illinois State University
Angela Haas, Illinois State University
Doug Walls, University of Central Florida
I took notes about the questions I asked at each station, and I recount that advice below.
For the rest of the session, graduate-student participants circulated to four of approximately eight stations set up around the room, spending twenty minutes at each one. At these stations, 2-3 professors or experienced lecturers answered questions pertaining to particular aspects of the job search process.
I went to the following tables and spoke with the following advisers:
Analyzing Job Ads
Jennifer Stewart, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne
Lillian Mina, Indiana University or Pennsylvania
Suzanne Blum Malley, Columbia College Chicago
Non-R1s, SLACs, and Alt Ac
Kyle Steadman, Rockford University
Rik Hunter, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga
John Walter, SLU's Ong Archive
Disclosing Personal Information
Cindy Selfe, Ohio State University
Doug Eyman, George Mason University
Melanie Yergeau, University of Michigan
Negotiating Job Offers
Jim Kalmbach, Illinois State University
Angela Haas, Illinois State University
Doug Walls, University of Central Florida
I took notes about the questions I asked at each station, and I recount that advice below.
Analyzing Job Ads
One question I asked had to do with why some Rhet/Comp job ads ask for the moon, while other ads for jobs in English Studies simply seek a candidate with a particular specialty. For example, I asked why a number of the ads I encountered back in initial listing last October expected R/C candidates to fulfill multiple administrative or service positions. Jennifer, Lillian, and Suzanne addressed how these ads may say any number of things about the needs of the institution or internal functioning of the particular department.
(1) They may serve as a wish list: "We need all this service and administrative work done, and we're looking for someone who has experience with at least some of it." Applicants must address their administrative and departmental service.
(2) They may demonstrate the balance of power in the department: certain programs rule the roost, and "you'll be relegated to a supporting the department over and above your research based on the sheer amount of administrative work you're expected to do. Either accept it or don't apply." Consider how you'd feel about working in such a department before you apply. Such ads may be a red flag.
(3) They may be written by R/C faculty who are trying to present a realistic picture of the position's administrative and service responsibilities. The excessive requirements try to ensure that a certain caliber or type of candidate applies. While the job search is often a numbers game, the position may not be right for you if you aren't interested in or have experience in such work.
(4) Types and amounts of administrative and service work might relate to the type of school posting the ad. The list of responsibilities may seem excessive to a candidate coming from a R1 or R2 institution, but could be the norm in another type of institution.
The advisers said they'd need to see a specific job ad to help me figure out which rationale made the most sense to them. They also offered strategies for researching an ad on my own.
In order to figure out which interpretation seems most accurate, I should look into the type of school that published the ad as well as the department and how it functions. This might include contacting the search committee with specific, thoughtful questions, analyzing the department's website, discussing the ad with colleagues who may be more familiar with the particular school and program, etc.
The advice seems a bit obvious in retrospect, but I suppose good advice often has that effect. My initial reaction to such ads provoked only one response: R/C professors are expected to do more work than professors in other fields within the same department. While such a response is useful for producing more job search anxiety, it isn't useful for getting a job. The advisers connected the dots between my initial question and a productive approach toward the job market.
1) What are they asking for specifically?
2) Have I had similar experiences? Can I do these things?
3) Why are they asking for a candidate to do these particular things?
4) What do I have to do to my application materials to convince this audience that I can do the specific things they ask for?
5) How should I talk about these experiences should I get an interview?
If you can't answer the first three questions, move on.
(1) They may serve as a wish list: "We need all this service and administrative work done, and we're looking for someone who has experience with at least some of it." Applicants must address their administrative and departmental service.
(2) They may demonstrate the balance of power in the department: certain programs rule the roost, and "you'll be relegated to a supporting the department over and above your research based on the sheer amount of administrative work you're expected to do. Either accept it or don't apply." Consider how you'd feel about working in such a department before you apply. Such ads may be a red flag.
(3) They may be written by R/C faculty who are trying to present a realistic picture of the position's administrative and service responsibilities. The excessive requirements try to ensure that a certain caliber or type of candidate applies. While the job search is often a numbers game, the position may not be right for you if you aren't interested in or have experience in such work.
(4) Types and amounts of administrative and service work might relate to the type of school posting the ad. The list of responsibilities may seem excessive to a candidate coming from a R1 or R2 institution, but could be the norm in another type of institution.
The advisers said they'd need to see a specific job ad to help me figure out which rationale made the most sense to them. They also offered strategies for researching an ad on my own.
In order to figure out which interpretation seems most accurate, I should look into the type of school that published the ad as well as the department and how it functions. This might include contacting the search committee with specific, thoughtful questions, analyzing the department's website, discussing the ad with colleagues who may be more familiar with the particular school and program, etc.
The advice seems a bit obvious in retrospect, but I suppose good advice often has that effect. My initial reaction to such ads provoked only one response: R/C professors are expected to do more work than professors in other fields within the same department. While such a response is useful for producing more job search anxiety, it isn't useful for getting a job. The advisers connected the dots between my initial question and a productive approach toward the job market.
1) What are they asking for specifically?
2) Have I had similar experiences? Can I do these things?
3) Why are they asking for a candidate to do these particular things?
4) What do I have to do to my application materials to convince this audience that I can do the specific things they ask for?
5) How should I talk about these experiences should I get an interview?
If you can't answer the first three questions, move on.
Non-R1s, SLACs, and Alt Ac
My question for Kyle, Rik, and John was based on a blog post I read about the difficulties of moving from an R1 position to a more teaching-focused position at another institution. (I can't find the blog post at the moment, of course.) In the blog post, the author addressed how schools emphasizing teaching do not respond well to application materials that demonstrate a heavy emphasis on research, that is to say materials that someone coming from a R1 institution is likely to have. Insofar as application materials go—beyond flipping sections of the cover letter or CV to place teaching before research—what could an applicant do to his or her application materials to demonstrate fit for Non-R1 jobs?
While I won't be transitioning from one job to another, I may well be transitioning from one type of institution to another. To that end, I am concerned with how I describe my work to search committees at other types of institutions. It isn't that I value teaching over research or vice versa, or that my research and service don't thread through my teaching practices, but I need to consider how to talk about my work in ways that make these connections clear and succinct and in ways that begin from the standpoint that most of my time would be spent in the classroom and working with colleagues and students aren't particularly concerned with my research agenda. This reconsideration extends to application materials
Beyond the order of things, the advisors offered a couple specific tactics for demonstrating a commitment to teaching, and these tactics related to space. For example, in the cover letter I might use more space to describe my teaching experience and limit the space I give to describing my research.
Additionally, this might mean adjusting how I think about my work. The advisors emphasized the need to make connections between my teaching and research clear. It may be easier to do that in R/C that in other fields, but it underscores how even densely theoretical research needs to be made accessible to a broad audience. Maybe more importantly, I should be able to address why I am interested in working at an institution that focuses on teaching, not only in my application materials but in any interviews. I should be prepared to address such questions, being open about attracted me to their institution and a teaching-centered position. John Fea offers similar though more detailed advice in his blog.
While I won't be transitioning from one job to another, I may well be transitioning from one type of institution to another. To that end, I am concerned with how I describe my work to search committees at other types of institutions. It isn't that I value teaching over research or vice versa, or that my research and service don't thread through my teaching practices, but I need to consider how to talk about my work in ways that make these connections clear and succinct and in ways that begin from the standpoint that most of my time would be spent in the classroom and working with colleagues and students aren't particularly concerned with my research agenda. This reconsideration extends to application materials
Beyond the order of things, the advisors offered a couple specific tactics for demonstrating a commitment to teaching, and these tactics related to space. For example, in the cover letter I might use more space to describe my teaching experience and limit the space I give to describing my research.
Additionally, this might mean adjusting how I think about my work. The advisors emphasized the need to make connections between my teaching and research clear. It may be easier to do that in R/C that in other fields, but it underscores how even densely theoretical research needs to be made accessible to a broad audience. Maybe more importantly, I should be able to address why I am interested in working at an institution that focuses on teaching, not only in my application materials but in any interviews. I should be prepared to address such questions, being open about attracted me to their institution and a teaching-centered position. John Fea offers similar though more detailed advice in his blog.
Disclosing Personal Information
This particular station was a bit more rapid fire. A graduate student participant would ask a question, and then Cindy, Doug, and Melanie would answer the question, each offering a different perspective. Most of the questions had to do with how to deal with inappropriate or illegal questions pertaining to sexual orientation, disability, marital status, and having children. For the most part, the advice was always the same: assume that the search committee or other folks you may encounter during an interview or a campus visit are trying to be gracious and sociable and that they're not trying to weed you out or dig up information to gossip about later. Even if they are, there's not much to be gained and a lot to be lost by being combative during the interview or visit. If need be, you can contact the search committee chair about a particular situation that arises.
The advisers gave specific advice on how to answer questions; most of the answers were polite phrases meant to deflect the question itself. Caroline Dadas offers similar advice in her comment Nicholas Behm's entry on the WPA Mentoring Blog. As my notes for this portion of the session trail off, I defer to her comment:
While candidates are understandably most concerned with the details of the job itself, if it all works out, this location could be your new home for many years. You want to gain a good sense of where faculty live, what opportunities for fun are available, what the overall quality of life seems to be. During this kind of conversation (which often takes place in cars or at meals), you have the option of disclosing as much or as little about yourself as you would like. Faculty will often want to know something about your personal life: whether you are partnered, have children, are interested in children, or have family in the area. These are natural interests for people who could potentially be working with you for many years, and their impulse in asking about these issues is often good-natured. Regardless, you should not feel compelled to go into more detail than makes you comfortable. Committee members will often inquire about whether you have children by bringing up the quality of local schools, or will infer your marital status by asking about what size property you would like to rent or buy. You can use these opportunities to offer them information about your private life, or you could remain non-committal.
Remember, you do not have to answer these personal questions, but you also don't want to come off as defensive, mean spirited, etc. There's obviously some gray area between maintaining this sort of tricky balance between being polite and not saying much and being an open book, but as with her comment and Cindy, Doug, and Melanie's advice, the best course of action is to prep answers and consider what you are comfortable saying before you get to the interview/campus visit.
The advisers gave specific advice on how to answer questions; most of the answers were polite phrases meant to deflect the question itself. Caroline Dadas offers similar advice in her comment Nicholas Behm's entry on the WPA Mentoring Blog. As my notes for this portion of the session trail off, I defer to her comment:
While candidates are understandably most concerned with the details of the job itself, if it all works out, this location could be your new home for many years. You want to gain a good sense of where faculty live, what opportunities for fun are available, what the overall quality of life seems to be. During this kind of conversation (which often takes place in cars or at meals), you have the option of disclosing as much or as little about yourself as you would like. Faculty will often want to know something about your personal life: whether you are partnered, have children, are interested in children, or have family in the area. These are natural interests for people who could potentially be working with you for many years, and their impulse in asking about these issues is often good-natured. Regardless, you should not feel compelled to go into more detail than makes you comfortable. Committee members will often inquire about whether you have children by bringing up the quality of local schools, or will infer your marital status by asking about what size property you would like to rent or buy. You can use these opportunities to offer them information about your private life, or you could remain non-committal.
Remember, you do not have to answer these personal questions, but you also don't want to come off as defensive, mean spirited, etc. There's obviously some gray area between maintaining this sort of tricky balance between being polite and not saying much and being an open book, but as with her comment and Cindy, Doug, and Melanie's advice, the best course of action is to prep answers and consider what you are comfortable saying before you get to the interview/campus visit.
Negotiating Job Offers
Finally, graduate student participants asked Jim, Angela, and Doug questions about how to negotiate job offers. It was a bit tougher here coming up with specific questions as many of us weren't sure what sort of things went into job offers. In terms of general advice, Angela suggested that we make a spreadsheet that considers all our personal and family needs. When researching universities with which you have interviews (or later, campus visits), find out which needs they fulfill and which ones you might bring to the negotiating table and track them on the spreadsheet. For example, if you need childcare and you discover that a university doesn't offer any or that there's a long waiting list, then you might ask for extra pay to cover those costs. In addition to keeping all this information in one place, the spreadsheet might help you figure out which schools and positions are most appealing to you, and it helps combat the "I just want a job, and I'll go anywhere and do anything" mentality.
At this station, much of our conversation revolved around when and where to inquire about institutional and departmental resources, so folks on the job market could develop a clearer picture of how to determine which needs could be met and which items we might have to let go of from our wish lists.
Obviously, this station offered a lot of important advice for negotiating the job market. Maybe more importantly, it gave me a better idea what sort of attitude I need to develop in order to be successful. It reminded me that I'm used to scrambling for crumbs as a graduate student, but finding a job means demonstrating how I would be as a colleague. Part of that means understanding my value and being able to convey it succinctly and graciously. Another part of it means knowing when and how to ask for what I'm worth. (I still don't know what that is exactly, but I now know I need to start considering it.)
At this station, much of our conversation revolved around when and where to inquire about institutional and departmental resources, so folks on the job market could develop a clearer picture of how to determine which needs could be met and which items we might have to let go of from our wish lists.
Obviously, this station offered a lot of important advice for negotiating the job market. Maybe more importantly, it gave me a better idea what sort of attitude I need to develop in order to be successful. It reminded me that I'm used to scrambling for crumbs as a graduate student, but finding a job means demonstrating how I would be as a colleague. Part of that means understanding my value and being able to convey it succinctly and graciously. Another part of it means knowing when and how to ask for what I'm worth. (I still don't know what that is exactly, but I now know I need to start considering it.)