Resources on Academic Job Searching
Compiled in September 2005 by Karen Muskavitch (muskavka@bc.edu), Boston College
Best Resources:
Your graduate and/or post-doctoral advisor; your mentor(s)
Departmental or school graduate program director and/or career advisor
Faculty members in your department who have recently been on the job market
Information from your discipline’s professional organization(s)
Information from the schools to which you are applying
Job descriptions and lists of the specific information they want to receive from you
The institutions’ websites
General Information
Boston College Career Center Resources for Graduate Students
http://www.bc.edu/offices/careers/resourcesfor/gradstudents/
Chronicle Careers, part of the Chronicle of Higher Education – gateway to a lot of information on academic jobs as
well as job listings http://chronicle.com/jobs/
Before You Go on the Job Market – a collection of articles from Chronicle Careers
http://chronicle.com/jobs/archive/topical/before_market.htm
Are You Ready to go on the Market? – article by Mary Morris Heiberger and Julia Miller Vick from Chronicle
Careers http://chronicle.com/jobs/2001/09/2001091401c.htm
Conducting a Search – a collection of articles on the academic job search from Chronicle Careers
http://chronicle.com/jobs/archive/topical/conduct_search.htm
Advice from Your Peers – article in Chronicle Careers on experiences of academic job seekers during 2003-04
http://chronicle.com/jobs/2004/07/2004071501c.htm
The View from the Search Committee’s Side of the Table – column from Chronicle Careers by Margaret Gibelman
http://chronicle.com/jobs/2001/12/2001120501c.htm
Obtaining Employment page of Ph.D. Resources on Re-envisioning the Ph.D. website – check the “Publications”
link to an annotated bibliography, plus links to many “On-line Articles”, “Web Resources”, and “Discussion
Groups” http://www.grad.washington.edu/envision/phd/employment_index.html
What Employers Want in New Faculty – page of the Re-envisioning the PhD website
http://www.grad.washington.edu/envision/phd/obtaining_employment/employers_want.html
Career and Job Search Information on Preparing Future Faculty website – links
http://www.preparing-faculty.org/PFFWeb.Resources.htm#career
Academic360 site – links to resources and listings for the academic job searcher; both faculty and administrative
jobs included; faculty resources organized by discipline http://www.academic360.com/
Academic Careers – information from the Brown University Career Services (be sure to check left nav bar)
http://careerdevelopment.brown.edu/grads/acad_careers.php
Graduate Students & PhDs site of the UC Berkeley Career Center
http://career.berkeley.edu/Phds/phds.stm
The Hiring Process from the Other Side – from UC Berkeley Career Center website
http://career.berkeley.edu/Phds/PhDhiring.stm
Interviewing for Research and Teaching Appointments – form Career Advising and Planning Services, Univ. of
Chicago. A good general article including advice on the teaching part.
http://caps.uchicago.edu/resources/pdfs/researchinterviews.pdf
ADE and ADFL Online Job Counseling – page on Modern Language Association website with varied information
on career planning and the job market (sometimes this and other MLA links will not open; try typing it into your
browser or working through the MLA site) http://www.mla.org/resources/jil/job_counseling
Developing an Academic Career at
http://www.mla.org/resources/jil/job_counseling/job_academic
Checklist for Job Seekers – from the Modern Language Association
http://www.mla.org/resources/jil/jil_jobseekers/jil_jobseekers_che
Boston College Graduate History Alliance Information for Grad Students Seeking Teaching Positions in Academia
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/svp/st_org/gha/GHA_Job_Hunt.html
PsychCareers – career website of American Psychological Association
http://www.psyccareers.com/
gradPSYCH, The magazine of the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students – check entries in the
Career Center columns of the complete contents http://gradpsych.apags.org/
Science’s NextWave, the career development resource for scientists
http://nextwave.sciencemag.org/
Nature Jobs – job listings and articles for scientists; particularly useful for job searches outside the US
http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/
PhDs.org Science, Math, and Engineering Career Resources
http://www.phds.org/
Tips for a Massive Academic Job Search
http://people.mills.edu/spertus/job-search/job.html
American Chemical Society (ACS) Career Services
http://www.chemistry.org/portal/a/c/s/1/acsdisplay.html?DOC=careers\index.html
ACS Career Library Publications – many useful items online
http://www.chemistry.org/portal/a/c/s/1/career.html?DOC=careers\pub02.html
Job Hunting Resources – a list of primarily books compiled by the Survival Skills and Ethics Program of the Univ.
of Pittsburgh
http://www.survival.pitt.edu/library/biblio/jobhunting.asp
Advancing (in Academia) Resources – a list of primarily books compiled by the Survival Skills and Ethics
Program of the Univ. of Pittsburgh
http://www.survival.pitt.edu/library/biblio/advancing.asp
Getting What You Came For: The Smart Student’s Guide to Earning a Master’s or Ph.D., Robert L. Peters (Farrar,
Straus and Giroux, 1997)
A Ph.D. Is Not Enough! A Guide to Survival in Science, Peter J. Feibelman (Perseus,1994)
Careers in Science and Engineering, A Student Planning Guide to Grad School and Beyond, Committee on
Science, Engineering, and Public Policy, NAS, NAE, IOM (National Academy Press, 1996) available online at
http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/careers/
On the Market: Surviving the Academic Job Search, Christina Boufis and Victoria Olsen (Riverhead Books, 1997)
Job Search in Academe, Dawn M. Formo, et al. (Stylus Publishing, 1998)
Making the Right Moves: A Practical Guide to Scientific Management for Postdocs and New Faculty, “a collection
of practical advice, experiences, and opinions from seasoned biomedical investigators and other professionals”
Chapter 1 covers Obtaining and Negotiating a Faculty Position and Planning for Tenure, available online as pdf
http://www.hhmi.org/grants/office/scimgmt.html
So You Want to Be a Professor: A Handbook for Graduate Students, P. Aarne Vesilind (Sage Publications, 2000)
The Compleat Academic: A Practical Guide for the Beginning Social Scientist, John M. Darley, et al. (Am. Psych.
Assoc., 2003)
Cover Letters, CVs, references:
The Basics of Cover Letter Writing – article in Chronicle Careers by Richard M. Reis concerning academic jobs
http://chronicle.com/jobs/2000/03/2000030302c.htm
How to Write Appealing Cover Letters – article by Mary Morris Heiberger and Julia Miller Vick in Chronicle
Careers http://chronicle.com/jobs/2000/04/2000042101c.htm
The CV Doctor Returns – article in Chronicle Careers by Mary Morris Heiberger and Julia Miller Vick including
annotated examples http://chronicle.com/jobs/2002/10/2002101101c.htm
Writing CVs and Resumes – part of the Re-envisioning the PhD website
http://www.grad.washington.edu/envision/phd/obtaining_employment/resumes3.html
CVs, Dossiers, Application Letters, Writing Samples, and Portfolios – from MLA website
http://www.mla.org/resources/jil/job_counseling/job_interviews
CV dos and don’ts – article in gradPSYCH; has link to a sample CV
http://gradpsych.apags.org/sep03/cv.cfm
Tips on Writing a Curriculum Vitae – from the American Chemical Society
http://www.chemistry.org/portal/resources/ACS/ACSContent/careers/pdf/DCS_CV.pdf
PhDs – Letters of Recommendation – from UC Berkeley Career Center website
http://career.berkeley.edu/Phds/PhDletters.stm
Teaching Statements, Philosophies, Portfolios, and Demonstrations:
What’s Your Philosophy on Teaching, and Does it Matter? – an article by Gabriela Montell in Chronicle Careers
http://chronicle.com/jobs/2003/03/2003032701c.htm
How to Write a Statement of Teaching Philosophy – an article by Gabriela Montell in Chronicle Careers
http://chronicle.com/jobs/2003/03/2003032702c.htm
Stating a Teaching Philosophy from Center for Excellence in Teaching, University of Southern California excellent links and examples of teaching philosophy statements:
www.usc.edu/programs/cet/resources/teaching_philosophy/
Beginning a Statement of Teaching Philosophy – University of Notre Dame
http://learning.nd.edu/philo/
How to Write a Teaching Philosophy for Academic Employment – from ACS site
http://www.chemistry.org/portal/resources/ACS/ACSContent/careers/empres/careers_academicnews.pdf
How to Produce a Teaching Portfolio – online extracts from “The Teaching Portfolio – A practical guide to
improved performance and promotion/tenure decisions, 2nd Edition”
http://www.city.londonmet.ac.uk/deliberations/portfolios/ICED_workshop/seldin_book.html
Developing a Teaching Portfolio – Center for Instructional Development and Research, Univ. of Washington
http://depts.washington.edu/cidrweb/PortfolioTools.htm
Examples of Teaching Portfolios – from the MAPPING Project
http://www.mapping.scotcit.ac.uk/resources/other.htm#examples
What issues should I consider in planning a teaching demonstration? – from MLA site
http://www.mla.org/resources/jil/job_counseling/job_interviews#demonstration
Interviewing for a Job at a Community College – article by Dana M. Zimbleman in Chronicle Careers
http://chronicle.com/jobs/2002/07/2002071601c.htm
Research Statements, and Job Talks:
What issues should I consider in choosing and giving a job talk? – from MLA site
http://www.mla.org/resources/jil/job_counseling/job_interviews#talk
Interviews:
Preparing for the Conventions – an article by Julia Miller Vick in Chronicle Careers
http://chronicle.com/jobs/2004/06/2004060901c.htm
Preparing for Campus Interviews – article by Kimberly Delgizzo and Laura Malisheski in Chronicle Careers
http://chronicle.com/jobs/2003/01/2003011701c.htm
The Ones We Didn’t Hire – article by Mary Cullinan in Chronicle Careers
http://chronicle.com/jobs/2002/02/2002021201c.htm
Interviews, Campus Visits, Job Talks, and Teaching Demonstration – from MLA site
http://www.mla.org/resources/jil/job_counseling/job_interviews
Using the Annual Meeting [of the American Historical Association] to Win a Position at a Small Undergraduate
College http://www.historians.org/Perspectives/Issues/1995/12/0312anm1.cfm
Interviewing at a Teaching-Focused University – article by Donald. E. Hall in Chronicle Careers
http://chronicle.com/jobs/2003/05/2003052801c.htm
The Academic Job Interview Revisited – article by Mary Dillon Johnson in Chronicle Careers
http://chronicle.com/jobs/2004/10/2004101501c.htm