Navigating the
Academic Job Market
R. Karl Rethemeyer
Assistant Professor & PhD Director
University at Albany – SUNY
Do you really want to be an
academic?
 About that negative coefficient on getting a PhD…
 Here is the reality in public affairs (nine-month contract)
Public
Admin
Political
Sci
Sociology
Economics
04-05
06-07
07-08
04-05
06-07
07-08
04-05
06-07
07-08
04-05
06-07
07-08
Public
(low – avg – high)
28,964 – 48,781 – 80,000
38,000 – 55,751 – 72,500
41,227 – 57,300 – 72,500
32,500 – 48,037 – 80,000
28,503 – 50,053 – 70,000
38,502 – 51,302 – 83,748
35,000 – 47,057 – 65,004
34,690 – 49,590 – 70,000
38,000 – 52,075 – 80,000
50,000 – 65,755 – 90,000
43,000 – 68,951 – 105,000
40,000 – 71,120 – 103,400
Private
(low – avg – high)
30,000 – 49,388 – 64,000
N/A – N/A – N/A
N/A – N/A – N/A
32,000 – 47,496 – 67,263
35,000 – 50,475 – 70,000
34,000 – 52,527 – 84,000
32,000 – 46,784 – 65,000
35,000 – 48,450 – 68,000
37,500 – 51,367 – 79,346
28,500 – 57,797 – 89,000
43,000 – 58,984 – 86,000
46,920 – 66,655 – 118,333
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Do you really want to be an
academic?
Here is another reality: Business schools pay more…
Management
All fields
Mgmt, Business
Admin, Ops
Finance /
Fin. Mgmt
Human resources
MIS
04-05
06-07
07-08
04-05
06-07
07-08
04-05
06-07
07-08
04-05
06-07
07-08
04-05
06-07
07-08
Public
(low – avg – high)
38,000 – 81,242 – 148,000
38,930 – 86,200 – 171,875
46,000 – 88,750 – 145,500
38,000 – 79,010 – 140,000
43,000 – 81,667 – 137,000
30,124 – 82,278 – 137,750
45,000 – 93,818 – 148,000
65,000 – 100,958 – 171,875
66,897 – 110,455 – 170,000
48,000 – 77,643 – 94,000
49,000 – 75,408 – 110,382
45,000 – 80,949 – 127,250
41,920 – 81,155 – 142,000
66,000 – 88,943 – 118,000
57,538 – 91,452 – 120,000
Private
(low – avg – high)
32,493 – 72,157 – 140,000
30,000 – 74,572 – 157,000
39,400 – 69,515 – 165,000
33,370 – 70,995 – 123,000
32,300 – 65,379 – 116,000
37,268 – 76,870 – 148,750
42,600 – 86,417 – 130,000
47,070 – 98,876 – 154,500
31,902 – 72,041 – 152,500
N/A – N/A – N/A
49,250 – 82,719 – 103,000
33,750 – 61,394 – 88,000
45,000 – 78,250 – 103,000
80,000 – 94,250 – 122,000
38,570 – 88,327 – 127,200
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Do you really want to be an
academic?
 Up to half of each PAD cohort decides not to enter the
academy





Consulting
Independent research
Government
Non-profits
Corporate work in finance, government relations, government
contracting, etc.
 Many POS grads end up in the academy
 OR they can work for government (Congressional
Research Service), non-profits, think tanks
 However…if you choose to go outside the academy
after graduation, the door to the academy may be shut
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forever
Do you really want to be an
academic?
 There are certainly benefits to the academy
 Certain degree of prestige
 Greater autonomy
 Greater flexibility to pursue one’s intellectual
interests (but don’t romanticize this)
 Opportunity to do both social (teaching) and
individual (research) work
 Your PhD may teach you that the academy is
not the right place
 Lots of very smart people are not right for the
academy – and vice versa
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OK: I want to be an academic.
Where do I fit?
 Professional schools are the primary option for PAD




Policy and public administration departments
Political science departments
Business schools
Other professional schools – Criminal Justice, Social Work,
Public Health
 POS grads usually stay in the discipline


They may have appointments in interdisciplinary departments
Public policy, women’s studies, international studies
 Grads of both programs sometimes enter…


Economics or Sociology
But…to fit into these fields you must amass sufficient
background in the core literature of these fields
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I’m years away from graduating. What
can I do to improve my chances?
 Get to know faculty members who are
connected to the professional niche you
wish to enter
 Develop a transcript that has a discernible
focus




For PAD PhDs: A clear disciplinary focus broadens your
market
For POS PhDs: Think strategically about rounding out your
teaching portfolio
Learn methods appropriate to this concentration / subfield
Go to conferences in your area early
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What can I do at the beginning?
 Publish – becoming essential
 Get varied teaching experience, especially in methods




or commonly taught areas
Get research experience
Make conference presentations – don’t wait until your
last year!
Seek grant funding – just applying will help
Get FINISHED!!!!


The only good dissertation is a finished dissertation
Length of time in program ~ productivity
8
OK, What exactly is a faculty job?
 Faculty are hired on a 9 or 10-month contract


The initial rank is Assistant Professor, with
promotion possible to Associate and Full
Associate & Full Professors usually have “tenure”
 Summers are not formally committed, but…


You may be able to get grants/teaching to earn
summer salary
Your summers are not “free” until you get tenure
(if ever) because of research requirements at
most institutions
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OK, What exactly is a faculty job?
 Faculty are obligated to…



Teach 3-8 classes per year, depending on the
institution (teaching “load”)
Provide service – serve on committees,
mentor & advise students, help administer the
institution, be visible
Be research-active – your institution will
determine what this means

At a research intensive university, this usually
means 1-2 referred article/year and/or a book
every 2-4 years
10
OK, What exactly is a faculty job?
 Faculty need to be active in their intellectual
community



Participate in intellectual exchanges on campus
Participate in academic conferences regularly
Publish regularly – 1-3 articles per year or 1-3
books over several years
Potentially be a “public intellectual”
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OK, What exactly is a faculty job?
 “Publish or perish”
 Research universities: publication record is your
key credential, but you must teach competently
 Teaching colleges: Research is less important
 Increasingly, faculty are expected to find grants
 You do not have to be stellar in each to be
successful, but you should be good in all
 As a PhD student you need to…



Learn a field of inquiry & start publishing
Get teaching experience
Embed yourself in an intellectual community
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I’m ready to go on the market.
Now what?
 Bad news: The market was VERY bad this year
PublicService Jobs Asst. Only
Careers.org
Open/Assoc. Non-tenure tr.
2003
74
18 (24%)
17 (23%)
39 (53%)
2004
178
49 (28%)
63 (35%)
66 (37%)
2005
136
23 (17%)
45 (33%)
68 (50%)
2006
169
33 (20%)
72 (43%)
64 (38%)
2007
193
42 (22%)
49 (25%)
102 (53%)
2008
78
35 (45%)
19 (24%)
24 (31%)
2009
96
24 (25%)
25 (26%)
47(49%)
 Better news: Long-run demographics may be favorable


The academy is graying
Belief that graduate education = professional success
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Finding openings
 Searching the job listing sites:
 Chronicle of Higher Education
 PublicServiceCareers.org
 HigherEdJobs.com
 APSA
 ASA
 E-mail to departments of interest
 Telephone calls
 Key: Getting your advisors into the act
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Putting together a portfolio
 Goal: Help the overloaded search committee find you!
 Cover letters


Create boiler plate, but tailor to each job
Emphasize key experiences and publications
 Curriculum vitae


Look at examples
Highlight research and teaching experience
 Supporting materials

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Summaries of research interest, dissertation, and teaching
Teaching evaluations
Grant writing experience
Transcripts
 Letters of recommendation
 Job market paper(s)
 See the sample portfolio online
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Job market papers
 Should have multiple items to send


Dissertation chapters
Papers – preferably published
 Some schools only want dissertation chapters;
some don’t care

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Dissertation is best example of current work, but..
Chapters may be highly integrated, so it may be
difficult to pull out something coherent
Consider sending any articles that are published
or have been accepted
Best if the papers are single-authored
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Sending out applications
 This is time-consuming

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For a national search expect to send out 15 to
60 packets
PAD: You bear the costs – $2,500
POS: The Department mails them for you
First packets out by late August; the last in
January or February – very front-loaded, BUT…
In this economy things are scrambled…
 Use express mail to meet deadlines if you must
 Send out even if the deadline has passed –
committees work slowly
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Fly-outs
 Announced in Oct. through Feb.
 Paid for by the schools – on a reimbursement basis
 Consist of…
 A job talk
 Multiple faculty, student, and administration interviews
 Breakfast, lunch, and dinner with students, staff, faculty
 Possibly a “party” if they really want to torture you
 Very time-consuming and stressful
 Want to be scheduled close to the end of the decision
period for the school
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Preparation
 Get to know the school/department and
university via their web site



Rankings
Research agenda
Age/rank distribution in school/department
 Review the courses offered…


For what you could teach
For holes
 Take a look at strategic plans and vision
statements
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Interviews
 The job talk gets most of the attention, but bad
interviews can also be fatal
 Be ready to give a mini version of your job talk
 Be ready to defend your work
 Be prepared to answer and ask questions
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Job talk
 Bad news: Some significant fraction of the voting faculty
will not have read your job market paper(s) thoroughly
 More bad news: Your job talk will be one of the key
evaluation of whether you belong at a given university
 Upshot: THE JOB TALK IS THE MOST IMPORTANT
THING YOU WILL DO DURING THE APPLICATION
PROCESS
 Practice, practice, practice, and practice again…


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With faculty
With students
With your dog, cat, or parakeet; with a mirror
 Be ready to field tough questions
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Other issues
 Remember that faculty positions are for the
long haul; much of the job is social
 “Illegal” questions and how to answer them
 Avoid talking money until you have an offer
 Decisions are highly complex, emergent




Preferences evolve
School/department needs evolve
Administrative preferences shift
Budgets change
 There may only be a few good fits out there
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Dealing with an offer
 Understand how faculty contracts work
 Know what the standard package is in your
field and at the institution making the offer




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Nine or 10 months salary
Teaching load
Benefits
Research support (if any)
Summer salary (if any)
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Dealing with an offer
 Know what the going rate is, but realize
salary may not be negotiable if you have only
one offer
 Remember that rank and prestige are
dynamic – where will this school/department
be in five years?
 Expect to be pressured for a quick decision,
even though you may still be doing job talks
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Uh-oh: I don’t have an offer. Now
what?
 Goal: Stay research active
 Options
 Defer
graduation (especially
international students)
 Post-doctoral work
 Adjunct positions
 Staff research positions
 Consulting
 A career in the “quasi-academy”
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For more information
See the Rockefeller College job market site:
www.albany.edu/rockefeller/career/career_phd_job_manual.htm
http://eres.ulib.albany.edu/eres/coursepage.aspx?cid=331
Password: ROCKjob
http://chronicle.com/jobs/
http://www.publicservicecareers.org/
http://www.higheredjobs.com/
http://www.apsanet.org/section_226.cfm
http://jobbank.asanet.org/jobbank/index.cfm
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