====== Faculty Jobs ====== * A brief guide on how to get a faculty job; by Chih-Horng Kuo (chk@gate.sinica.edu.tw) * The information here mostly reflects the opinion and experience of one person * Remember: Every vote counts * Target audience: graduate students and postdocs (in biology), interested in a faculty job in a research-oriented university/institute ===== Preface ===== * Prerequisites * Know the job * Know yourself: Is this what you really want as a long-term career option? * How much do you plan to invest in the preparation? How to make the best investment? * This guide covers the process of application and interview * The chance of success is greatly influenced by factors before this process * Nevertheless, knowing the process may further improve the chance, or at least minimize the risk of messing up at the critical steps * To know more, see this book. One of the co-authors, Prof. Daniel Promislow, is my PhD advisor; a brilliant scientist and a super nice person * The Chicago Guide to Landing a Job in Academic Biology (ISBN: 0226101304; 978-0226101309) * https://www.amazon.com/Chicago-Landing-Academic-Biology-Guides/dp/0226101304 ===== Find Openings ===== * Job ad posting sites, journals, email list * Science, Nature, etc * Professional organizations (e.g., academic society) * Social media (e.g., Twitter) * Departmental/institutional websites * Personal contact ===== Application Package ===== * Read the job ad carefully * Deadline? Required materials? Specific instruction? * May emphasize or limit the research area(s); do not over-interpret * Common components * Cover letter * [[tutorials:cv|Curriculum Vitae (CV)]]: make the information clear! * Research achievement * Future plan * Time scale: ~5-year to get promoted/tenured, long-term (10+ years) * Teaching statement * Reprints of representative publications * Recommendation letters * Often sent directly by referees * Ask early * Provide helpful information (e.g., updated CV, application package, points you would like to be highlighted) ===== Interview ===== * Key points * This may seem like a daunting challenge, yet you should have plenty of experience of seeing people who did well or poorly when you are a student/postdoc. Participate in those events, watch the candidates closely in their seminars and meeting with students/postdocs. What can you learn? * Surprising fact: Based on my 20+ years of experience, in almost every round of faculty recruitment, ~1 out of the ~4-6 candidates (who all look excellent on paper) would mess up * Once you make it to this step, they want you to be successful. Prove them right! * People are looking for someone who is good professionally (research, teaching, etc) and likely will be a good colleague for the next few decades. * Be yourself, but also think about what kind of colleagues you would like to have, and behave (project the image) accordingly * Introverts often suffer some disadvantages. Being shy around strangers is normal, but overly so may be viewed as cold/uninterested/immature * Show them that you are ready to take the job. If you are not sure, then why should they hire you? * Interview goes both ways. Would them want to offer you a job? Would you want to accept the offer? * The host and staff are your friends, treat them with respect and ask for help as needed * Homework * Department/University/City * Question list * You want to know the place well (likely will work there for a very long time!) * You should be genuinely interested, show them * Different people may give different answers to the same questions; ask again (and again) as needed/appropriate * Travel arrangements * Seminars **[important!]** * Research talk (public) * Future direction (closed-door) * Teaching * Meeting with people * Faculty members * Are you prepared and know who they are? * Do you want to have them as future colleagues? * Students * Are they the kind of students that you would like to have? * Are they happy? * What do they like/dislike the department/university? * Administrators * The specifics of job offer and future expectation * Visiting the facility * Do they have what you need? * After the interview * Show appreciation * Follow-up as appropriate * What to do and what to avoid? ===== Negotiation ===== * Make sure to get what you **need** to be successful * Nice to get what you **want**, but do not over-emphasize these