1. Introduction
Why am I writing this?
In the fall of 2005 I started the long journey into the academic job market as I applied for, interviewed for, and finally landed a faculty job in the sciences. Of course, at first I went to the Web for some general information about the process. While there were a few good sites (which I've linked at the right of this page), I found two things lacking. First, most of the sites were geared towards people looking at jobs in the humanities or at non-research universities where teaching is highly weighted. Second, there didn't seem to be much information from the perspective of the applicant. Most sites were written by current faculty. That's why I decided to make this site. In the near future I hope to add articles about applying, waiting, interviewing, and negotiating based on my own research, communication with friends and colleagues, and most importantly my personal experiences.
I should say right now that the best advice you'll get is from your colleagues. I learned more from my friends who have recently gone through the process as well as senior faculty and mentors than I did reading anything online. Call them, email them, and knock on their doors multiple times. Talk to people at all kinds of universities in a variety of departments. It really helped me at all stages in the process.
What this page is not ...
I am not attempting to cover the job application process in an sort of comprehensive manner. I am one person who applied to jobs once (well actually twice) and ended up with success. I'll try, as best I can, to record my thoughts on the whole process. You SHOULD get advice from senior faculty who can give you a better overview of everything and a view from the other side.
Who am I?
I am currently a 2nd year postdoc at U.C. Berkeley where I research the locomotion of biological organisms. I completed my graduate work in 2004 at Stanford University under Steven Block, where my thesis title was "The biophysics of molecular motors: Optical Trapping studies of kinesin and RNA polymerase". My CV is located here.
In the fall of 2005 I started the long journey into the academic job market as I applied for, interviewed for, and finally landed a faculty job in the sciences. Of course, at first I went to the Web for some general information about the process. While there were a few good sites (which I've linked at the right of this page), I found two things lacking. First, most of the sites were geared towards people looking at jobs in the humanities or at non-research universities where teaching is highly weighted. Second, there didn't seem to be much information from the perspective of the applicant. Most sites were written by current faculty. That's why I decided to make this site. In the near future I hope to add articles about applying, waiting, interviewing, and negotiating based on my own research, communication with friends and colleagues, and most importantly my personal experiences.
I should say right now that the best advice you'll get is from your colleagues. I learned more from my friends who have recently gone through the process as well as senior faculty and mentors than I did reading anything online. Call them, email them, and knock on their doors multiple times. Talk to people at all kinds of universities in a variety of departments. It really helped me at all stages in the process.
What this page is not ...
I am not attempting to cover the job application process in an sort of comprehensive manner. I am one person who applied to jobs once (well actually twice) and ended up with success. I'll try, as best I can, to record my thoughts on the whole process. You SHOULD get advice from senior faculty who can give you a better overview of everything and a view from the other side.
Who am I?
I am currently a 2nd year postdoc at U.C. Berkeley where I research the locomotion of biological organisms. I completed my graduate work in 2004 at Stanford University under Steven Block, where my thesis title was "The biophysics of molecular motors: Optical Trapping studies of kinesin and RNA polymerase". My CV is located here.
posted by Joshua Shaevitz at 11:11 PM
1 Comments:
Thank you Josh!
Your site is clear, simple and useful.
Good luck for the revolution,
Uzay's mom.
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