Thread by @jagephart

The faculty job season is here. Thoughts based on my experience as an interdisciplinary candidate:
Good news: It’s a great time to be an interdisciplinary candidate
Bad news: The job market’s tough for everyone & tough for interdisciplinary candidates in some unique ways [Thread]

[1/10] Think creatively about where you might fit and follow a wide range of job ad sources. Interdisciplinary folks are spread out and a search committee might not know how to target you. Ecolog, AESS, AAG, EcoEvo job spreadsheet and Twitter were all good sources for me

[2/10] Read the ad for what they are really looking for, but don’t get caught up in the many areas they want simultaneous expertise in. Some ads read like they want you to do all aspects of transdisciplinary work by yourself. Don’t hold yourself to that unreasonable expectation

[3/10] Get to know what kind of interdisciplinary position it is as you may want to pitch yourself slightly differently to each. Positions tend to fall into 3 categories:

[3/10 cont] 1) an existing interdisciplinary dept/center 2) a disciplinary dept hiring someone with a bit of an outside perspective 3) a university, top-down initiative/cluster hire (my experience is these are all run super differently, so it is hard to strategize much)

[4/10] You’ve probably been told to have your bread & butter work in one discipline & only do interdisciplinary work on the side. This advice will probably put you in a strong position for any of the above categories. But what if you, like me, did not take this advice?

[5/10] First, reflect on who you really are as a researcher. You will be asked to define yourself & you need a strong answer. Then, stick to your core elements—don’t be tempted to pretend you are something you are not. You’ll make a weaker case & the committee will see through it

[6/10] Once you nail down the core elements, think about how to pitch them to each job, including: highlighting certain aspects, incorporating the language of the discipline, pointing to common methods & reformatting letters and job talks to fit the discipline’s norms

[7/10] Don’t forget to highlight your biggest asset: your interdisciplinary chops. Be specific not only about your experiences, but also the skills you have gained through these experiences and how they translate into better teaching and research

[8/10] Remember you are also interviewing them. You want to know they can really support your research program. Ask about barriers to & supports for interdisciplinary work, how tenure may differ, how students in your field will fit in

[9/10] It really is a great time to be an interdisciplinary candidate. There are a ton of people genuinely interested in building bridges at universities and great opportunities to shape the future of interdisciplinary research and teaching

[10/10] I welcome additions from other interdisciplinary folks who are, or were recently, on the job market (@DocFroehlich @gigi_rose @rdeanhardy @katherine_seto @HeatherFRandell)

And good luck to everyone on the job market this year- you’ve got this!!!