Being on the academic job market for more than 5 years has taught me an important lesson, which was driven home for me again yesterday, and which I'll share in case it may be helpful. It runs counter to all received wisdom, and and it is simply this:
Nothing you do matters.
Nothing you do matters.
Only 2 things determine whether you will get a particular job or not, AND YOU HAVE NO CONTROL OVER EITHER OF THEM:
- Does the department need teaching in your specific subfield?
- Does the department like you?
Nothing else meaningfully affects your chances.
- Does the department need teaching in your specific subfield?
- Does the department like you?
Nothing else meaningfully affects your chances.
To put it another way: the choice is made on the basis of who you ARE (which subfield? learned where and with whom? what do you bring to the dept?) not what you DO (publications, networking, citizenship, outreach). The latter cannot change the former.
In short, you have to be the right person at the right time. If you are (as I have sometimes been), you will get the job. If you are not, then nothing you have done, nothing you are doing and nothing you promise to do will get you the job.
I do not mean to be defeatist or to accuse anyone. I hope this will be read as useful advice for early career academics. At the sharp end, my advice is this:
Be very careful where you invest your energies. Almost nothing you think you can do for your CV will help.
Be very careful where you invest your energies. Almost nothing you think you can do for your CV will help.
This is the hard bit. Do not organise or speak at conferences. Do not publish in edited volumes. Do not write reviews. These things do next to nothing for you.
If this sounds like it would create a bleak and barren academic world - it would. But you want a job, not an epiphany.
If this sounds like it would create a bleak and barren academic world - it would. But you want a job, not an epiphany.
Invest ONLY in work that will prove you can teach as wide a range of subjects as possible, so that you might be "the one" for as many jobs as possible.
After that, you just need to roll these loaded dice over and over again until you win.
After that, you just need to roll these loaded dice over and over again until you win.
A note: I expect members of panels to dispute all this. I believe they will say this in good faith. I am only able to describe my perspective as an applicant. The above reflects the reasoning I can deduce for times I was hired as well as times I was rejected.
