Thought I'd share some miscellaneous thoughts/lessons from two rounds on the job market: 🧵 1/n
Be aware that out-of-pocket costs can add up! Some universities made me book my own flights (including an international flight!), & I had to wait weeks for reimbursement. In one case, I also ended up staying a few extra nights in b/t interviews (instead of flying home first). 2/n
The lesson is that universities should book flights if at all possible to make it easier on job candidates, and advisors can also support their students (e.g., by offering to pay for extra nights of accommodation out of their research budget). 3/n
A few grad students & postdocs put together a job talk practice/support group @UCDavisPsych. It was great to get feedback from people outside of S/P psych, and useful to hear insights from others who had just come back from interviews. 4/n
More generally, it’s really important to practice your job talk with people who are outside your area of expertise, because they’re best-placed to let you know where you’re assuming background knowledge. 5/n
One thing that helped me to cope with rejection was to recognize that every job or opportunity has pros and cons (and then focus on the cons when I didn't get the job!). For example, some cities where I had interviews were either very cold or very expensive (or both). 6/n
I would really recommend spending more time during the one-on-one meetings talking about research than finding out how things work in that department. These details are all irrelevant if you don’t get the job, and you can always ask all the Qs later. 7/n
@jonj really changed the way I think about the job talk Q&A. He taught me to see it as more of an opportunity to play with ideas, to slow down to engage thoughtfully before jumping to data, and to see it as a fun and interesting dialogue (rather than a defense). 8/n
Check out his great thread on the Q&A here:
https://twitter.com/jonj/status/1417910905191477260?s=209/n
Also, as a general practice (not job-market-specific), I highly recommend asking a friend or labmate to write down the Qs & the gist of your response during the Q&A for any talk you give (brownbags, lab meetings, conference talks). 10/n
Use these notes to improve upon your answers and put together a Q&A document for the FAQs about the projects you present in your job talk. 11/n
A LOT goes into preparing and *improving* the job talk, so get started ASAP and schedule multiple practice talks with different audiences if you haven't already! 12/n
By the time I gave my first real job talk in November 2019, I had spent literally 60 hours prepping, practicing, and refining it based on feedback from six practice talks (advisor only, lab meeting, two brownbags, job market support group, non-S/P faculty members). 13/n
Over the course of 5 other psych interviews, I spent another 147 hours substantially revising and practicing my main job talk (including one major structural overhaul and a substantially shortened version for a UK interview). 14/n
(I'm not even counting the 40+ hours spent prepping an entirely different talk for one b-school interview!!). All this is to say is that it's an incredibly time-consuming process, and I hope you're more efficient than I was at this. 15/n
Last couple of things: Try to have fun during the interview!! It’s rare to have a day or two where everyone is so interested in your research and excited to have you there. 16/n
Also, ask for help! So many people shared job talk slides and research/teaching/diversity statements, listened to my practice talks, and offered advice. Basically, no one ever turned down a request for help. So, make use of your network and the resources around you! 17/17
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