I intend, over the next few months, to write a few posts about how to go about applying for an academic position, from application strategies to how to go about putting together the major documents. But why would I do this, when there is no shortage of advice on the internet about applying for an academic job in the sciences?
I am going to be writing these posts for a few reasons. First, I am interested in the job seeking process- I have always found it interesting, and I have been on both sides of the process. Second, I have students that graduate and want to find an academic job, and I find the process of writing out my advice to be clarifying of my own thoughts and ideas (which is really the primary purpose of this blog, anyhow). Finally, although there is already a surfeit of advice on the internet, I do think that I have a specific frame of reference that could be useful to folks.
I am also aware that academic job-seekers can be sensitive to receiving advice from senior folks who have not been on the job market in years, which is pretty reasonable. After all, I got my first faculty position over a decade ago, and there has been a pandemic and wild swings in the federal funding landscape during that time, both of which have impacted the job landscape in higher ed. However, I have a fair amount of experience on the job market- the number of academic jobs I have applied for has exceeded 100, and I have been on over a couple dozen interviews and been offered nearly a dozen jobs. Some of my job market experience is as recent as the 2025/2026 academic year. This is not a humble-brag- I had to apply to a lot of jobs to find a position that I wanted, and I tend to be a bit of a vagrant anyhow, so I am not shy about applying for an interesting opportunity. If I was a rock star, I imagine I could have found a perfect position and would be less restless. On the other side of the job search, I have sat on over a dozen search committees, and have participated in searches as a faculty member in another couple dozen. So while I can’t claim to understand the experience of a current postdoc that is on the job market, I have enough experience on both sides of the search that my thoughts might have some value.
I am also motivated to write these posts because the way we do job searches in academia is nuts compared to other fields. Explaining this baroque and opaque process might help make a high-stakes and high-stress process a little more bearable.
I am going to be writing these posts for a few reasons. First, I am interested in the job seeking process- I have always found it interesting, and I have been on both sides of the process. Second, I have students that graduate and want to find an academic job, and I find the process of writing out my advice to be clarifying of my own thoughts and ideas (which is really the primary purpose of this blog, anyhow). Finally, although there is already a surfeit of advice on the internet, I do think that I have a specific frame of reference that could be useful to folks.
I am also aware that academic job-seekers can be sensitive to receiving advice from senior folks who have not been on the job market in years, which is pretty reasonable. After all, I got my first faculty position over a decade ago, and there has been a pandemic and wild swings in the federal funding landscape during that time, both of which have impacted the job landscape in higher ed. However, I have a fair amount of experience on the job market- the number of academic jobs I have applied for has exceeded 100, and I have been on over a couple dozen interviews and been offered nearly a dozen jobs. Some of my job market experience is as recent as the 2025/2026 academic year. This is not a humble-brag- I had to apply to a lot of jobs to find a position that I wanted, and I tend to be a bit of a vagrant anyhow, so I am not shy about applying for an interesting opportunity. If I was a rock star, I imagine I could have found a perfect position and would be less restless. On the other side of the job search, I have sat on over a dozen search committees, and have participated in searches as a faculty member in another couple dozen. So while I can’t claim to understand the experience of a current postdoc that is on the job market, I have enough experience on both sides of the search that my thoughts might have some value.
I am also motivated to write these posts because the way we do job searches in academia is nuts compared to other fields. Explaining this baroque and opaque process might help make a high-stakes and high-stress process a little more bearable.
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