OMT Consortia material (AOM 2015)

1. BEING ON THE MARKET:
A PROCESS
PERSPECTIVE
Oliver Schilke
oschilke@arizona.edu
www.oliverschilke.com

2. MY OWN JOB MARKET
EXPERIENCE
2

3. MY OWN JOB MARKET
EXPERIENCE
3
2014

4. A FEW
DISCLAIMERS
4
1) Biases

5. A FEW
DISCLAIMERS
5
1) Biases
2) Credits
Modupe Akinola Katy MilkmanColin Fisher

6. THE JOB MARKET
PROCESS
6
I. Entering the Job Market
(May-August)
II. Creating a Job Packet
(June-September)
IV. Submitting Applications
(September-December)
V. Fly-outs
(November-February)
III. AOM
(August)

7. THE JOB MARKET
PROCESS
7
VI. JOB OFFERS
(November-March)

8. ENTERING THE JOB MARKET
(MAY-AUG)
8
Am I ready?
• Critical questions:
– Do you have completed research
projects?
– Do you have publications that
represent YOUR research?
• Other important questions:
– Does your advisor think you are ready?
– Are you ABD?
– Will your dissertation be done by next
summer if you work on it 50% of the
time?
• Don’t be “kind of” on the job market

9. ENTERING THE JOB MARKET
(MAY-AUG)
9
Some basic information:
• ~70-100 research/balanced positions for
Management Assistant Professors
• Check out
http://apps.aomonline.org/Placement/
• Register for AoM listservs to get listings
• Start a spreadsheet with deadlines, contact
info, application requirements etc.

10. CREATING A JOB PACKET
(JUN-SEP)
10
Full packet
• Cover letter (1-2 pp.)
• CV (3+ pp.)
• Research statement (3 pp.)
• Teaching statement (1 p.)
• Job paper (<50 pp.)
• 1-3 additional publications/working papers
• 3 letters of recommendation

11. CREATING A JOB PACKET
(JUN-SEP)
11
Cover letter – Craft your identity
• “I am writing to apply for a position as an
Asst. Prof…”
• Summarize your research interests in 1
sentence
• 2-3 short paragraphs summarizing your
research
• 1 short paragraph about teaching interests
• Highlight anything unusual that makes you
memorable (in a good way)
• (optional) Specific or idiosyncratic reasons
you are a good fit/are likely to accept a job
there

12. CREATING A JOB PACKET
(JUN-SEP)
12
CV – Assume this is the only
document people look at
• Education, anticipated completion date
• Dissertation topic (abstract optional)
• Publications
• Refereed conference presentations
• Teaching experience with ratings (if they
speak well for you)
• Awards/honors/grants
• Other work experience (keep it short)
• References

13. CREATING A JOB PACKET
(JUN-SEP)
13
Research statement – Brag
about your research
• Try to have an “umbrella” that
encompasses or explains your different
research topics
• A sentence or two on why you are
passionate about this research (optional)
• Break research down into 2 or 3 streams,
2-4 paragraphs each
• Include current/future directions (pipeline)
– these are important!
• Use a style accessible to those outside
your specialty

14. CREATING A JOB PACKET
(JUN-SEP)
14
Teaching statement – what can
you teach?
• Explain teaching interests (what could you
teach)
• Teaching experience (what have you
taught); include ratings if they are not
horrible
• Teaching approach – this might be
important for certain schools
• Some schools ask for copies of your
teaching ratings (a.k.a. “demonstration of
teaching effectiveness”)

15. CREATING A JOB PACKET
(JUN-SEP)
15
Job paper – demonstrate your
skills
• Should represent your best writing and
effort
• Often based on your dissertation
• Usually empirical
• Journal-ready working paper, manuscript
under review, or forthcoming article

16. CREATING A JOB PACKET
(JUN-SEP)
16
Recommendations – what do
others think of you?
• Faculty who know your work well and think
highly of you are best (not the most
famous person who would do it)
• If you haven’t asked people, do it NOW!
• Dissertation Committee Chair should
probably be one
• Any co-authors, committee members, or
mentors are OK
• Be sure to track if your letter writers
submit their letters on time

17. AOM
(AUG)
17
Pre AOM
• Look for postings that mention AOM
interviews and apply on time
• Set up “informal” interviews/coffee with
faculty from schools you are interested in
• Prepare to talk about yourself (elevator
pitch, etc.)
• Take lots of business cards
• Pack (or buy) several nice outfits
• Stay in the main hotel where the
interviews are

18. AOM
(AUG)
18
At AOM
• What you might be asked in
interviews:
– To describe your research
• Job talk paper
• Current projects
– What would you like to teach?
– Why you are interested in this school?
– What are you looking for in a job?
– What would you like to know?

19. AOM
(AUG)
19
At AOM
• Other things to prepare:
– Prepare questions for schools of
interest
– Dress code: business casual + or suit
• If you don’t have any interviews,
DON’T WORRY! AOM interviews are
not part of the process for many
schools.

20. AOM
(AUG)
20
Post AOM
• Send personalized “great meeting you”
emails
• Decide if you will be a part of the public
information sharing across grad students
about job market details

21. SUBMITTING APPLICATIONS
(SEP-DEC)
21
Send out your packet
• Mostly online
• Earliest due date around Sep 1
• Get in touch with admin or head of hiring
committee in case of any questions
• Be sure to track if your letter writers
submit their letters on time
• Wait patiently

22. FLY-OUTS
(NOV-FEB)
22
Hearing about fly-outs
• Between Oct and Feb (most in Oct and
Nov)
• Don’t be afraid to tell a school a fly-out
date doesn’t work for you
• If you have questions, ask them of the
person who calls you
• Don’t get upset about schools that don’t
call you! It probably isn’t you – it’s them
(e.g. they want a “macro” person; they just
hired someone who does your thing; etc.).
KEEP CONFIDENT!

23. FLY-OUTS
(NOV-FEB)
23
Prepping your job talk
• Start early (~August)
• Polish your ppt
• PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!!!
• At the end, try to mention some your other
work/put your paper in the context of your
research program (i.e. pipeline)
• Focus on preparing to answer questions
(how thoughtfully you answer questions
may be the most important thing)
• Consider practicing it in a suit/heels!

24. FLY-OUTS
(NOV-FEB)
24
Events during a typical fly-out
• Dinner(s)
– Night before your talk and/or of your
talk
– 1 to 3 faculty will take you, normally
somewhere nice
– Dress code: business casual or suit

25. FLY-OUTS
(NOV-FEB)
25
Events during a typical fly-out
• Your Talk
– Could happen at any point during the
day
– Bring water, tissues, clicker, laptop,
slides on memory disk (PPT & PDF)
– There may be a jerk at your talk –
don’t let him/her highjack it!
– Dress code: suit

26. FLY-OUTS
(NOV-FEB)
26
Events during a typical fly-out
• Interviews
– Back-to-back 30 to 60 minute mtgs
with 6-10 faculty members
– Make cheat sheet so you know 1-2
things about each person, ideally read
1-2 recent abstracts (more for people
w/very similar interests)
– Have questions for them
– Dress code: suit

27. FLY-OUTS
(NOV-FEB)
27
After the fly-out
• Be sure to write everyone you met
• Personalize your emails!
• Just a few sentences
• Do it within a couple of days

28. JOB OFFERS
(NOV-MAR)
28
Offers
• They will come, just be patient!
• Accepting offers:
– Consider if you can/want to negotiate
certain terms
– Once you have accepted, send emails to
your key advocates at the school notifying
them of your decision
• Rejecting offers:
– Do this via phone with your key contact

29. JOB OFFERS
(NOV-MAR)
29
Alternatives
• Keep on looking for late job postings
• Consider postdocs—applications typically
due in the early spring, after the faculty job
market
• Talk to your advisor about the possibility of
staying a year longer in the program

30. MORE
RESOURCES
30
Henning Piezunka’s “Job market advice” –
http://henningpiezunka.com/s/job-market-advice_26April2015.pdf
Woody Beck’s “The job interview: a study in terror” –
https://oowsection.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/2004-spring.pdf
Trina Sego and Jef I. Richards’ “Ph.D. interview preparation guide for positions
in academia” –
http://cet.usc.edu/resources/academic_resources/docs/sego_interview_tips.p
df

31. 31
Oliver Schilke
oschilke@arizona.edu
www.oliverschilke.com