The document provides advice on pursuing a tenure-track career in psychology. It discusses the pros and cons of such a career, including freedom and flexibility but also long hours and uncertainty. For those unsure of their path, it recommends gaining research experience which could benefit multiple career options. The author's own non-linear path is described, emphasizing publishing work, protected research time, and learning from other job candidates. Finally, it addresses concerns about job availability, noting clinical psychology positions have advantages and benchmarks can be determined by examining new hires' CVs. Fit may be prioritized over numbers of publications in the hiring process.

1. Pathways to the tenure track
insert joke about
survivorship bias here

2. • First question: Do I even want a tenure track position in a Psychology Department?
• This is certainly not the only or even the best use of your degree-- it’s just the one I am best-qualified to advise on.
However, I honestly, really, truly think it is the best job in the world (really!)
• Pros:
• Tremendous freedom + autonomy (both in terms of what you work on and in terms of how you structure
your time).You’re accountable to other people but ultimately function as your own boss.
• Long breaks + flexible summers (although you may be checking email on the beach!) plus opportunities to
travel, take sabbaticals
• It’s never boring and you get to wear many hats
• You can build a lab to study questions you care about, and develop an intellectual community and a legacy
• HUGE ultimate payoff in terms of job security, especially compared to the soft-money research world
• Cons:
• Porous boundaries between work + life; there is always more you could be doing (much like grad school) so
you need to structure your time well and set limits
• As a PI, you are almost like a small business owner and need to develop skills outside your training + comfort
level (managing money, managing people).When things go wrong, it’s on you!
• It’s competitive (although better than it was!), can be isolating and demoralizing, and requires you to confront
your demons re: imposter syndrome, rejection sensitivity, and perfectionism
• Unusually long “probationary” period creates risk + uncertainty and delays gratification

3. • What if you’re not sure what you want to do?
• That’s normal and it’s good to be open to a variety of paths!
• In my experience, it’s harder to go from a clinical to research career than vice versa
• When in doubt, it can be helpful (although not easy!) to function “as if” you will be applying for tenure track
positions even if you’re not sure
• The same things that will make you competitive for these positions (publications, awards, presentations,
the beginnings of a funding track record) will also help you land clinical + soft-money positions in a variety
of settings
• You will have future opportunities to develop clinical skills & obtain clinical training (on internship and
beyond) but are in a unique position in graduate school in terms of access to data & research mentorship
and it may be harder to replicate these circumstances in the future
• What if I don’t think I can compete for tenure-track positions or find work-life balance along the way?
• Don’t opt out before you opt out (Lean In): “women rarely make one big decision to [opt out]...they make a lot of small decisions
along the way. A law associate might decide not to shoot for partner because someday she hopes to have a family.A sales rep might take a
smaller territory or not apply for a management role.A teacher might pass on leading curriculum development for her school. Often without
even realizing it, women stop reaching for new opportunities. By the time a baby actually arrives, a woman is likely to be in a drastically different
place than she would have been had she not leaned back. Before, she was a top performer on par with her peers in responsibility, opportunity
and pay. But by not finding ways to stretch herself in the years leading up to motherhood, she has fallen behind.When she returns to the
workplace after her child is born, she is likely to feel less fulfilled, underutilized or unappreciated.At this point, she probably scales her
ambitions back even further since she no longer believes that she can get to the top.”
• Similarly, someone who feels underqualified for going the tenure-track route may pass up opportunities to
apply for awards, network, or present their work, or will place other priorities ahead of protected
research time.This then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy!
• There’s no rule that you can only apply for one kind of job or that you are only allowed to apply for jobs if you
feel ready and qualified. If you see an ad for a tenure-track position that might be a good fit, go for it!

4. My path to the tenure track
• English Literature major in college, wanted to be a writer or English professor
• Added Psychology double major in junior year despite B in Intro Psych
• Worked for a dotcom startup after college (in 1999); got venture capital money, spent it all; sold the company,
worked for another startup (which sold for $23M in my third year of grad school)!
• Quit job to play in a band + pursue freelance music writing, wasn’t very good at it. Started dabbling in research again
and applied for grad school, ended up at UCLA because I found an advisor willing to take a chance on me
• Started grad school with goal of becoming an Upper West Side psychoanalyst spending August in the Hamptons
• Did not consider going in a research direction until the end of 3rd year when I submitted my first paper for
publication and it was eventually accepted at a good journal (Health Psychology)
• In last few years of grad school, planned to be a liberal arts college prof. Did not feel like I was cut out for
competitiveness of R1
• In fall of internship year, applied for “dream job” position at Pomona College + did not get an interview.Wasn’t sure
what to do next -- was pregnant + tied to LA.Approached Gayla about joining her lab as a postdoc. She didn’t have
current postdoc funding but suggested I look into obtaining my own funding through F32 mechanism
• While waiting for F32 funding news, taught as an adjunct for a semester at Occidental College (still thinking SLAC)
• Luckily, got the F32 (lucky because no backup plan!) and it turned out to be great. Gained neuroimaging training,
published more, and started to realize that R1s offered benefits over SLACs (more pay, resources, freedom). In third
year of postdoc had 2nd baby and went on the market; did very limited search (applied to five places) and got two
interviews (UCI, USC)-- landed here!

5. The method behind the madness
• My path was non-linear, but a few things helped:
• As a grad student, had access to unique data (cortisol data), which allowed me to develop
independent expertise in how to clean + analyze those data
• Used same dataset + analytic approach for dissertation as for master’s thesis, so my front-
loaded investment in learning how to work with the data paid off
• Had an advisor who was strategic about shaping projects for publication, so I was able to
publish each of my milestone projects (master’s, review paper, three-paper dissertation) - giving
me five first-authored papers by the time I was on the market plus a couple of book chapters +
smaller papers
• Benefited from protected research time (at least 3-4 days/week in last two years of Ph.D) so
could make steady progress on data analysis + writing + shepherding projects through
publication. Postdoc was full-time research. Slow and steady wins the race, but only if you can
carve out the time
• My dept hired a few new faculty in my last year or two, so I went to 5-6 job talks and got a
strong sense of how people talked about their work + how their CVs looked
• Obtaining my own postdoc funding gave me greater freedom over my time and more
independence (ability to spearhead my own project), plus had a supportive mentor with access
to great data

6. But are there jobs out there?
• Yes! In fact, the market has recovered significantly since 2009-2012 (as has the internship match for that matter)
• psychjobsearch.wikidot.com has a pretty comprehensive listing of jobs all over the country in multiple fields; there are 163
faculty positions in Clinical currently listed (and keep in mind, only 38 PCSAS programs)
• As a clinical Ph.D, you are at an advantage - you may be able to apply for positions in health, developmental, neuro, social, quant,
but those folks can’t apply for clinical area positions. Moreover, you are competing with a smaller pool given greater options for
clinical Ph.Ds
• To get a sense of what the benchmarks are, work backwards- who are the people getting the jobs you want?
• start checking the psych wiki a few years before you go on the market, to get the lay of the land
• if there are institutions similar to the ones you want to target (SLACs, R1s, R2s, community colleges, etc.), look on
departmental websites and see who is giving job talks
• Looking at departmental websites and downloading CVs of new junior faculty is another helpful exercise
• try to figure out how many publications they had when hired, what their publication rate per year looks like, how
many first-authored pubs, etc. -- this is your benchmark
• Follow postdocs and faculty on twitter; attend conferences; participate in and organize symposia. In the back of your mind,
think about people you’d like to have as a postdoc mentor or colleague. Seek them out and send them your work.This
field is about relationships.
• Faculty hiring committees often prioritize fit over productivity. I’ve been on several search committees; there is no direct
correspondence between # of publications and success rates. I’ve seen people with between 3-8 first-authored publications get
job offers here at USC. Being on an interesting trajectory matters more than having dozens of publications!