Job Hunting

I have been busy looking for a new job (instead of blogging, sleeping, etc.) and searching for an academic job is a bit different than a non-academic job hunt. I think my family and friends are most surprised about the amount of paper involved, and the number of parts that comprise the application. The examples I will describe are mostly based on what American universities require, though it is similar in many other countries. The job interview can vary quite a bit, too. Also, one generally looks for an academic job starting one year before the position is open. So, by looking for an assistant professorship now, I am really looking at starting around August 2008, at the earliest. (Though I have seen some universities, particularly in the United Kingdom, that appear to only post jobs the summer before they are set to start.)

(Here I am before giving a talk this year.)

The applications are used to determine who to invite for the "interview" (again a bit different), and then the job offer is made. It is also possible that a department does not find precisely the type of person that fits the needs of the department, and the job search is closed, and perhaps opened again the following year.

What goes into the application? In psychology and cognitive science, the application is primarily composed of: 1) the cover letter, 2) the curriculum vitae, 3) a statement of research interests, 4) a statement of teaching philosophy and interests, 5) reprints of published work or to-be-published work, and 6) three or more letters of reference. Sometimes there is also an application form, but not often.


The cover letter is one's chance to explain why one fits the job description, and to summarize the rest of the application along those lines. The curriculum vitae (or CV) is basically the academic version of a resume. I have read that a business resume should stick to one or two pages; an academic resume has no such limit and is intended to include everything relevant that one has accomplished: publications, presentations, grants, honors, awards, education, teaching, etc. In no pre-defined order. The statement of research interests, at least in my field, usually summarizes what one has done, and what the next steps will be. The teaching philosophy similarly mentions what courses one has taught in order to reveal how one approaches teaching. Most job advertisements ask for reprints of one's published or forthcoming research papers. Letters from one's previous mentor or collaborators round out the application.


How is an academic job interview different from a non-academic one? The most obvious difference is the length and depth. Most last one or even two days. The job candidate meets one-on-one with many of the faculty, primarily those who are on the search committee or, if possible, with nearly all of the faculty. Meetings are also held with the department chair and the school or college dean (who must approve funding for the new hire). One key part of the interview is the "job talk." The candidate gives a lecture about one's research. Some departments actually have candidates give two job talks. My graduate school department at Johns Hopkins was notorious for this, particularly because the second talk used to be a surprise! Eventually word spread about this, and it is now just part of the expected interview there.


The job search process is quite different from a non-academic search as well. Many companies are always open to receiving applications from qualified candidates. If they are a good fit a position might be created for them. In addition, most people limit themselves geographically--perhaps looking for a job in only one city. An aspiring academic would find this difficult. Universities do not always have openings in every department every year. Even if they do, then the opening is for a particular specialty that is needed by the department. For example, I am a cognitive psychologist (or cognitive scientist or cognitive neuroscientist) and a psychology department may need a cognitive person one year, but a clinical or social psychologist the next year. Plus, outside of certain metropolitan areas, most cities have only one university.

A job hunt in academia is really an adventure--one never knows where job openings might appear and where one might move to in a year! In the fluid academic world I may be reversing the brain drain now, but in a year I could be contributing to it.

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German vs. American Higher Education

The Uni here is going through a transformation. Traditionally German universities awarded the Diplom degree as the terminal undergraduate degree (or, in British terms, graduate--graduate students in the US would be called postgraduates in the UK). That is all changing. There will now be a BS and MS available, replacing the Vordiplom (pre-Diplom) and Diplom, respectively. The idea is to have the German system match that being used throughout Europe, and in the US, which would increase the mobility of university students here. Many outside of Germany do not know what a Diplom is, with the best translation being a Masters because of the thesis work required.

This change to, what I know as, the US system is fascinating. First of all, one hundred years ago, German universities were the top in the world and German was the lingua franca of science. Santiago Ramon-y-Cajal, in his Advice for a Young Investigator wrote that one must learn German to have an impact on science--publishing only in Spanish-language journals would have no impact internationally.

Second, the German educational system educated the first generation of American experimental psychologists, with Wilhelm Wundt as the founder of it all. My intellectual ancestors go back to the great German physiologists who most influenced modern cognitive psychology and neuroscience.

(Me and the big girl in front of a statue of Johannes Mueller in Koblenz)

Third, some great American universities, such as Johns Hopkins and the University of Chicago, were modeled after the German system. The Diplom is founded on the idea that learning best takes place by doing. That is, one must engage in research to truly become educated about one's field. Johns Hopkins originally granted only graduate degrees because that seemed to be the American equivalent of what the German universities were doing, in contrast to the liberal arts degrees one studied for at Harvard and other such schools at the time. (Interestingly, Hopkins still does not require a Bachelors in order to be accepted into a PhD program.)

Fourth, the standard pedagogical technique in the classroom at places like Johns Hopkins was inspired by the German-style seminars. Again, it is the case of learning-by-doing. Instead of only having lecturers pour information into the brains of the students, through the ears, the seminar was created to have students learn by studying the topics with professorial guidance, and then presenting the overview to their classmates for discussion.

Now my colleagues here are asking me how multiple-choice exams are administered and graded, as the standard oral examinations will be unreasonable in the face of larger course enrollments and lecture-style courses!

Clearly there is something to be said for mobility, particularly in the European Union. However it is strange to see such an important tradition in higher education disappear, particularly one that has been widely emulated and transformed American universities into the research-focused institutions they are today.

Technorati Tags: America, Bachelors, Diplom, European Union, Germany, higher education, Johns Hopkins University, Masters, Santiago Ramon-y-Cajal, science, seminar, University of Chicago, Wilhelm Wundt