How to apply for faculty positions
Applying to Positions in Academia in Canada and the United States
Applying to Positions in Academia in Canada and the United States
The information compiled below was first put together as a supplement to a workshop series hosted at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) from September 2019 to January 2020. If links are broken or if you have come upon a great resource that is not listed here, please let me know. I do update this page semi-regularly. Contact info is at the bottom of the page.
An incredibly valuable resource used to be twitter - unfortunately, that is in rapid decline but many of the twitter links to useful threads should still work. You may also want to check out Bluesky where a lot of scientists have migrated.
FuturePI_slack is a community of friendly folks who are all aspiring PIs. People share lots of information, their own application documents, and provide support to each other through the academic job market. I cannot emphasize enough how great of a resource FuturePI_slack is. Sometimes the vibes can get a bit intense, but overall, it's a good and supportive community.
As someone who recently successfully navigated the job market, organized a workshop series on the topic, and served on a search committee, I have some of my own advice to give. My biggest piece of advice: ask others to read your documents and to give you feedback. Prepare your documents early, and be willing to tailor them significantly to each job you apply to.
Do you eventually want a faculty position but aren't sure you're ready now? Apply anyway! Not only might you get lucky and find the position of your dreams, but more importantly, you will gain valuable experience that will help you get the job you want when you are ready.
One reason it might make sense to apply for faculty postions before you think you're ready is because practice actually makes a difference. The first job packet you submit is not going to be as good as the fifth you submit, if you take the time and effort to constantly improve your application.
There are commonalities to each application process: The general timeline is that jobs are posted in the fall, with closing dates most often falling in October-November. A typical job ad will receive hundreds of applications. The next step is typically the phone or Skype interview which will likely happen before then end of the year, and the number of people interviewed will be much less here - maybe about 20. And finally, 3-5 people will be invited for in-person interviews sometime in late winter-early spring. Most offer letters will be signed before the end of the academic year. If you are offered the job, you will likely be invited for a second visit where you can bring your significant other, negotiate, figure out space issues, and think about housing.
Of course there are exceptions to the rules: some jobs require a diversity statement while others don't. The page number requirements vary, and some don't provide them. Some jobs want your letters of recommendation up front, while others only ask for them after you've been short-listed. Some places do not invite you for a second visit until you have accepted the position. And timelines can vary too. Some formal job offers will go out in December, while others will not go out until months after the in-person interviews (especially if the first choice turns down the offer).
Many institutions have access to the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity (NCFDD). They have many videos for faculty training but they also have a three-part series from "The Professor Is In" on the faculty job application market. To join visit www.facultydiversity.org/join
A great post by one of our instructors, Prof. Jeremy Yoder on Chronicle Vitae. It tracks his process through applying for, interviewing for and eventually landing a great tenure track job.
A huge repository of other people's grant and job application documents.
A twitter thread with opinions and experiences of one applicant on the academic job market.
From the Dynamic Ecology blog - useful links related to tenure track job searches in ecology
UC Berkeley's rubric for scoring candidates
Cornell University has an Academic Job Search page with guidelines for every part of your application. I link to each individual section that Cornell provides below because it's a particularly good resource.
A compilation of resources for various aspects of the application process
An insightful resource from UCSF folks: The Academic Career Readiness Assessment
Here is a compiled list of all sorts of places to look for academic jobs in biology (some of which I link to below as well)
If you're looking for a job in ecology or evolution, check out this community job board, ecoevojobs.net. There is a tab of this google sheets workbook that has a list of links to other job sites as well, and there is a tab with information that can be useful for negotiations. Please note that this board is anonymous and largely unmoderated, so there's some pretty racist stuff on some of the pages.
Here's a recently created job board for Biology, more generally.
Another good spot is the ESA Physiological Ecology Jobs Page which is much more inclusive than the name suggests.
I've said it before, but I'm saying it again, Twitter is a great place to find fresh job announcements.
For all sorts of academic jobs, check out jobrxiv.org and HigherEdJobs.
Finally, check out society journals. They will often have field-specific job postings.
The CV is incredibly important. Make it easy to read, and keep the information concise. Be sure to include all of your peer-reviewed publications. It's a good idea to number them. Also include any preprints you might have (with DOI) and if you have things that you're working on, you can also include them. Make sure that any preprints or other in-prep manuscripts are put in a separate section from your peer-reviewed publications. Check out the resources below with more information on all of the things you should include in a CV.
A nice outline from one of the workshop instructors, Prof. Bobby Espinoza
Another one from Cornell
The cover letter is basically a summary of all the other parts of your application package. Make sure that you keep it brief but that it also contains the most important points. The cover letter is the first thing the search committee reads, so if you don't sell them on it, they might not make it to the rest of your application.
Here is a great outline of a cover letter with some examples at the end from the Broad Institute at MIT.
Some suggestions from an ASM article.
One from Cornell that covers every kind of letter you might need to write
The slides from our session on cover letters and diversity statements from Profs. Casey terHorst and Jeremy Yoder.
After the cover letter and CV, this is probably the next most important document you will prepare for your application (unless you're applying for a teaching-only position). The research statement should state what kind of researcher you are, summarize the work you've done, and what your plan/vision is moving forward. What kind of research program will you build, and what makes you qualified to do this? Focus on the big questions you've answered and the ones you plan on answering in the future. Remember, also, that people reading your research statement are likely not experts in your field, so make sure to make it accessible while also showing the reader that you've got the expertise to do the job. Also, like all of your documents, make sure to tailor this to the institution you are applying to. How will you fit into the department and institutes? How will you use core/shared facilities? Why are you the perfect future colleague?
The lecture component of our Research Statements workshop by Profs. Bobby Espinoza and Nyssa Silbiger. These are the powerpoint slides, but a video of the presentation will be coming soon (after captions are added - it has now been a few years and I have not yet added the video, so don't hold your breath).
A thorough document from Stanford
A brief list of suggestions from UCSF
Cornell's guidelines on the research statement
A teaching statement should demonstrate that you have a plan for teaching. You may or may not have formal teaching experience, but this will be an important part of your job, so show that you've thought about it. Like with most things, don't just say you're committed to a particular philosophy or method, explain how you've used the method, or what you've done to learn about it. Show, don't just tell.
How to write a memorable teaching statement from the Chronicle of Higher Education
A guide from Vanderbilt's Center for Teaching
Cornell's guidelines on the teaching statement
An article by Rachel Narehood Austin on "Writing the Teaching Statement" published in Science
Not all institutions require a diversity statement, but if they don't, it might be a good idea to include a paragraph or two on diversity, equity, and inclusion somewhere else in your application packet if this is something that is important to you. Pay attention to places that request diversity statements, they will often be explicit about what they're looking for.
University of Nebraska summarizes what is needed for a diversity statement and they link to an article from Inside Higher Ed.
Here is one from Vanderbilt's Center for Teaching
Cornell's requirements
Berkeley's rubric for diversity statements and in another format
And also from Berkeley, recommendations on how to hire diverse faculty
Check out the slides above from our session on cover letter and diversity statement. Lecture video will be shared soon (after captioning is complete).
A different point of view: Writing a Diversity Statement as a Woman of Color
You will likely (but not always) be invited for a phone or skype interview before being further shortlisted for an in-person interview. Make sure to prepare adequately for both. The phone/zoom interview will likely be short, so you don't have a lot of time to impress your interviewers. Come prepared to give an elevator pitch, to explain why you are a good fit for this particular university/department, and what you can contribute.
The in-person interview can be one or two days, and typically consists of at least a job talk, one-on-one meetings with various search committee members, the department chair, the dean, grad students, and other random faculty. Some in-person interviews also include teaching demos and chalk talks. The in-person interviews are exhausting but, especially if you're an extrovert, they can be fun too! You're meeting your potential future colleagues! You get to talk about your science!
Here is a great list of questions to ask from various people at the in person interview.
Some tips to help you survive the day(s):
Request bathroom breaks often while being shuttled between different meetings. Even if you don't need to use the bathroom, it gives you a moment to be alone, collect yourself, and make sure that you don't have spinach in your teeth.
If you have time, research each person you'll be meeting with and write specific questions you have for each person in a little notebook. It's great if you have time to skim some abstracts of papers folks have written, but at the very least, check out their websites to figure out what they all do. People want to see that you're prepared and have researched them. Also look for things that you could collaborate on.
It's ok to ask different people the same questions.
You might get lunch with a group of grad students - this is no time to slack! Make sure to treat the students with respect, and to demonstrate to them that you would be a good mentor for future grad students.
If you're out to dinner and everyone is drinking, limit yourself to one alcoholic beverage.
Dress nicely, but also comfortably. Wear layers (that you would feel comfortable removing) and comfortable shoes. You will do a lot of walking around and will have to contend with local weather as well as unpredictable HVAC systems. If there is any chance you might get blisters from your shoes, carry a few bandaids with you.
Bring a bottle of water with you. And maybe a few snacks that you can scarf down during your frequent bathroom breaks.
Finally, Cornell has a very comprehensive guideline for all aspects of the academic interview. It's leaning a bit toward the humanities but has a lot of useful information.
This is an EXCELLENT video all about the academic job interview (with specific suggestions for virtual interviews) by Dr. Sharon Milgram from the NIH.
For phone interviews, the search committee might give you a list of questions ahead of time. If they do this, you should DEFINITELY prepare answers to those questions. Think about how long the interview is, how many questions there are and plan to answer those questions with enough detail to show that you've given it real thought, while not running over time.
Some questions that you might be asked: Why are you interested in this institution? What classes could you teach? What is going to be your first grant proposal you write in your faculty position? Are there people in our department or at this institution that you can imagine collaborating with? How do you support student learning, for undergraduates and graduate students?
Generally speaking, you should demonstrate that you are good at communicating, and that you've done your research on the institution and how you would be able to fit in and contribute. Have a solid elevator pitch about who you are, what your research is about, and make a compelling case for why you're great :) Don't rely on your interviewers remembering the details of your document - act as though they know nothing about you. There may be 20 people that are invited for these brief interviews so it will be hard for them to remember all the details.
Here are some other useful sources of info:
Suggestions on how to conduct a phone interview from the McEwan Lab at the University of Dayton
Here is a longer post by The Professor Is In.
Ten simple rules for giving an effective academic job talk
A really great summary of how to prepare for a chalk talk from the ASCB.
Check out this twitter 'moments' list of Chalk Talk Thoughts by Jordan Ward (you don't need to have a twitter account to see it).
Here's another chalk talk resource from the ASCB.
Here are some slides from Prof. Dianne Hull at Penn State on how to negotiate your faculty and postdoc positions.
Input about salary negotiation from The Professor is In.
A twitter thread on how to use publicly available data to help you in salary negotiations
This is not technically a part of a job application packet, but if you are applying for faculty positions, you should make sure that you have a clear web presence.
Most faculty job applicants have a personal research website. It can be very simple with a cover page that describes your research interests, a page where you link all of your publications (and ideally provide pdfs for them), a page where your contact info is readily available, a copy of your CV, and anything else that you think is important for people to know about you. There are many options for creating a website - if you're not a computer whiz, you can use Google Sites (much like I have done here), Wordpress, Weebly, Squarespace, etc.
In addition to a website, you absolutely should have a profile on Google Scholar. This should only take a few minutes to set up, and will mostly keep all of your publications automatically linked. Be sure to include your google scholar profile on your CV and on your website.
If you are currently working in someone else's lab, you might be listed on their webpage. Make sure the info on that website is up to date, and that it links to your personal website as well.