The job market in 2024 has been particularly challenging, with opportunities being scarce due to the broader global economic downturn. This "job market winter" has impacted both industry and academia, especially for new graduates. I believe it would be helpful to share my job search experience during this time—what I have learned and what steps I took—to assist future faculty candidates in better preparing for a highly competitive job market. Several excellent blogs share experiences about the job market in Statistics and Biostatistics. If you haven't read them yet, I highly recommend doing so, as they provide a great overview of the entire process. In this blog post, however, I will focus on more detailed aspects of preparing for job applications and interviews—things that previous blogs may not have covered extensively. In my opinion, preparation is the most critical factor for success in the job market. Remember: Failure to prepare = Prepare to Fail!
Apply as early as possible: Deadlines for academic job applications have shifted earlier in recent years, moving from December to as early as September. Therefore, I recommend fully preparing all your application materials by the end of August. Don't wait until the deadline to submit your application. Even if there is a stated deadline, search committees may start reviewing applications and conducting interviews beforehand. If multiple faculty positions are available, offers may be made before all interviews are completed. My first tip: act quickly and stay ahead of the timeline!
Decide where to apply: To search for job postings, use publicly available platforms like the University of Florida Statistics Jobs Board and the American Statistical Association (ASA) Jobs Portal—additionally, leverage platforms like LinkedIn and Indeed, which may feature additional job opportunities. From my perspective, academic positions in Statistics and Biostatistics differ significantly. Positions in Statistics often focus on independent research in theory and methods, while those in Biostatistics emphasize collaborative, applied research and securing extramural funding. When deciding whether to apply for Statistics or Biostatistics, consider two key aspects: your academic background and your professional goals. Specifically, think about the type of publications and research you have primarily undertaken in the past and the kind of research and career objectives you wish to pursue in the future. I decided to apply exclusively for academic positions in Biostatistics. In total, I submitted applications to 24 faculty or research positions across schools of public health, schools of medicine, hospitals, and government institutions. These included nearly all the available positions in Biostatistics that I could find, except for those with clearly stated requirements that I did not meet. By the time I accepted the offer from Boston University in December, I had received 10 first-round/Zoom interview invitations and 4 second-round/onsite interview invitations.
Prepare application materials: When preparing your application materials, it's also a good time to start preparing for your upcoming interviews, as both share similar concepts. Broadly speaking, there are two key things to keep in mind: why you are the best fit for the position, and why do you want to join this institution? In other words, what unique qualifications and experiences do you have that align with the job requirements? What resources, platforms, or opportunities at the institution can support your professional development? Specifically, you need to tailor your application materials and interview responses to address these two important questions across the following three categories: research (including independent, collaborative research, and funding experience), teaching and mentoring, and service (including diversity, equity, and inclusion). Once you have detailed answers, you can easily prepare your application package, including your cover letter, curriculum vitae, research statement, teaching statement, and diversity statement.
Tips for Interviews
Prepare for the interviews: The Zoom interviews and onsite interviews are quite similar, except for the job talk, which I will cover later. The only difference between them is the time limit for Zoom interviews, typically around 30 minutes to 1 hour, which means you need to provide more concise answers to each question. Therefore, when preparing answers to potential interview questions, I suggest having at least three different versions: one for 1 minute, one for 3 minutes, and one for 5 minutes. This allows you to choose the appropriate response based on the time limit and the situation, giving you more flexibility. As I have mentioned before, when preparing for interviews, consider answering the two key questions across the following three categories:
1. Research: What techniques or skills from your independent research are unique and valuable to the institution? What collaborations are you seeking, not only within the department but also across a broader community, including the whole university or even local academic institutions and industries? What is your experience with grant writing, or what are your plans in this regard? I found that for grant applications, there are often few requirements for junior faculty positions. Therefore, if you have any prior experiences or even plans for applying, you definitely should mention it, as it will be a big bonus in the interview.
2. Teaching and Mentoring: What courses are you interested in teaching, and are there any new courses you would like to develop? I found it very helpful to thoroughly review the current course catalog before interviews. Do you have any mentoring experience? I found that answering this question is more effective when you tell a story. For example, if you mentored a Master's student on a research project, and the student learned how to conduct independent research during the mentoring process, ultimately being successfully admitted to a PhD program to continue the research journey, that would be a great example to share.
3. Service: What kind of department service can you contribute to? How do you plan to foster diversity within the environment? I found that these are also important questions to prepare for, though many people may sometimes forget about them.
Of course, there are many other related questions you should be prepared for. Here, I have only provided some typical examples. One more tip: when answering questions that require relatively long responses, try to start by summarizing your main ideas in one or two sentences, highlighting several key points. Then, elaborate on each point. This approach will prevent people from getting lost.
Prepare for the job talk: The job talk is arguably the most critical component of the onsite interview. I will focus on the following two tips for preparing the job talk: what content to include and how to practice in order to deliver a good presentation.
1. Content: The job talk typically includes 40–50 minutes for your presentation and 10–20 minutes for questions and answers. For the presentation, I recommend beginning the first 10 minutes with the "big picture" of your research, addressing the key questions: what, why, and how. Specifically, outline what your research topic is, why it is important, why further research is needed, and how you propose to address the key questions. This initial segment should be as non-technical as possible, ensuring that everyone in the audience can follow along. Next, delve into the details of your research during the middle 20–30 minutes. While this section can include more technical content, aim to keep it broadly accessible. For example, use figures or graphical representations in place of lengthy text or complex formulas whenever possible. Finally, dedicate the last 10 minutes to wrapping up. Summarize your work, highlight potential extensions, and discuss your future research agenda.
2. Practice: Everyone knows practice is key to delivering a good presentation. But what makes a good presentation and what kind of practice should we do to improve? In my opinion, a good presentation should flow smoothly, but not so smoothly that it seems like you're simply reciting from memory. So how can we achieve this balance? Here is my tip: First, when preparing your presentation slides, write down everything you want to discuss in a speech draft. Once your slides and speech are finalized, try to read through your speech draft as much as possible until you can recite it from memory without looking at the draft. Then, practice your presentation, but aim to "forget" the exact wording of your speech as much as possible. In this phase, try to repeat the main ideas of your draft, but don't focus on using the same words each time. After several rounds of practice, you'll find that you are very familiar with your content and can convey it smoothly, while still making it sound natural. This approach will help you appear confident and prepared, without sounding like you're just reciting lines. I found this approach to be highly effective.
Overall, being on the job market is not an easy journey, especially during this job market winter. My final tip is to never give up and always look ahead. Believe in yourself, and remember that better days are ahead!