PhD Resources > Academic Job Search

Graduate Students

The Academic Job Search

introduction | CV Prep | Cover Letters | Job Search Process | Videos

The Center for Career Services supports graduate and PhD students who seek employment in higher education. In addition to the resources linked from this page, such students may:

- discuss their goals and strategies with our Associate Director for Graduate Student Career Services, Rosanne Ecker. Contact her by email at recker@syr.edu or explore an appointment with her by calling 315 443-3616.

- utilize the print resources we have collected to support graduate students, notably:

The Academic Job Search Handbook by Heiberger and Vick
How to Prepare Your Curriculum Vitae by Acy Jackson
Cracking the Academia Nut by Margaret Newhouse

- use our Credentials Service for letters of recommendation and other supporting materials

CV Preparation/Examples:

Preparing Your CV - A Power Point presentation that outlines CV preparation process and topical element

Overview of CV's (from Cal-Berkeley)

CV Example: MFA (from the Chronicle of Higher Education)

CV Example: New PhD in Humanities (from the Chronicle of Higher Education)

CV Example: New PhD in Applied Sciences (from the Chronicle of Higher Education)

CV Example: ABD in Humanities (from the Chronicle of Higher Education)

Cover Letter Preparation/Examples:

Academic Cover Letters - A Power Point presentation describing issues and guidelines for writing cover letters to support academic applications.

How to write academic cover letters, including a sample (from The Owl at Purdue).

How to Write Appealing Cover Letters (from the Chronicle of Higher Education)

Sample Cover Letter for an Advertised Position (from the Chronicle of Higher Education)

Sample Cover Letter When No Position Advertised (from the Chronicle of Higher Education)

Job Search Process/Resources:

Academic Job Search Basics - An informative PDF of a presentation given by Rosanne Ecker on October 2, 2009.

The Academic Job Search Timeline - A handy reference guide to when to start a search and what to anticipate on a month by month basis to further job search success.

Job Listings for Higher Education - Links to resources where positions may be posted.

 

VIDEO PRESENTATIONS

2009 Programs | Previous Programs

Overview of the Academic Job Search by the authors of The Academic Job Search Handbook, fourth edition-Fall 2009
The Academic Job Search Handbook, is a very valuable book that provides information and guidance on every aspect of looking for an academic position.

 Speakers Julia Miller Vick and Jennifer Furlong also write a career column, “Career Talk”, for The Chronicle of Higher Education. Julie Miller Vick is Senior Associate Director, Career Services at the University of Pennsylvania.   Jenny Furlong is Associate Director for Graduate Student Career Development at Columbia University in New York City.

How to Apply for a Travel Grant -Fall 2009
Did you ever want to go to a conference in your field but found that it would be too expensive?   Do you need to go to conferences to interview for a job, present a poster or paper or to meet people in your field? Or do you need to get travel support to conduct field research?  How can you get funding for these kinds of trips? Power Point Slide Show

 Trish Lowney, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Office of Sponsored Programs at Syracuse University, will  describe the application process, assist you in identifying funding sources, and sharpen your understanding of the review process.  Also joining us will be Jaime Snyder, a doctoral candidate in the School of Information Studies who has successfully applied for and received a travel grant.

A Faculty Panel: Teaching at Community College: Professors from OCC discuss the environment and mission of the community college-Fall 2009
According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, there will be more faculty openings in community colleges in the coming years. Are you on the academic job market or planning to be in the near future? Would you like to know more about working at and applying for jobs at community colleges?  A panel of recently hired faculty from Onondaga Community College share their thoughts and experiences about working in a community college environment. They also provide advice on the application, interview and hiring process.

Panelists: Michael O’Conner, Assistant Professor of English, Mark Muhammed, Assistant Professor of Communications, Garth Tyszka and Jessica Harnley, Assistant Professors of Mathematics, and Valerie Melburg, Assistant Professor of Psychology, will share their ideas, insights, and tips regarding what to expect when applying to work at a community college.

Faculty Panel on Academic Interviewing: Tips from recently hired faculty-Fall 2009
Planning to go on the academic job market? You do NOT want to miss this panel!
Syracuse University faculty share what they learned when they interviewed for academic jobs. All together, they have interviewed at dozens of colleges, including both research universities and liberal arts colleges.

Panelists:  Courtney Barclay, Assistant Professor of Public Communications, Sandra S Bargainnier, Assistant Professor of Exercise Science, Cynthia Marie Gordon, Assistant Professor of Communication and Rhetorical Studies, Alan Foley, Associate Professor of Instructional Design, Development and Evaluation, and Gareth Fisher, Associate Professor of Religion.

A Faculty Panel: Tips on Making Effective Presentations (Research and Teaching) During Your Campus Interview-Fall 2009
Would you like some advice regarding the research talk (job talk) you may be asked to give on a campus interview for a faculty position? What if they ask you to teach a class? How should you prepare? What is expected? Come get tips from and ask questions of faculty who have given their own job talks and teaching demos as well as evaluated job talks and teaching demos of applicants to their departments.

Panelists:  Steve Sawyer, Associate Professor,  iSchool;  Herbert Ruffin, Assistant Professor, African American Studies; Nancy I. Totah, Associate Professor, Organic Chemistry; Sharon Dotger, dual Assistant Professor, Science Education and Teaching and Leadership; Robert Wysocki, Assistant Professor, Sculpture; Martin Forstner, Assistant Professor, Physics

Creating Your Online Portfolio Using Free Software – Fall 2009
Learn how create a web-based  portfolio to showcase your academic and professional work, using free
online software. Easy to update, widely accessible to others, and a hyperlink away from more information about you, online portfolios offer you as much depth as you want when you present  yourself to the world via the Internet.

Speakers Kristen Munger and Bryan Ripley Crandall, doctoral students in Reading and Language Arts in the School of  Education, present their portfolios to you along with the benefits and frustrations of creating them. They will also share their insights and tips into the process, as well as provide you with examples of an effective online presence.

Previous Programs

Watch the video - Panel Discussion: "The Academic Job Search: Large or small, public or private- where will I find the best fit?"

Watch the video - Panel Discussion: "The Academic Job Search: Negotiating an Academic Job Offer"

Watch the video - Presentation: "Adjusting to your first year as faculty" (Power Point slides)

Watch the video - Panel Discussion: "What can you do with a PhD at a University besides teach? "

Watch the video - Panel Discussion: "How to Get a Post Doc and Make the Most of it"
Listen to the advice of a panel made up of three SU first year faculty and two post docs as they describe their experience in searching for and productively using their post doc opportunities. Panelists include:

Gareth Fisher, PhD, Asst. Prof., Religion;( Post doc at Yale);
Ines Mergel, PhD, Asst. Prof Public Administration, (Post doc at Harvard);
Andrew Darling, PhD, Asst. Prof, Dept. Biomedical and Chemical Engineering, (Post doc Dartmouth); Nancy Kang, PhD, Faculty Fellow in the Humanities, English, (Post doc Syracuse University)
James R. Metcalf, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Earth Science, (Post doc at Syracuse University).

The inside scoop on the grant application process.

Trish Lowney, Ph.D., is the director of the Office of Sponsored Programs at Syracuse University.  The Office of Sponsored Programs assists faculty in pursuing grants. During these four sessions, Dr. Lowney clarifies the grant application process, assists you in identifying funding sources, and sharpens your understanding of the review process. Dr. Lowney  has served as the program manager of two competitive grant programs at the New York State Department of Health. She has also been a grants program manager for the Consortium for Plant Biotechnology Research, Inc. and the National Dairy Council.

This four-part series on grant writing was sponsored by the Office of Sponsored Programs and the Center for Career Services during the Fall of 2008.

Grant Writing Workshop, Program 1: Managing Expectations video | Power point
Grant Writing Workshop Program 2: Practical Strategies video | Power point
Grant Writing Workshop Program 3 video | No Power point for this program
Grant Writing Workshop Program 4: Mechanics of Applying video | Power point

Dr. Lowney also presented a program in September of 2009 on writing a successful travel grant application. See link above in 2009 Programs.

The Changing Landscape of Higher Education
Chris M. Golde, Ph.D., Associate  Vice Provost for Graduate Education, Stanford University and Research Director of the Carnegie Initiative on the Doctorate, provides an overview of higher education in the United States, addressing how changes in tenure and in the student population will affect you as a future professor. A program from October 2008 sponsored by the Center for Career Services, Maxwell Career Services, the Graduate Student Organization (GSO), Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate, and the Graduate School.