Approaching the Academic Job Market

Job Search Process

The following resources are selected to give you an overview of the academic job search process.

• “Doctoral Students Year of Candidacy: Guidelines for the Academic Job Search,” pp. 1-7 of Academic Job Search, a graduate student guide from Stanford University Career Development Center (link here)

This excerpt is organized around the final year of a doctoral program but is useful for postdoctoral scholars and graduate students alike. There is a job search timeline corresponding to academic quarters with useful guidance about what to do at each stage. The document then goes into a practical overview of the academic job search, including important reflective questions, pointers about how to prepare, and advice about what to do to learn about both advertised and unadvertised positions.

See the full guide on the Stanford website here.

• “Timeline” p. 40 from Pursuing Meaningful Work, Stanford Career Education

See the full guide on the Stanford website here.

• "PhD Job Search Timeline and Tips," from the MIT Career and Professional Development (CAPD)

(link here)

A timeline showing peak recruitment times for different industries and types of positions. The helpful tips section includes links to self-assessment tools that are useful for planning. There’s even a specially-designed one for those pursuing careers in chemistry.

• "How long does the job search process take?" from University of Minnesota Medical School Office of Professional Development

(link here)

This page covers considerations related to the duration of the job search process that can often be a source of stress. Anticipating these at the outset of planning the job search, can help avoid that stress later.

• “The Academic job search process: Looking for vacant positions and preparing application materials,” from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Graduate College Career Services Office

(link here)

A thorough overview of the job search process with many details about how to manage all the different strands. This page includes a sample job search log and sections on when and where to look for jobs, the latter also containing many links to job sites where academic positions are advertised.

• “The Importance of Informational Interviews,” from Inside Higher Ed

(link here)

This last resource is an article that describes informational interviews, a powerful but underutilized method for networking and opening doors to potential jobs.