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the_lady_lily) wrote2009-07-24 09:50 pm
the_lady_lily) wrote2009-07-24 09:50 pm
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Bibliography
The Academic Job Search Handbook - Mary Morris Heiberger and Julia Miller Vick
I'm afraid that over the next twelve months or so, you're going to continue to have a steady stream of Books I Am Reading In Case They Are At All Useful looking at how on earth to live like an academic. This is the first one I've read that has focused so specifically on the job search, rather than treating it generally, and I've found it bloody excellent. It's full of helpful timelines and checklists, of things to make sure you think of, stuff you really should know but honestly you know you'd forget under pressure. To just have that all written down somewhere rather than having to rely on brain power is great.
There's also very useful, concrete advice on things like how to build up a CV and write cover letters, not to mention what supporting materials like research plans and teaching philosophies should look like. The guidelines are sufficiently broad that it's very easy to apply them to one's own field, but not so general that they become meaningless. The step by step checklists of things to think about in terms of preparing for interviews were also very helpful. Mainly because you hear stories every year about people at the APA getting ten, eleven, a dozen interviews with different schools - but when you think about the preparation you really should put in to every interview in order to be able to answer questions about curriculum and what textbook you would use to teach course X and how would you structure course Y... frankly anyone with even seven or eight interviews, never mind double figures, is never going to be able to do that kind of preparation thoroughly enough to make a good showing. I had gathered, vaguely, that preparation was a good thing, but the kind of specific sample questions that might be asked at interview are helpfully focused.
Not least of all, I was very pleased to see that according to their timetable for applying for jobs that begin in September, I'm right on track - preparing materials, getting the vita into shape, starting to write things like teaching philosophies and research plans. There's a lot of work and redrafting involved, but apparently I'm in good shape for this. I know it's not necessarily life or death this time round, but it helps to know that, according to this book at least, I'm on track.
So, at the moment, this is thoroughly recommended as being very sensible and useful, with plenty of good examples. We'll see how the rest of the competition stand up to it.
I'm afraid that over the next twelve months or so, you're going to continue to have a steady stream of Books I Am Reading In Case They Are At All Useful looking at how on earth to live like an academic. This is the first one I've read that has focused so specifically on the job search, rather than treating it generally, and I've found it bloody excellent. It's full of helpful timelines and checklists, of things to make sure you think of, stuff you really should know but honestly you know you'd forget under pressure. To just have that all written down somewhere rather than having to rely on brain power is great.
There's also very useful, concrete advice on things like how to build up a CV and write cover letters, not to mention what supporting materials like research plans and teaching philosophies should look like. The guidelines are sufficiently broad that it's very easy to apply them to one's own field, but not so general that they become meaningless. The step by step checklists of things to think about in terms of preparing for interviews were also very helpful. Mainly because you hear stories every year about people at the APA getting ten, eleven, a dozen interviews with different schools - but when you think about the preparation you really should put in to every interview in order to be able to answer questions about curriculum and what textbook you would use to teach course X and how would you structure course Y... frankly anyone with even seven or eight interviews, never mind double figures, is never going to be able to do that kind of preparation thoroughly enough to make a good showing. I had gathered, vaguely, that preparation was a good thing, but the kind of specific sample questions that might be asked at interview are helpfully focused.
Not least of all, I was very pleased to see that according to their timetable for applying for jobs that begin in September, I'm right on track - preparing materials, getting the vita into shape, starting to write things like teaching philosophies and research plans. There's a lot of work and redrafting involved, but apparently I'm in good shape for this. I know it's not necessarily life or death this time round, but it helps to know that, according to this book at least, I'm on track.
So, at the moment, this is thoroughly recommended as being very sensible and useful, with plenty of good examples. We'll see how the rest of the competition stand up to it.