Job Search Advice (such that it is)

There are many people who have already weighed in on this (Dr. crazy, for instance, but I am too lazy to link....she deserves your attention to find her, in any case).

The choices:

Be true and kind to yourself (and to your letter writers...depending on your discipline they will write a new letter for every job you apply for...), Apply for the jobs that you are a good fit for...that you would take...that you could live with...that you would not be miserable in. In that order. As a person who has interviewed for the job that there was no chance that she would take, I have to say that you are wasting your time and the institution's money...

The letter:

The job letter is a genre of technical writing. There are different norms depending on discipline. Learn them. Do not worry about giving people a sense of your personality (that is what the interview is for). Make sure that they have a sense of what qualifies you for the job. So, that means that after the introductory paragraph (where you announce your intention to apply etc.), describe your research and/or teaching (listen to your advisor/disciplinary standards). If you are describing your research..be succinct. to the point. with a concise orientation to the field within which your scholarship lies. tell the committee what your research is in in terms of what a general (but radically smart) audience can/would process.

In the case of the R1 job, follow up the current research/diss project with a paragraph (short) indicating what your research trajectory is/will be. they are hiring for potential, after all. Tell them where you want to go.

In the paragraph dedicated to teaching (which there usually will be), focus on highlighting the things that you have done that will qualify you for the position. The role of the teaching philosophy statement is for you to provide details about your teaching techniques and strategies. The letter is about getting the attention of the committee enough so that they actually read your teaching philosophy.

The last paragraph of the letter should offer any information that you would like to highlight that you think that the committee might want to attend to....grants, special qualifications...etc.

more to come...