tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post2230629218049420512..comments2024-03-09T03:20:20.004-05:00Comments on Tenured Radical: Dream A Little Dream Of Me: Six Easy Steps to Writing a Great Job LetterTenured Radicalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05703980598547163290noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-57253314256244399012010-12-02T21:42:55.913-05:002010-12-02T21:42:55.913-05:00The impact of counterfeit has reached every corner...The impact of counterfeit has reached every corner of the world and many fashion companies are involved such as Luis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada and <a href="http://www.handbagshermes.com/" rel="nofollow"><strong>Hermes</strong></a> . Nowadays the rise of fake industry is becoming more and more quick. Excellent craftsmanship is also a necessity in making the splendid replicas.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-40426104437631419912008-09-04T09:07:00.000-05:002008-09-04T09:07:00.000-05:00Any reactions to Palin's speech last night? Also,...Any reactions to Palin's speech last night? Also, does anybody besides me think that she is a feminist -- albeit of the blue-collar ("Hey, Joe, throw me some more ammo -- I see a moose!") rather than the academic variety? When all is said and done, she has actually accomplished a lot -- and seems to have the potential to accomplish a lot more.JackDanielsBlackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17285871354441074406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-1226375907129669702008-08-21T18:41:00.000-05:002008-08-21T18:41:00.000-05:00As an ABD Ph.D. candidate about to go on the marke...As an ABD Ph.D. candidate about to go on the market, I want to thank you soooooo much for this... the information (and subsequent comments) will be invaluable...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-65692668307483959442008-08-17T20:04:00.000-05:002008-08-17T20:04:00.000-05:00TR might just be one of the most intelligent peopl...TR might just be one of the most intelligent people in the whole wide world!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-63494860203337144432008-08-16T15:08:00.000-05:002008-08-16T15:08:00.000-05:00Regarding confidentiality, how would a statement l...Regarding confidentiality, how would a statement like this be: "At this early stage, I am keeping my search confidential. Should the search committee select me as a finalist for the position, I will be happy to provide contact information for my department chair."<BR/><BR/>I can't tell if that crosses the line between professional and arrogant. Any opinions?Notorious Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/08700875559325201086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-59838843064072946312008-08-16T07:23:00.000-05:002008-08-16T07:23:00.000-05:00Thanks for some very good advice, it is much appre...Thanks for some very good advice, it is much appreciated by those of us entering the job market.<BR/><BR/>I wanted to follow up on Jarrod's question, and ask something which may seem quite basic. Does the cover letter count as the statement of interest? Also, do you have a recommended limit to the length of the letter (sorry if I missed that above)?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-51904538226032472242008-08-15T13:41:00.000-05:002008-08-15T13:41:00.000-05:00I'll go one step further than Historiann: especial...I'll go one step further than Historiann: especially when applying to public institutions, make sure that you address <EM>all</EM> of the required qualifications listed in an ad and all the ones you can for preferred qualifications. If possible to do elegantly, do it in the order in which the qualifications are listed, because there are plenty of public institutions (including mine) where the first step in reviewing applications is literally a checkoff that eliminates applicants who don't meet the required qualifications. <BR/><BR/>I think Lisa is right, and generally I think it's possible to explain the application in terms of opportunities at the target institution, letting the search committee read between the lines about the current job. After all, a job applicant may well be asked the question informally on a campus interview, and it's better to think this out in advance and figure out a way to make it a strength.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-28453156347649027642008-08-14T14:37:00.000-05:002008-08-14T14:37:00.000-05:00This is fantastic. AS a graduate student heading ...This is fantastic. AS a graduate student heading into my final year, this is exactly what I need to know. I am so glad I happened upon your blog. Any chance you'll address the issue of interest/teaching statement?Jarrod Hayeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15527345022223699608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-484012478488579282008-08-13T13:52:00.000-05:002008-08-13T13:52:00.000-05:00Right-wing: Ah, there's the rub -- you can *ask* ...Right-wing: Ah, there's the rub -- you can *ask* for confidentiality, but you can't guarantee that you will get it, and one has to be prepared for that. I say something like: "please keep my application confidential unless you decide to activate it." That means, if I'm not in the mix, try not to gossip to my colleagues; if I am, and talking to people I work with helps you decide whether to interview me, that counts as "activating." I also have a recommendation from a colleague, and I tell him to send it when I apply for something. So that should allay initial questions as to my sanity and good behavior, although further ones would have to be asked.<BR/><BR/>student: applications to graduate school are a different genre, I'm afraid, but if you write my g-mail and remind me, I'll take it on in another post.<BR/><BR/>TRTenured Radicalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05703980598547163290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-53202288123438240142008-08-13T11:35:00.000-05:002008-08-13T11:35:00.000-05:00I should suggest linking to this in our next posit...I should suggest linking to this in our next position announcement. I was amazed at the poor quality of many of the cover letters I read during our last search!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-78796425407058454872008-08-13T11:34:00.000-05:002008-08-13T11:34:00.000-05:00To what extent can this advice be applied to a per...To what extent can this advice be applied to a personal statement in a graduate school application?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-51032824302581064852008-08-13T11:25:00.000-05:002008-08-13T11:25:00.000-05:00TR,How do you "ask for confidentiality" when you a...TR,<BR/>How do you "ask for confidentiality" when you apply for jobs? In departments I have been in, even when there is a "hiring committee," the entire department has access to the files. In fact thanks to a fabulous website called mathjobs.org, we can access the folders online. It's pretty hard to get an entire department to promise confidentiality! I think it's safest to assume when you go on the job market that the word is going to get back to some of your colleagues.davidjhemmerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15557657307865513144noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-34968991227220697752008-08-13T11:09:00.000-05:002008-08-13T11:09:00.000-05:00Lisa:if you put it that way....okay, that does not...Lisa:<BR/><BR/>if you put it that way....okay, that does not seem like over sharing. I would certainly say that if you have something real to say that you don't *mind* saying when you want to relocate, go for it. But I would add two caveats. For applicants, your story had better be more than close to the truth, or not veiling a different, more difficult truth, since people have friends at other institutions, and a quick call elicits more information than the candidate may want them to have. For search committees, you do wish to ask discreetly if there seems to be a fish somewhere, but also know that your "friends" elsewhere will be more than happy to offload a problem (and we should construe this category broadly, since one person's problem colleague can easily be another person's catch) on another institution. To be brutally frank, people lie -- or to be charitable, they get vague about certain things like sexual harassment or other forms of abusive behavior.<BR/><BR/>When I apply for jobs I ask for confidentiality: if they can't give me that, I withdraw, because even though I can't lose my job, I don't want constant gossip about me leaving Zenith when it would actually take the right offer from the right people for me to do that. Not to mention enemies getting their jollies when I don't get a job. I also say that if they are serious about my application then my candidacy is no longer confidential -- because at that point, particularly with a tenured person, of course they want to know more.<BR/><BR/>TRTenured Radicalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05703980598547163290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-29308277275754229992008-08-13T10:58:00.000-05:002008-08-13T10:58:00.000-05:00Thanks for the great advice! Keep it coming-- tho...Thanks for the great advice! Keep it coming-- those of us going to market this year need all we can get.Lisa Dunickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08530026652363687161noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-64492224758908275612008-08-13T10:23:00.000-05:002008-08-13T10:23:00.000-05:00As someone who has been on many a job search commi...As someone who has been on many a job search committee, I say great advice! I differ only about folks returning to the market. Readers do want to know why you're leaving an institution. In one line, say (even if you have to fib a bit)something positive about your current institution, then explain that you hope to relocate for more research opportunities or for more diverse teaching opportunities or for geographical reasons. The brief explanation will benefit you, especially when backed up by a recommender's letter. Search committees are wary of taking on someone else's problem faculty member. Show them that's not you.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05653766863471613903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-64334727278511705332008-08-13T10:11:00.000-05:002008-08-13T10:11:00.000-05:00This is great advice. You are helping candidates t...This is great advice. You are helping candidates to understand that an academic job letter in the humanities is a genre, and as with any writing that belongs to a genre, it works best when it can fulfill basic, structural generic criteria in order to make the individual qualities of the writer's scholarly project legible and (paradoxically) original to readers. <BR/><BR/>I will only add -- as someone who has served on a number of hiring committees in English -- that there are a couple of things that people do in letters to make themselves original and fresh that should be avoided at all costs. <BR/><BR/>The first is a small matter, but it will get a candidate knocked out of the competition right away. Do not use colored paper or a cutesy font for any part of your job materials. Don't take letter writing advice from a "how to write a cover letter" book that tells you to give random information, or even put things in embedded text boxes. Yes, I've seen these letters. Yes, it does make you stand out in a crowd. But not in the way you hope. I still remember your names. But not in the way you hope.<BR/><BR/>The second piece of advice is more important. Do not give basic, factual information in your letter if you have not given it to your committee. What you say in your letter should be known to your committee, because if you look fabulous enough so that we want to dream about you in technicolor by asking for your letters of recommendation, your committee should all agree on the title of your dissertation, and on how much is done. Not vaguely agree. Really agree. Pay attention to TR when she says to share your letter with your committee.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-89998846430778894852008-08-13T08:00:00.000-05:002008-08-13T08:00:00.000-05:00tenured-radical,All those things you say are illeg...tenured-radical,<BR/>All those things you say are illegal to ask the job candidate are the questions the spouses of the faculty are supposed to ask the job candidate socially over dinner! Perfectly legal but quite annoying.davidjhemmerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15557657307865513144noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-11816563264935305422008-08-12T23:48:00.000-05:002008-08-12T23:48:00.000-05:00Most of my job letter follows that model but I bel...Most of my job letter follows that model but I believe that you just fixed my First Paragraph Problem. I have not been happy with it and I think your suggestions exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!Parishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10724364909872924908noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-35927096697611126132008-08-12T23:06:00.000-05:002008-08-12T23:06:00.000-05:00I don't have any personal experience at SLAC's, bu...I don't have any personal experience at SLAC's, but the general word on the street is that research is still what gets you the job. You might have to demonstrate more ability in the classroom as well, but it is the research project that makes you seem different from the 124 other applicants in the pile who teach well, receive good evaluations, and have snappy course descriptions. Obviously, though, I would like to hear more about this from people who have served on/chaired recent search committees at SLACs.GayProfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11289510184782252498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-6914269027347388052008-08-12T16:07:00.000-05:002008-08-12T16:07:00.000-05:00Virago and ahistoricality: switching the teaching...<B>Virago and ahistoricality:</B> switching the teaching and scholarship may be a good strategy, and I bow to your more recent experience in this regard. On the other hand, knitting clio has been putting up comments on several posts that suggest this isn't a fail-safe assumption. Some schools, like hers, where you would assume because of the heavy teaching load that scholarship was less important, are suffering from what she calls "mission creep" great scholarship *and* eight courses a year for a good tenure case. And I would also say there are many heavy teaching schools that are full of people who are as prominent in their fields as knitting clio is in hers. So it's tricky. Candidates might want to get inside info if possible, school by school, when going outside the SLAC/R-1 bubble.<BR/><BR/>And right-wing prof: my point was, don't volunteer it in the letter. It isn't relevant at that stage, and it's over sharing. You might want to volunteer it at a later stage to put paid to the questions committee members might have, but asking may tread on tricky legal ground. Someone may be switching institutions because of a marital relationship, for example -- well, committees aren't allowed to ask whether you are married and/or pregnant, whether you are gay or straight, whether you are divorcing -- so asking about why a person is switching jobs is borderline, in my playbook, because it puts the candidate in the position of "volunteering" information that the committee is otherwise not legally permitted to ask.<BR/><BR/>TRTenured Radicalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05703980598547163290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-8207365851862208312008-08-12T15:54:00.000-05:002008-08-12T15:54:00.000-05:00May I add one more thing? Please be sure that you...May I add one more thing? Please be sure that you're actually qualified for the job you're applying for! I can't tell you how many letters of application I've read from fine young scholars who have neither the training nor the fields of expertise specifically listed in the job advertisement.<BR/><BR/>Please, please, please: don't apply for a public history job if you're not trained in public history. Don't apply for a job in military history if you're not a military historian. And don't apply for a women's history job if you're not trained in and writing about women's & gender history. Just because the job also specifies a time or place in history that your work is in doesn't mean that the search committee will be fooled into thinking that you're actually a public/military/women's historian when you are not, and it's highly unlikely that they'll decide that you're so absolutely brilliant that they'll cast aside their carefully crafted job description so that they can hire you.<BR/><BR/>It's nothing personal--just please read the job ad carefully, and respond specifically to each and every qualification it lists.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-17336978664944007472008-08-12T15:40:00.000-05:002008-08-12T15:40:00.000-05:00After beginning your post, TR, I decided to pull u...After beginning your post, TR, I decided to pull up my old job letter (or one version of it) and compare it with what you said, point for point. And lo and behold, I pretty much did exactly what you advise (with a few minor exceptions here and there) and, for the record, I got 13 interviews at MLA.<BR/><BR/>One thing I would add: if you're applying to a teaching-oriented school, you might think about switching the order of the research and teaching paragraphs. Or discuss your research briefly and teaching in more detail, perhaps two paragraphs.Dr. Viragohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03960384082670286328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-86767081892101895142008-08-12T15:18:00.000-05:002008-08-12T15:18:00.000-05:00I disagree with one thing, I think it certainly is...I disagree with one thing, I think it certainly is the hiring institution's business why you are leaving a tenure track position after two years. You should have a good answer ready for this question, and "none of your business" is not going to cut it! There are many good reasons why you may be doing it, but giving a bad answer to this question can doom you.davidjhemmerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15557657307865513144noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-79765274608666431472008-08-12T14:57:00.000-05:002008-08-12T14:57:00.000-05:00Though this template contains excellent advice, it...Though this template contains excellent advice, it's a bit rigid. Specifically, I highly recommend putting the teaching component first when applying to heavily teaching-oriented jobs. I actually have two different versions of my standard letter: one with a longer research section, and one with a longer teaching presentation. Which one I use and which order they appear depends on the nature of the job as described.Ahistoricalityhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04004964192885891003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-90862727480286157122008-08-12T13:37:00.000-05:002008-08-12T13:37:00.000-05:00Acedemama:Honestly, just name-dropping, to wit: "...Acedemama:<BR/><BR/>Honestly, just name-dropping, to wit: "My dissertation, <I>Looking at Your Underwear: the Geneology of Delicate Things,</I> was directed by Professor Breathtaking. In addition to Breathtaking, you will receive letters of recommendation from Professors Cheese Burger and Cafay Olay."<BR/><BR/>TRTenured Radicalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05703980598547163290noreply@blogger.com