My Academic Job Search During COVID-19

Somehow despite my disbelief that summer has come and gone, we are quickly approaching the next academic job cycle. I went on the job market last year (2019–2020). I applied to computer science, information science, and health informatics departments at R1 and R2 universities. I was very fortunate and received several tenure-track positions. I also witnessed a big shift as COVID-19 hit in the middle of the interview process. I had interviews move online, second visits cancelled, and job opportunities removed due to hiring freezes. I am writing this in order to share the advice I received that seemed to work well, my personal reflections on the experience, and how the pandemic changed the interview process.

Writing the applications

Research statement ≠ research paper

I found writing the first draft of my applications incredibly difficult. Fortunately, I had many friends and colleagues who offered to share their materials, and many of them have put their materials online. You can find my application materials here: research statement, teaching statement, job talk.

Of course, one of the best things you can do is get feedback from your peers and mentors. The best piece of advice I received (from my incredible Ph.D. advisor, Beth Mynatt) was to NOT write my research statement like a research paper. You have a very short space to convey your passion and get people excited to work with you. Once I started focusing more on the importance of the work and the contributions of the research, rather than the nitty gritty method details, my application really transformed.

As you start working on applications, my other recommendation is to get organized early. Soon you will have phone interviews, job talks, and all sorts of other meetings happening in parallel. I found it extremely helpful to have a folder for each school with my application and list of potential collaborators to refer back to.

The interviews

Exhausting but surprisingly fun!

Going into the job market, I was the most nervous about the interviews and job talk. I was surprised to find that these ended up being the most fun. You get to meet so many potential collaborators and learn about different cities, schools, and departments. You certainly want to make sure you do your prep work. Have lots of questions prepared, think about what courses you could teach, and be ready to discuss your research fit in the department. But ultimately this is not meant to be an adversarial process, and I think many interviewees (myself included) worry that it will be. If you are invited for an interview, everyone is already excited about you and your research. Remember that you do extraordinary work, and use these interviews to engage in thought-provoking conversations with other researchers.

While most of my interviews were in-person, my last few took place online due to COVID-19. I will admit that after months of travel I was pretty excited to be able to give a job talk from the comfort of my own home. But I seriously underestimated the challenges of an online interview and job talk. Here are a couple things that might help:

First, make sure you take breaks to hydrate, stretch, eat, etc. Ask for them if they are not already in your schedule. This was advice I got about in-person interviews, but I actually found that they were less often included in online interview schedules. Don’t ever be afraid to say you need a five-minute break.

Second, practice your job talk and focus on speaking slowly, clearly, and passionately. Of course this is important for in-person job talks too. When presenting online, the lack of visual cues from the audience is really challenging, so it’s even more important that you are comfortable with your talk. Speak slowly, take pauses, and be confident. Also, don’t worry if there are only a few questions. I found that for online interviews more people saved their questions for the one-on-one interviews.

(Also a note in case anyone is reading this who will be in the audience of a job talk next year — when the speaker finishes, turn on your mic and give them a round of applause! Crickets at the end of an hour long talk is really strange.)

A few more thoughts…

Don’t go through this alone. People are incredibly selfless with their time and want to help. This amazed me! So many people took time out of their day to offer support. Friends took time to read materials and provide emotional support. Faculty and committee chairs took time to discuss their department and the position, to help me better understand if I would be a good fit. Lab members came to practice talks. Mentors provided quick support when I suddenly had a week to prepare my first job talk. Take advantage of people’s willingness to help, you will have the opportunity to pay it forward.

Prioritize your mental health. While I think there are many positive aspects of this process (sharing your work, meeting new people), it can take a toll on your mental health. We all struggle. There can be a lot of uncertainty and you are ultimately making huge life decisions. Take some time for yourself. I scheduled a vacation for mid-January. Possibly not the best time, but I knew I needed it and I certainly don’t regret it.

If second visits aren’t possible: Not being able to participate in second visits, where you go back to the school after receiving an offer, can be quite frustrating. I was not able to do any second visits due to travel restrictions. If you are also unable to go on second visits, do not hesitate to reach out to the faculty. They can be so incredibly helpful. You can talk to them about putting together your startup package, department culture, the location, really anything that can help you with your decision. It’s not only great for getting information, but can help you begin to build your community.

For everyone on the job market, I am wishing you all the best! Here are some additional resources that I found very helpful:

• Casey Fiesler’s The Academic Job Search: It’s Not You, It’s Them
• Nazanin Andalibi’s Reflections on the Academic Job Search
• Evan Peck’s The Jobs I Didn’t See: My Misconceptions of the Academic Job Market
• Lana Yarosh’s Reflecting on the Academic Job Hunt
• Jason C. Yip’s The academic job hunt
• Robin Brewer’s Job Market Reflections