“Is Getting A Faculty Position Hard?” Confessions of a Former Applicant Catherine M.
Download
Report
Transcript “Is Getting A Faculty Position Hard?” Confessions of a Former Applicant Catherine M.
“Is Getting A Faculty Position Hard?”
Confessions of a Former Applicant
Catherine M. Alfano, Ph.D.
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
& University of Washington
BCPT Quarterly Fellows Meeting, May 2005
A Long-winded answer…
Why am I qualified to give this talk?
Just finished the faculty job search process:
13 months (2 cycles)
Applied to 7 institutions
Interviewed at 4 institutions
Offered 2 positions
Successfully negotiated 1 tenure-track assistant
professor position
However, N=1 (faculty members encouraged to
join in)
Aspects of the Existential Crisis…
“What is a faculty position, really, and why do I
want one?”
“What am I looking for in a position?”
“How do I find & apply for positions?”
“What is involved in an interview & how do I
prepare for one?”
“What is involved in negotiating a position?”
“What are pitfalls to avoid?”
“What can I be doing NOW?”
“What is a faculty position, really, and why do I
want one?”
No joke! Profound question
Faculty position- Components may include:
Grant writing & Research, Clinical work, Mentoring,
Teaching, Supervisory role, Administrative role,
Committee work/ dept. & inst. service, community
service, service to scientific community
Choice: Academia vs. private sector
Pros & cons for each
Understand what they mean to you
What do you want to do with your career?
“What am I looking for in a faculty position?”
Which components, at what %?
Grant writing & Research, Clinical work, Mentoring, Teaching,
Supervisory role, Administrative role, Committee work/ dept. &
inst. service, community service, service to scientific community
Environment & resources
Peers & collaboration
Big fish, small pond vs. Small fish, big pond
Mentoring of jr faculty
Hard vs. soft money
Tenure (does it exist & what does it mean?)
Limiting factors? (geographic, family, etc.)
“How do I find & apply for positions?”
“Faculty search cycle:”
Positions advertised in Fall
Applications due in Late Fall, Winter
Job Ads, listservs, conferences, mentors & contacts, “cold
letters”
Cover letter detailing research and teaching interests, CV, 3
references or letters, manuscripts;
Get feedback from mentor
Interview in Spring
2nd interview in Late Spring
Negotiate/Accept by Summer
Timeline does NOT always apply!
“What is involved in an interview & how do I
prepare for one?”
Interview: 2 days
Grueling vs. Fun
Meet MANY people
1 hr talk with questions
30 min-1 hr meetings; lunches & dinners
Search committee meeting (a.k.a. “firing squad”)
Meet with students or teach class
Dep. on personality, preparation, & confidence
Logistics: airfare, hotel, dinner
Follow up after interview
Prepared = Confident
Rehearse your talk
Tailor your talk
Make it interesting & get plenty of feedback
Know your audience (eg., SPH vs. CCC)
Know your interviewers
Pull & read bios, key papers
Can check CRISP database for current grants
You want to get them talking about their research
Assess collaboration; ↑rating of you
Ask to meet with specific faculty members
Tips for Interviewing
2-way evaluation of “fit”
Ask questions!
Shows interest & you need to gather data
Get several opinions on important questions
YES! YOU are also evaluating THEM
Assess for inconsistent information
Need a “sound byte” describing your research
Self-confidence
Be yourself --no dating behavior!
Relax –it puts them at ease too
“What is involved in negotiating a position?”
Don’t “just say YES”
Consider what you really need to hit the ground
running
Usually an iterative process
Office space & equip, RAs, biostat help, grant
support, admin support, startup $, how much you
teach right away, moving expenses, parking (?),
salary
By phone or formal letters
At end: everyone signs a “letter of offer”
You formally accept the offer
“What are pitfalls to avoid?”
Allowing enough time
Answering personal questions
They never call you for a 2nd interview
Too many limitations on job search = no job
Offering controversial opinions
Partner? Babies?
No ref in the room to call foul
Happens if you don’t know your audience
Over-confidence = egotism & naiveté
Interdisciplinary training= can’t fit neatly into a box
(division)
Focus on what you want to do; not labels
“What can I be doing NOW?”
Build CV with good research collaborations
Peer-reviewed journal pubs from existing datasets
Experience working on grant-funded research –mult.
projects
Experience writing parts of grant proposals
Job talk based on own work (own data?)
Keep CV up to date
Experience in multi-center trials
Get feel for how they work
Meeting people
“What can I be doing NOW?”
Network: conferences, “normal work”
Think about developing a line of research
Through mentor & on own
Meet people with whom you might want to work BEFORE you
need a job
“What have I done already?”
“Where am I headed?”
Get exposure to different components of faculty job
Talk to faculty members; check job ads now
“What do I like to do?” “Dislike?”
Start piecing together what you want
Many Thanks…
Deborah J. Bowen
Bonnie A. McGregor
Anne McTiernan
Donald Patrick
Danny Shen
Jesse R. Fann
Karen Syrjala
Janet Abrams
CARET investigators
HEAL investigators
Carol Moinpour
Cynthia Long
Neli Ulrich
Alan Kuniyuki
Nigel Bush
Alton Hart
Brenda Diergaarde
Julie Gralow, Robert
Livingston, & Hannah
Linden