How to Get a Faculty Job

 

How to get a faculty job, Part 1: The application This is going to be the first in a series of three blog posts on getting a faculty job in Computer Science. Part one is about applying for the job. Part two will be about doing interviews.  And part three will be about negotiating the offer and making a decision. I did my faculty job search back in !! after finishing my Ph" at #C $erkeley. $ack then% academic Computer Science departments were hiring like cra&y and the number of job openings far outstripped the number of highly'(ualified applicants. I ended up with something like a do&en interviews% and also interviewed at I$) *esearch +both coasts,% -P abs% and a little search engine startup called /oogle. +I regret not having interviewed at )icrosoft *esearch% but at the time I  was dead'set on an academic position and had ha d a hard time seeing myself working at )S*., I got offers at all of the industry places and several of the universities0 and ended up taking a faculty job at -arvard. The process of getting an academic job is tremendously painful and takes months of effort. 1aculty job applications are usually due in "ecember or 2anuary% interviews happen around )arch and April% and job offers made in April and )ay. $efore summer break most job applicants will have their position sorted out and know where they will be heading in the fall. The job application itself usually consists of five components3  4our C5% a cover letter% a research statement% a teaching statement% and letters of recommendation. I6ll go through these in detail below. In case you6re curious% I posted my original +!!, faculty job application materials online here. here. These days% most departments accept the job application online% either via a web form or email. 7hen I applied% only about half of the departments accepted email and I had to

 

send physical copies of my application to the other places. The first critical component of the job application is your personal web page. I page. I am always ama&ed at how many faculty applicants fail to maintain an up'to'date web page with their publications% research interests% source code releases% and so forth. 8ever assume that hiring committees will have  your 9official9 application materials at hand3 These days it6s much easier to /oogle someone6s name and look at their projects and papers online. 1or that matter% always post  your job application materials prominently on your your  web page. In page. In case someone is reviewing a set of candidates and can6t find your research statement% everything should be linked to your web page so people can find it easily. The curriculum vitae is vitae is probably the easiest part to get right. This should be a detailed summary of your research interests% publications% talks% service work% teaching credentials% and any other factoids that might be of interest to the hiring committee. #nder no circumstances should it be a one'page 9resume9. )y !!'era C5 is here as here as an e:ample. 8ote how it provides a one'page summary of my research interests and a detailed breakdown of my job e:perience. The 9invited talks9 section is provided to give a sense of my e:perience giving keynotes and lectures at various conferences and universities. The cover letter is letter is a point of great confusion. 1irst off% it6s not always obvious that it6s needed% and even when you have a cover letter% not everyone knows what it should say. These days% the cover letter might take the form of the body of the email that you send when submitting your materials. In my e:perience% the cover letter is a 9school specific9 statement of  why you are applying to this school in particular. particular. It should call specific attention to any potential collaborators at the school you are applying to. 1or e:ample% a good cover letter might say something like% "ear Prof. ;uckerberg% I am writing to apply for the position of Assistant Professor of

 

Computer Science in your department. )y research interests are in the area of computer systems and programming languages% and my thesis topic is 9*ooter3 A )ethodology for the Typical #nification of Access Points and *edundancy.9 )y  thesis advisor is Prof. "avid Culler. I am e:cited by the opportunity to teach and do research at #niversity of <ast 8unavut. )y research interests are highly complementary to Profs. 2obs and $allmer in your department% and I would be particularly interested in collaborating with the Center for Computational Phrenology. Please find attached my C5% research and teaching statements% and list of references. I look forward to hearing from you.  4ou get the idea. It need not be long but it6s a good way to customi&e your application for the specific school% while keeping the rest of your application materials generic. The research statement is statement is one of the hardest parts of the application to get right. It is intended to serve two purposes3 To provide a narrative summary of your research contributions +and especially how they all tie together,% and  what areas you intend to work on in the future. It6s usually about ='> pages long and needs to nail what your specific research 9angle9 is% why the area is important% what your track record is% and what your research vision is going forward. It is not a personal essay  like  like you might have written applying to college or grad school '' If the e:pression 9when I was a child% computers always fascinated me9 appears anywhere in  your research statement% you6re doing it very wrong. 8obody is going to hold you to working on the specific things  you say you want to do for future research directions% but you should articulate a clear vision of vision of what kind of direction  you would take when starting a faculty job. This is important. -iring committees are not hiring you based only on your track  record '' they are hiring you based on your potential to be a +potentially, life'long colleague. They want to see that you have an independent and compelling vision for at least the first few years of your faculty job. If the best you can come up  with is a couple of papers6 worth of e:tensions to your thesis%  you6re in trouble. Try to think of a three'to'five year agenda

 

that would get people e:cited to have you part of the faculty. The teaching statement is statement is like the research statement% but focuses on teaching. )ost grad students have precious little teaching e:perience beyond a couple of semesters of TA work% so it6s kind of hard to say much. Still% do your best. ?eep in mind that teaching is a huge huge part  part of a faculty job and one of the most important criteria for e:tending an offer is whether  you can teach well. If you have advised any undergraduate researchers or mentored junior grad students% include this in  your teaching statement% as mentorship is important too. 1inally% be clear on what kinds kin ds of courses you would be willing and able to teach. It6s not always obvious based on your research background if you could take on% say% the @S or databases course '' make it e:plicit.  As for letters of recommendation% recommendation% you usually need three or four. *esist the urge to have more than four rec letters3 )ore is not always better% in case anyone writes anything to give the hiring committee pause. In general it is best if all of  your recommendation letters are from well-known from well-known professors.. @bviously one should be from your thesis professors advisor. A letter from a top'flight researcher in an industry lab is fine% too% but you should have no more than one of these3 It6s commonly held that industry folks write fluffy letters and hiring committees care more about the opinion of dyed'in'the'  wool academics. @ne piece of advise I got when applying for faculty jobs was to have one letter from someone not at your home institution% institution% who could comment more broadly +and objectively, on the impact of your research. I was fortunate to get a letter from the great /eoffrey 1o:% 1o:% whom I had met a couple of times and my advisor suggested would be a good 9e:ternal9 letter writer writer for me. It was kind of strange strange asking a near'stranger for a letter like this% but he agreed and I guess it did the trick% since I got interviews pretty much everywhere I applied. ?eep in mind that the job application only gets you an interview % it does not get you the job. The interview is far% far more important than the application materials. It6s also

 

important to understand that hiring committees at top schools get many% many hundreds of applications% from all over the  world% for a single faculty job opening. So% make sure your packet stands out. A strong publication record is the main thing. Strong letters are second. The research and teaching statement matter much less% so don6t stress over them too much. 4ou can6t make up for a weak publication record with a  brilliant research statement. 1inally% a note on where on where to apply for jobs. jobs. I often see students make the mistake of only applying to the top five or so universities% with the idea that they could only be happy at a place like )IT or $erkeley. This is a huge mistake. mistake. 1irst of all% the probability that you6re going to get a job at your 9top9 school is vanishingly small% considering the number of (ualified applicants and scarcity of jobs. Second% you might find out +as I did, that schools that look great from a distance don6t seem so hot when you6re up close and interviewing there. This can cause you to seriously rethink your preferences for  both what kind of school you want to be at% where you want to live% and where you see yourself building an academic career. The converse is also true3 4ou might fall in love with a place  you would have never considered seriously before. 1or e:ample% I knew ne:t to nothing about -arvard before I interviewed there% and never imagined I would end up there '' until I visited% and found that I loved the place and the people. So try to keep an open mind about where you might go. There are lots of great departments out there% lots of great places to live% and many% many factors that count towards your overall happiness and ability to t o be successful. Apply broadly% include a few 9safety schools9 in your application list% and then cull the list later if you end up with too many invitations to interview. )ost people don6t have this problem% so don6t be too picky. Check out Part 1b: How To et an !nterview .

Posted by )att 7elsh at at  3! P)  P)  <mail This $logThisB

 

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15 comments:   

"ave "oty  "ecember % !D at DD3>E P)9It P)9It should call specific attention to any potential collaborators collaborators or...9 or whatF 4ou trailed off at this point% probably a typo. I ask  because% other than naming potential potential collaborators% collaborators% this this is the part of the cover letter that ve:es me the most. I read a lot of 9faculty application advice9 that e:horts the importance of tailoring the cover letter to the school. -owever% other than naming potential collaborators% I have no idea what to mention that makes one collaborators% particular school a good fit. This is especially problematic problematic because I  work in a small small speciali&ed field field and many schools will not not have anyone who does the same kind of work as I do.*eply*eplies do. *eply*eplies

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#att $elsh "ecember D!% !D at DD3DE A) @ops% sorry ' fi:ed the typo.

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The other thing the letter could do is% if you are looking for a specific kind of school +e.g.% 9I really want to teach at a small liberal arts school9, then you should call attention to that.

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%tefan %avage "ecember D!% !D at E3D> P) 8ote that while the cover letter is a nop at research schools +basically an identification of research area for binning, at teaching schools its really important +in particular to convince them% esp if applying from an *D Ph.". program% that you are really serious about this career and don6t really want to go to a research program, &eply 

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 $ebcraft "ecember D!% !D at G3= A)Interesting% A)Interesting% I

 

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 would like to know -ow you you felt about about /oogle at that that timeF of course it is start up and not of uncertain stuffs. but did you  basically believe believe them in general general and felt felt they were were techni(ue strong enoughF *eply*eplies P)I #att $elsh "ecember D!% !D at H3> P)I didn6t take /oogle seriously at the time because it was 9just another search startup9% and I had seen several of them fail +Altavista% Inktomi,. $ack then they weren6t doing /mail% docs%  Android% etc. and and had not yet yet become the the major attractor attractor for top top CS talent that they are today. &eply 

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 'nonymous"ecember "ecember D!% !D at 3>G A)  'nonymous Interesting post. As someone who is currently on the job market and more interested in teaching than research% I wonder if anyone has thoughts about similarities and differences between the process )att describes and the process of applying to teaching' focused departments +i.e. appro:imately departments without Ph" students,F Presumably the emphasis on teaching record and research record are roughly swapped% but I have heard that some small schools put a pretty heavy emphasis on research. @bviously most hiring committees would prefer someone who is strong in  both% but realistically realistically I e:pect e:pect there are differences. differences. 1or e:ample% e:ample% I hope that a candidate with no actual teaching e:perience +not just TAing, would be a non'starter at teaching focused schools% just as a candidate with no publications in competitive venues would be a non'starter at *D schools.*eply*eplies schools.*eply*eplies  'nonymous"ecember P)I  'nonymous"ecember D!% !D at D3 P)I  was our search search committee chair at a teaching'focused% teaching'focused% +not super prestigious, liberal arts college last year% so I can give you my perspective. Cover letter3 super important% probably much more so than when applying at research schools. 4ou should convince the search committee you are interested in teaching and that teaching schools aren6t just your backup option. 4ou should also try to make it clear why you are interested in that specific institution.

 

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Teaching statement3 Also (uite important. $e sure to mention which classes you are most interested in teaching A8"  which classes you you are able to to teach. At a small teaching teaching school with  just a handful of CS profs% you you need to be fle:ible and willing to teach a wide variety of classes. I don6t recommend saying something like 9)y research area is  and therefore I6m only interested in teaching courses related to .9 *esearch statement3 not as important% though we looked at these with undergraduate research in mind. I would recommend mentioning ideas for undergrad research projects  when you discuss future future work. etters of recommendation3 I honestly didn6t find these super helpful. <mphasis on research3 our institution re(uires a couple reasonable publication publications tenure and at then couple more forto promotion to full% so wes for mostly looked thearesearch record answer the (uestions 9"oes this person do legit researchF9 and 97ill they be able to succeed here +get tenure% get good yearly evaluations% etc,F9

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Teaching e:perience3 having teaching e:perience and including very strong student evaluations in your application is definitely a plus. $ut I6m not sure why you say 91or e:ample% I hope that a candidate with no actual teaching e:perience +not just TAing,  would be a non'starter non'starter at teaching focused schools.9 schools.9 7hy do you hope thatF Presumably because you have teaching e:perience and others don6tF There are a lot of people who don6t have the opportunity to be an instructor before leaving grad school +I didn6t,.

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@ur "ean actually tells us not to focus too much on teaching e:perience in the searches. 7e are looking for outstanding teachers more than e:perienced teachers. 1or e:ample% if we have  applicants% one who has been an instructor E times and has pretty average student evaluations% and another who has been a TA numerous times and has glowing student evaluations% then the latter sounds much more promising to me.

 

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@f course% the actual phone and in'person interviews are what get you the job% not your (ualifications. This means that the way you talk about teaching during the phone interview and  your teaching demonstration demonstration at the in'person in'person interview are are by far the most important.

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This is all% again% my own perspective% so your own e:perience might differ. 1or e:ample% I6m sure there are teaching schools that won6t even look at candidates without major teaching e:perience.

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&eply   

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(eff #ogul"ecember #ogul"ecember D!% !D at D3=H P)I P) I happen to have saved a !! email from )att e:plaining why he didn6t want to interview at Compa( 7*. 8ot sure if I should (uote from it  without )att6s permissionB permissionB *eply*eplies

P)@h #att $elsh "ecember D!% !D at H3E P)@h dear. I should probably go crawl into a cave c ave first. 2eff% you have my permission to post that email posthumously 3', &eply 

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 'nonymous"ecember "ecember D% !D at DD3>H A) As  'nonymous someone who is in the academic market this year% thank you for doing this. 7aiting for the remaining pieces..*eply  pieces..*eply 

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 'nonymous"ecember "ecember % !D at >3>G P)Thank P) Thank  'nonymous  you for sharing. sharing. 4ou really really have super strong references. references. 1or myself% I have one assistant professor two associates and only one full professor. Two from my departments% two from another two departments of two schools% and one from industry. I either took their classes or worked together. I asked some very well'know well'known n professor+s, who are even in my committee% but they are too busy and are reluctant to write letters...*eply  letters... *eply 

 

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 'nonymous"ecember % !D at >3ED P)$y  'nonymous"ecember P)$y the  way% my publications publications can be said as very strong strong += journal journal articles in good journals and I have previous J'year industry e:perience and I am graduating in ne:t semester from a major =rd ranked engineering school in #S,. $ut I still don6t hold much hope to get into a top schools%as said my advisor and other references are not known at all...*eply*eplies all...*eply*eplies

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 'nonymous2anuary P) I  'nonymous2anuary G% !D= at E3! P)I actually appreciate your post% and look forward to your part II introduction. &eply 

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 )in %hen "ecember J% !D at DD3D A)<agerly A) <agerly  waiting for part part  and =. ThanksB*eply  *+,2anuary G% !D= at D3!J P)look *+,2anuary P) look forward to  your ne:t part...thank part...thank you you