Hope to obtain a faculty position?
Are you looking to get a Faculty Position? This is the right time! But, are you really prepared?
The awesome era of 80’s and 90’s has passed, when securing a faculty position was a cake walk due to lack of competition. However, things have changed a lot over the years. In the present scenario, procuring a faculty position might appear like a daunting task. After all, even minor mistakes can prove to be an expensive affair and can result into elimination of the candidate. However, good knowledge and proper preparation can help one surpass the stiff competition by distinguishing oneself from the crowd. More than often, candidate’s lack of knowledge about the recruitment process coupled with lack of preparation and inexperience diminishes their chances of securing a job. To gain an upper edge over others and to turn your dream into reality, you need to consider the below mentioned pointers that can certainly come handy, while applying for a faculty position.
The Initial Process
It might seem that you are a perfect candidate for the position. Don’t shy away from submitting your application even if you think that you need to grow a bit more. In any case, the institution will decide whether you are a suitable candidate or not. More than often, institutions receive hundreds of application. Unless you are able to distinguish your application from the rest, your chances of winning the job would be really bleak. When it comes to resume submission, spending money on crayons and other colorful stationary won’t help. Goes without saying, your credentials are going to be your best friend over here. You need to ensure that your credentials are noticed.
Remember, academic positions demand a CV and not a conventional resume. Whenever you apply for any position, you need to ensure that your application details are duly filled. It’s imperative that you include all the information as per the advertised job. If you are asked to include references, make sure to include a couple of them. This helps in trust building. One of the keys to improve your chances of selection is to submit your application at the earliest. If you delay things, chances are that you might lose the job. After all, “Opportunities never goes waste, if you aren’t taking it, someone else will grab it. You would definitely hate to witness the opportunity slipping out of your hands. While early submission is a must, it should not be at the cost of grammatical errors or typographic mistakes. Such silly errors need to be avoided so that the selection panels look up to you as a serious candidate. You can ask your friends or family members to proofread your application to ensure that the final material is really worth submission.
The application letter needs to be brief. In some cases, the recruiting staff goes through the cover letter before forwarding the packet to the appropriate authorities, which is why it’s advisable to have a brief and simple cover letter. As mentioned earlier, the recruiting staff has to go through scores of application. They do not have the time or passion to read long letters. Ideally, the first paragraph should list down the position for which you are submitting your application. Apart from this, you need to include information about how you came to know about the vacancy and that you are seriously interested in filling up the vacant spot. It’s advisable that you don’t include more than three paragraphs. The remaining two paragraphs should identify salient features that the recruiter must know about you so that they consider you for the position. The third paragraph should seek information about the next course of action, i.e., a personal interview or a campus interview.
Your thesis research will also play a great role in your selection process. Make sure to include the title of the thesis along with your advisor’s name in the CV. Inclusion of presentations and publications can also prove to be hugely helpful. Don’t merely try to boost the publication count because this will lengthen your CV. That being said, you can include articles that are already accepted for publications in order to create a favorable impression. Once the application is duly filled and submitted, your waiting period will start. Chances are that you will receive an acknowledgement about your submission in a week or two. In case, you do not hear back within three weeks, you should dial the digits of the department to check the status. Don’t attempt to have a long conversation. You need to understand that the selection process is slow and gradual due to the flood of applications received by the department. While on the call, do not ask questions that reflect your insecurity such as “Does my application look interesting?”, “How many applications have you received?” and so on.
The short listing process usually happens in several batches. Candidates who are shortlisted are requested to submit official transcripts and reference letters. Once you receive a reply for submission of the information, make sure to send them to the department at the earliest. Chances are that your shortlisted application might get rejected if you delay the submission process. Needless to say, you should seek permission of the person whose name is included in the reference list. Include references of people who know you good enough to comment on your skills, experience and lifestyle. Besides this, make sure to include names of references who have an up-to-date CV and publication copies so that their letters go well along with rest of the materials.
The Interview
After submission of the requested documents, you will have to undergo another waiting period. Make sure that you don’t call the authorities over and over again to check the status. Keep your nerves calm because you will most likely be invited for a personal interview once they review your submitted documents. When you receive a call from the respective staff, you can discuss the date, time and place of the interview. To gauge your overall skills, you will be asked to present a seminar. Once they provide you the title for the seminar, you should start working on the presentation. The personal interview is the most important part of the entire interviewing process. You will have to spend a day or two at the place for which the expenses will be reimbursed. Do not offer to cover all the expenses yourself because you may sound like an amateur. While you will be required to make your own travel arrangements, you need to supply them all the travel related information. Chances are that you will have to bear all the cost initially. You will be reimbursed all the expenses later. In some cases, the institution will take care of the hotel reservation and transportation upon request.
While booking a flight ticket, don’t consider a first class ticket. Neither should you resort to an inconvenient flight in order to save some bucks. The institution won’t mind spending thousands of dollars to handpick the right candidate. It’s a must that you reach the interview room at least half an hour in advance. It helps a great deal to learn about all the arrangements in advance. Candidates should also carry extra cash in their wallet to deal with unexpected expenses. It’s the right time to invest some money on a briefcase and suitcase so that you appear presentable to the hosts meeting you on the flight. You are advised to carry necessary slides for the seminar with you on the plane so that you don’t miss them even if you have to deal with an uncanny situation such as luggage theft. It doesn’t hurt to request a copy of the interview schedule beforehand. You can also request for research summaries, catalogs and other publications so that you know something about the individual whom you are going to meet in due course of time.
Your clothes will talk a lot about you. So, be sure to be dressed professionally. Your clothes should make them feel that you belong to that place. In other words, you need to dress in a manner that they would expect their staff to dress. Remember, this is not the ideal time to display your fashion sense or style statement. Don’t display your jewelry collection either. Men should stick to a suit or jacket with trousers along with a white short and a tie. Women should stick to businesslike suit or dress. Don’t put on anything on your body that makes you feel uncomfortable such as extremely tight clothing or uncomfortable shoes. Don’t fiddle with your clothes and do not bite your nails. While you are there, you might be invited for a dinner for at least one night. The host is just performing his/her duty. The host is not one of your best friends so avoid personal questions and do not drink alcohol, even if someone else does.
You will be meeting individuals who might be hugely knowledgeable in your research area. Therefore, you can expect to have a detailed technical conversation with them. Your best bet would be to ask them to hold the seminar during the early part of the day so that you won’t have to individually discuss matters numerous times with dozens of people. You will also encounter individuals who may not be well aware about the subject matter. However, these individuals may have the power to influence others. Study the material that you have earlier requested so that you know how to have a healthy conversation with these individuals. You will often be asked questions about your future plans and funding required for realizing your plans. Make sure that you prepare the answers for these questions in advance so that you don’t fumble on these questions.
Undoubtedly, the seminar will prove to be a difference maker. It can either help you get selected or rejected. Not all individuals attending the seminar are experts. While some may have in-depth knowledge about what you are discussing, others may not know a lot. As a presenter, you need to make sure that everyone learns something or the other at the end of the seminar. Your seminar must attend these basic questions outlined below:
-The problem that I worked upon.
-Why should any person work on the particular problem?
-What is so significant about what I have done?
-How has my work contributed towards the progress of the problem?
Needless to say, you need to give your best shot so that the seminar turns out to be a huge success. Make use of appropriate visual ads to make the seminar more engaging and understandable. Don’t commit the mistake of preparing slides with few sentences on them. To draw the attention of the audience, every slide should have something substantial to offer. Also, don’t overcrowd any of the word slides. Covering three or four points in every slide is a good idea. If you are planning to use colorful slides, do not use more than 4 different colors. Do not try to create a fancy slide because it can distract the audience from the real subject. The slide should display consistency. The title should carry the same size, color and font on every slide. Make sure to let the institution know in advance if you will need any audio/video equipment during the seminar for proper presentation. Before the seminar, check the room where the seminar is going to take place. Run a few slides to check whether everything is fine or not.
Practice makes a man perfect. Practice the seminar endless number of times before the actual session. Your best bet would be to practice in front of fellow students and at least a couple of other individuals who have no idea about the subject. Their comments will help you get rid of the loopholes in your session. Keep practicing with a different audience to gain more confidence. If you don’t have an audience, practice in front of the mirror several times. Longer seminars can get boring and tiring. So, ensure that the seminar does not last more than 45 to 50 minutes. Don’t rush to end the seminar soon or don’t go too slowly. Keep practicing and take feedbacks so that you develop an ideal pace. The session will go well if you develop the right pace. You might be a humorous person in the real world, but that does not give you the license to crack jokes. Refrain from cracking jokes during the session because you never know that few individuals might get offended by this approach.
The idea behind the seminar is to sell oneself. However, there is a different angle to it as well. You also need to figure out whether you would like to work in the institution or not. You may want to meet young faculty members. You can also request for a laboratory tour. Tactfully, you need to pose questions to the young graduates about their work experience. At the end of the conversation, you will have a fair idea about the work environment. Remember, every work place has certain problems. So, you need to determine whether the problem (if any) that the young staff is facing is minor or major. Whether you will face the same problem or not when you start your duty? Some problems are specific and might not apply to you when you join the workplace. For instance, couple of faculty members might be having a hard time because they do not share a good relationship with their supervisor. If you are sure that you will be able to share a good relationship with the supervisor, you don’t have to worry about this problem.
Chances are that you may have to pay a visit to the dean as well. This meeting is very important because deans have veto power. Some of the deans also have great technical knowledge so don’t be surprised to receive technical oriented questions. You can show your intellectual abilities. The dean should feel your excitement for the job. The dean might ask you if you have any questions for him. It’s better to be prepared with few questions in advance. Below is a list of questions that you can pose to the dean.
1. The future of the institution.
2. What are his expectations from an exceptional faculty member?
3. What are the promotional chances for an exceptional faculty member?
4. The role of department in your scheme of thing.
One of the things that you need to bear in mind is to avoid questions about retirement. Also, one should avoid questions regarding benefits such as health care, medical etc. After all, you shouldn’t appear like a candidate who is more concerned about personal growth and development and has least concern about the institution. Most of the institutes out there use one of the two administrative structures for their departments. One of the structures involves chairpersons, who are elected by the staff for a period of two to three years. In such a structure, the dean generally has more financial control. While the chairperson may also have control over the finances, the dean will hold more power than the chairperson. In this scenario, you will have to negotiate the package with both the dean and the chairperson.
In the second type of structure, departments are regulated by the heads, chosen by the dean himself. Over here, the dean will have less or no control over the finances. You will have to negotiate your salary with the department head itself. Needless to say, you will be offered a startup capital based on your merits, qualifications and other records. That being said, you don’t always get what you deserve. Your negotiation skills will come very handy while discussing the salary package. A good package will motivate you to deliver your best, which is why you can’t afford to go wrong over here. Also, the institute would definitely want you to succeed because the employee’s success is vital for the growth of the institute as well. As such, you must be able to get most of the following in order to end up with a favorable deal.
1) Reduced teaching hours for the initial years. While the initial years of the job are considered to be a great period to learn lots of things, the learning should not be at the cost of work overload. Learn things slowly and gradually. There is no need to stress too much. As humans, we have some limitations, and you should know what your limitations are. At the end of the day, you should be satisfied with the working hours so make sure to request for a reasonable working hour for at least a year or two.
2) You can negotiate for support for at least one year for one graduate student.
3) Request for paid attendance at a meeting in the first year.
4) Negotiate for summer salary for the first summer.
5) Money to start your own laboratory. In some cases, you will be asked to seek external help for funds. You will be asked to apply for funds from a particular board based within the institution. What you should know over here is that the success rate of funds approval may not always be high upon application. Only if the success rate is high, you should consider such packages or else such a package may not really prove to be worthy. Subsequently, you may not be able to start your own laboratory.
6) Request for a personal office computer as well because it will come really handy.
7) If you accept the job, request for a return trip as well so that you can find proper accommodation for yourself.
These are some of the important things that are worth discussing with the concerned authorities before accepting the offer. Just because other candidates are enjoying certain benefits does not mean that you will be offered the same privileges. Chances are that the other candidates negotiated well, which is why they might have been offered a better deal. You might miss the opportunity to grab a good deal in case you do not negotiate well, when it’s your turn. Once you accept the offer letter, you should be clear about your role and the kind of privileges that will be offered to you once you join work. This is a must to avoid unexpected surprises in the near future. Generally, a faculty position can fetch you a package worth $35,000 to $60,000. There is every reason to be suspicious if the package is relatively lower than this. Before you depart, make sure to check, when the hiring decision will be made. If loads of candidates are interviewed, chances are that the waiting period might be long. In most cases, you will receive a reply within five to six weeks. Don’t make repeated calls during this period. Only if you don’t receive any reply within the stipulated timeframe, you should consider contacting the respective authorities to check the status. More than often, the department might have been busy, which is why they might not have responded to you. However, it helps to check with them after waiting for the stipulated timeframe.
After the Interview
Needless to say, the waiting period can be tough. It would be filled with anxiousness. You would be badly hoping for a positive response. When you reach home, you are obviously going to think about the interview for a couple of days, which is a good thing. It’s a good idea to send a letter to the department head, thanking them for the opportunity. You can send the thank you letter after a day or two, post the interview. There can be two scenarios over here. Either you would want the job or you don’t want the job. There might be a possibility that you might have changed your mind after the interview and you no longer desire to take up the job. In either case, it helps to send a thank you letter to the host or the head of the department.
If you need a job, mention that on the letter and even if you don’t need the job, mention that on the letter. It always helps to provide reasons for the changed attitude. You can mention a few things that you didn’t like about the place. Now, don’t go about criticizing all the way long. Rather, mention few of the key things that you think are strong enough reasons for the change in your decision. Remember, you will lose nothing by sending them a letter. You might only receive a letter back wishing you luck for your future endeavors. Rejecting an offer is not an easy decision to make. You might have to fight with your own mental demons while coming up with the decision. Although you may hate to lose the offer, sometimes we are forced to take such a decision for our own betterment. At least, you made an attempt to negotiate when you had a chance to do so.
In some cases, the institute might find a better candidate than you, and they might send you a rejection letter. Not securing a job doesn’t mean that you did everything wrong. There is no need to take things personally. Either they might have found better candidates or your qualification didn’t prove to be perfect match for their position. On a brighter side, if you receive a call stating that you have been selected, do not say an immediate yes. You will have to figure out the particulars of the position. Check whether you have been offered everything that you had requested for along with the position. If you have taken notes of the negotiation session you had with the department head or dean, use it as a quick reference at this juncture to check whether all the key features has been offered to you or not.
The phone call that you will receive is the final opportunity for negotiation. If you find something missing, bring it to the notice of the person on the other side of the call. When it comes to salary, there is little room for negotiation, but other issues related to the job can be negotiated such as the workload, research assistance, etc. Remember, everything should be on paper. Unless, you have a letter stating that you have been offered certain privileges, you should not consider these things for granted. In other words, unless your letter spells the benefits, you are not officially entitled to any of the add-on benefits. Make sure to handle the phone call tactfully. You don’t want to embarrass the person on the call, yet be able to convey your message. There are chances that the caller may get offended if he/she feels that you are questioning his/her integrity, which is why you need to be polite and also pose questions tactfully to avoid an argument, which might cost you the offered job. You need to tell the person that you had agreed upon different terms initially and you were promised these facilities upon selection. Tell the person that misunderstanding does take place and you are more than willing to send over a letter to clarify things. Always accept an offer which demands a letter of approval to sort things out.
It may take a couple of weeks for the letter to arrive because it would require certain approvals before being mailed to you. When you receive the letter, be sure to check it carefully to ensure that none of the agreed terms are left out. If there are any omissions, it’s better to clarify it with the department. The department usually waits for few weeks for your decision. If there are other offers for you in the pipeline, you can reply back in a couple of weeks. If you want to delay it further, you need to come up with a good excuse. However, the delay should not cost you the job, especially when you are not particularly sure about the other offers. Remember, the department cannot afford to wait forever because they need someone or the other to fill up the vacant spot. Also, if you have no other plans, send a letter accepting their offer as soon as possible. Congratulations and good luck!