This post is intended as a “sample point”, and a bit of informal guidance, for people who are on the academic job market, or will be going on it soon. Throughout the different phases of the job market, I’ve relied on the experiences of many people who took the time to describe their experiences. Paying it forward, now, by describing my own.
My application materials, as a reference:
- Research Statement
- Teaching Statement
- Supplementary materials: Contributions to Diversity and Broader Impacts statements
I am writing this post just as my first semester as an Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Duke University is about to start. My office and my lab are freshly remodeled, and I’ve had fun getting the lab equipped. My graduate seminar class starts on Monday. It is all so exciting.
Getting here required surmounting the challenges of the academic job market. I would not call it the hardest thing I’ve ever done — getting the PhD, for me, was harder, for example. However, the job market months were the most intense of my life. Take your most challenging paper deadline experience, multiply it by ~ 30, and stretch it out to several months — that is roughly the level of intensity of the experience. If you are going on the job market soon, buckle up! It will be one exciting, wild ride.
Below, first, advice to folks on the job market, then my experience in numbers, dates, and pictures. Continue reading
