The Career Network: Landing Your First Job

Landing Your First Job

FIRST PERSON
Rationalizing Anxiety
An economics Ph.D. seeks to conquer his stress about the job market the only way he knows how.

FIRST PERSON
Betrayed by Your Adviser
A dissertation shows your potential as a scholar; it shouldn't simply be a long footnote to your mentor's glorious career.

THE TWO-YEAR TRACK
The Community-College Interview
The odds are against candidates who are unfamiliar with our values and don't speak our lingo.

FIRST PERSON
Ready for Round 2
What is the best way to respond to a conference interviewer who says, "I don't see the scholarly value of your work. Care to comment?"

BALANCING ACT
Working Toward Motherhood
If male academics don't have to choose between their personal and professional goals, an assistant professor wonders, why should she?

An Academic in America
Leaving the Academic Village
It's time for professors to abandon the genteel pose of being aloof from the sordid marketplace.

CAREER TALK
Switching Sides
For Ph.D.'s who can't find, or don't want, a teaching job, but would like a career on a campus, what are the options?

FIRST PERSON
Were the Road Signs Wrong?
A junior scholar reconsiders the advice he got from senior professors on how to win tenure.

FIRST PERSON
The Professor as Instant Messenger
Determined not to be left behind, a faculty member decides to become IM buddies with her students.

FIRST PERSON
Sometimes, I Wish I Were A Rhino
For rhinos, the answer to alienation and anxiety is food. Ph.D.'s on the academic job market are less fortunate.

FIRST PERSON
Not a Counselor
What, exactly, is a professor to do when confronted by a student with psychological problems?

FIRST PERSON
Begging for a Postdoc, Part 2
The cover letters led to interviews. Now if only one of the interviews will lead to a fellowship.

FIRST PERSON
Just Shut Up About It
It's easy to get caught up in sharing every little detail of your job search, but is all that talk doing you any good?

FIRST PERSON
First-Interview Jitters
A Ph.D. in the physical sciences has been contemplating the job search for a year, but getting his first callback made it real.

MS. MENTOR
What if I Don't Know the Ropes?
Just because most of the rules for academicians are unwritten doesn't mean you're not supposed to learn them.

FIRST PERSON
The Search Is Over
It took him more than two years, but a Ph.D. in political science has finally found good work in the nonacademic world.

CAREER TALK
Asking the Right Questions
When you're given an opportunity to quiz your interviewers, the last thing you want to do is draw a blank.

FIRST PERSON
A New Job and a Hurricane
As she heads back to work, an assistant professor feels lucky to have only lost the experience of being a new faculty member in the normal way.

FIRST PERSON
Maybe Virginia Woolf Was Right
A nonacademic job had seemed the best way to find money and a room of her own. Now a Ph.D. in comparative literature has doubts.

FIRST PERSON
Thinking Beyond the Dissertation
Too many doctoral students get so focused on the burdens of the moment that they graduate without being truly prepared.

CAREER TALK
Next Question?
Two graduate career counselors answer questions from readers about the academic job market.

FIRST PERSON
Trusting the System
A job candidate in economics wonders how much external cues and perceptions will skew the way that search committees view his application.

CAREER TALK
Inside the Hiring Process
A look at how a Ph.D. in the humanities shifted gears to become a graduate-career counselor, and why she was hired.

BALANCING ACT
Keeping Up Appearances
A Ph.D. thought her transition from graduate student to faculty member would be a good time to lose weight. Somehow, things got out of hand.

FIRST PERSON
Do Not Fear the Blog
Until recently, it had never occurred to a graduate student that her blog and her professional fate might be connected.

FIRST PERSON
My Credentials Gap
He has a Ph.D., publications, a book contract, great teaching evaluations, and experience. What he doesn't have is the right pedigree.

BEYOND THE IVORY TOWER
The Dentist and the Oracle
Once you realize you're unhappy in academe, the question becomes what to do instead.

CAREER TALK
Go Ahead, Haggle
Fail to negotiate your first job offer and you risk sacrificing thousands of dollars in potential income.

CATALYST
Life in a Nobel Lab
Postdocs consider the ups and downs of working in the laboratories of famous scientists.

FIRST PERSON
Plotting Our Strategy
An academic couple begins a search for two tenure-track jobs in the same field and the same city.

FIRST PERSON
The Truth about the Nonacademic Job Search
Be prepared to lose your friends, your mentors, and your sense of self-worth.

FIRST PERSON
Scared Silly
Five years into his doctoral program in the physical sciences, a Ph.D. candidate realizes that his heart is not in his research.

THE TWO-YEAR TRACK
Crisis Management
You're teaching a night class when a student confesses to suicidal thoughts. The counseling office is closed. What should you do?

FIRST PERSON
Not Dead Yet
Ready to give up on academe, a trailing spouse manages to resuscitate her career.

FIRST PERSON
Begging for a Postdoc
Dear Professor, you don't know me and you're not actively seeking new postdoctoral fellows right now, but here's why you should hire me anyway.

FIRST PERSON
The Smell of Indoctrination in the Morning
Why can't an undergraduate think more like a Ph.D.?

FIRST PERSON
Talking the Talk
A department with a zeal for academic jargon leaves a job candidate wondering about her preferred pronoun.

FIRST PERSON
Intellectual Immigration
A philosopher newly arrived from Denmark prepares to tackle the American academic job market.

FIRST PERSON
The Dark Side of the Moon
A Ph.D. in history who landed a great job on the wrong continent wants to come home.

FIRST PERSON
On the Market
A Ph.D. candidate in economics takes his best shot at a tenure-track slot in a top-10 department.

FIRST PERSON
Just Visiting
A new Ph.D. finds herself caught in the void between the end of graduate school and the beginning of an academic career.

THE TWO-YEAR TRACK
Know Thy Students
The truth about community-college students often flies in the face of long-established stereotypes.

FIRST PERSON
The Sixth Time's the Charm
A Ph.D. in the social sciences shares a few lessons she's learned after five years on the market.

FIRST PERSON
On the Market
A Ph.D. in biology prepares to go on the market for her first tenure-track job.

FIRST PERSON
Turn and Face the Strange
Is it ever a good idea for an applicant to tell an interviewer that he looks like an aging androgynous rock star?

FIRST PERSON
Being Bad
A job candidate makes a case for misbehaving a bit during the interview.

FIRST PERSON
Free Fall
Two job offers would seem an embarrassment of riches, except when you have to make a decision on the first with no assurance that the second will even be offered.

FIRST PERSON
The Hollywood Mouse and the Ivory Tower Mouse
The glamorous lives of Los Angeles yuppies can inspire jealousy in a Ph.D. student, but only for an evening.

FIRST PERSON
They Shoot Messengers, Don't They?
If "be careful what you say" is good advice for the job seeker, why is it so controversial to add the word "online"?

THE TWO-YEAR TRACK
Not a 'Toy College'
The Ph.D. who believes that the community-college track couldn't possibly be a viable alternative to the four-year route is missing out.

FIRST PERSON
E-Application Etiquette
An online application system is convenient but it can lead to a glut of candidates and other problems for search committees.

FIRST PERSON
A Command Economy for Economists
For a new Ph.D. in the field, going on the job market begins with being told where she can and cannot apply.

FIRST PERSON
What Small Colleges Really Want
If you're applying to a college that emphasizes teaching, ignore your mentor's advice about what to include in your cover letter.

FIRST PERSON
Losing My Religion
A Ph.D. in English struggles with how much to reveal on the job market about his work for Christian colleges and organizations.

FIRST PERSON
When Hitting Reply Means Forever
The problem with using an e-mail list to discuss a search is that the new hire can go back and read what everyone wrote. It's not always pretty.

MS. MENTOR
Can I Dazzle Them With My Energy?
Words like "energetic" and "dynamic" in job ads may seem innocent, but, Ms. Mentor says, they can be code words for "young."

BEYOND THE IVORY TOWER
'But I Have No Skills'
For Ph.D.'s considering nonacademic careers, the biggest stumbling blocks are insecurity and a colossal underestimation of their transferable skills.

FIRST PERSON
How I Learned to Love Economics
A new Ph.D. emerges from the the stresses of the academic job market with a new appreciation for her field.

FIRST PERSON
Dressing the Part
Unlike their male counterparts, female professors have little choice but to watch what they wear in the classroom.

FIRST PERSON
The Perfect Offer
An academic couple learns the crucial different between recruitment and retention.

CAREER TALK
The CV Doctor Returns
Our experts evaluate the CV's of three faculty-job candidates and two administrators seeking to move up.

FIRST PERSON
Frodo Baggins, A.B.D.
For a Ph.D. in history, the process of writing the dissertation is a lot like a certain hobbit's treacherous journey through Middle-earth.

MS. MENTOR
I'll Rail if I Want To
If you can't be sincerely interested in the lives of your colleagues, Ms. Mentor advises, then fake it.

BALANCING ACT
The Womanly Art of Negotiation
The last thing she wanted to do was negotiate like a girl and accept a low-ball offer.

TWO-YEAR TRACK
Why History Needs the M.A.
The master's degree is not just a cash cow or a consolation prize. It's the key to improving history education for all.

FIRST PERSON
What I Learned
If the concert hall is located next to a train track, that's a pretty good indicator of how the college values the performing arts.

FIRST PERSON
Bloggers Need Not Apply
Job seekers need to eliminate as many negatives as possible, and in most cases, a blog turns out to be a negative.

FIRST PERSON
Ph.D. in Hand
One half of an academic couple hopes that those three words will make all the difference in his job search come fall.

SPOTLIGHT
Is It Whom You Know?
So your adviser is a major figure in your discipline. How much will that help your career?

BEYOND THE IVORY TOWER
The 'Happy' Question
He had a teaching job in a field he loved. His plays and papers won awards. Who wouldn't be happy, right?

MS. MENTOR
Lab or Love Nest?
In the heat of the summer, Ms. Mentor finds that some of her correspondents have very humid imaginations.

FIRST PERSON
This Must Be the Place
All of the pieces come together in the faculty job search of a Ph.D. in ecology.

CAREER TALK
How Would You Teach This Class?
Too many doctoral students are ill-prepared to talk about their teaching when it really matters -- in the job interview

FIRST PERSON
Game Over
A couple of game-studies scholars, who aren't a couple in the romantic sense, come up short in their dual job search.

BEYOND THE IVORY TOWER
A 'Nonacademic' Career in Academe
Why are intellectual status and respect given so grudgingly to Ph.D.'s who take staff and administrative positions?

CATALYST
Postdocs Across the Pond
If you can work out the logistics, Europe offers plenty of opportunities to American postdocs in the sciences.

FIRST PERSON
Thank You for Your Interest
A Ph.D. in history whose search for a tenure-track job came up short looks for some meaning in his rejection letters.

FIRST PERSON
Oldest Living TA Tells All
Twenty-five years after first coming to graduate school, a historian gets his Ph.D. but finds the job market less than welcoming.

THE TWO-YEAR TRACK
The Impersonal Touch
Too many community colleges put themselves at a serious disadvantage in recruiting with perfunctory job interviews.

FIRST PERSON
Academic Flame Wars
Not only are blogs and online forums potential time wasters, they also breed civil war and anarchy within departments.

CAREER TALK
Next Question?
What if you can't count on your supervisor for a good reference? Two graduate career counselors offer their advice on that and other questions from readers.

FIRST PERSON
All Humanists Will Be Assimilated
An English professor confesses that some educational technologies actually make teaching more enjoyable and intellectually exciting.

CATALYST
The Mysteries of Grant Budgeting
Let the sponsored-projects folks spend years mastering federal rules about research costs. Here's what you need to know as an investigator.

FIRST PERSON
Pushing the Big Red Button
Frustrated by the shaky job market in music, a Ph.D. is ready to take drastic measures.

FIRST PERSON
A Short, Strange Trip
A Ph.D. in English from a mid-tier university finds his dream job just down the road.

FIRST PERSON
A Matter of Degrees
Academic librarians, concerned about the integrity of their profession, want to keep humanities Ph.D.'s from flooding yet another job market.

FIRST PERSON
The Price of Indifference
Even in academe's tight labor market, the hiring committee is supposed to woo you a little bit, isn't it?

FIRST PERSON
The Checkered Game of Academic Life
A trailing spouse who struck out on the job market again this year wonders whether to take another turn.

CAREER TALK
Devising a Plan B
Two career counselors offer advice on how to conduct a dual search for both academic and nonacademic positions.

FIRST PERSON
No Longer a Desperado
Come fall, a Ph.D. in religious studies finds he will actually be teaching on the tenure track, instead of making sushi or parking cars.

CAREER TALK
Why Didn't I Get Hired?
Two career counselors for graduate students look at all the reasons why your job search this year may have failed.

FIRST PERSON
A Career-Making Performance
For music professors, one of the keys to getting that first tenure-track job is a strong showing during the interview recital.

FIRST PERSON
M.A. Students as Pledges
Many aspects of master's programs in the humanities can seem a lot like hazing.

FIRST PERSON
Humbert Humbert, the TA
Obsessed with undergraduate Lolitas, a graduate writing instructor wonders what happened to his spirit of social critique.

HEADS UP
The Necessity of Mobility
A chairman explains why departments often shy away from hiring too many Ph.D.'s from local universities.

BALANCING ACT
When You Don't Fit In
A biologist wonders why, after five years, her small-town college still doesn't feel like home.

BEYOND THE IVORY TOWER
A Ph.D. and a Failure
The narrow definition of success in academe is directly to blame for the high rates of depression among doctoral students.

FIRST PERSON
At Your Leisure
A Ph.D. on the market in religious studies finds himself with no time to just sit and think.

FIRST PERSON
Team Job Interviews
Two scholars in game studies share what it's like to perform the interview gantlet with a partner.

FIRST PERSON
On the Market
Campus interviews give a Ph.D. in biology a chance to play academic dress-up at different types of institutions.

FIRST PERSON
The Race Before Me
For a Ph.D. on the market in English, the search for a tenure-track job mirrors his quest to run an eight-minute mile.

FIRST PERSON
Suspicious Minds
As a Ph.D. applying for positions at academic libraries, expect to face more than a little wariness from your would-be colleagues.

CAREER TALK
Waiting for the Phone to Ring
You haven't heard back from the committee. So maybe you didn't get the job, but it's just as likely that something else is holding up the search.

FIRST PERSON
Deadlines and Due Dates
In academe, the work of teaching and research never really ends, and that is the reward.

CATALYST
The Buck Starts Here
An experienced grant writer offers tips on how to improve the odds that your grant request will get financed.

BEYOND THE IVORY TOWER
Questioning the Promise
Has the alternative-careers movement unwittingly sold humanities Ph.D.'s yet another professional pipe dream?

FIRST PERSON
Becoming More Productive
Are you spending more time on tasks that will not help your tenure case than on work that will? Here are some tips for turning that ratio around.

FIRST PERSON
9 Good Openings
A Ph.D. in pharmacology makes his best case to hiring committees for why he deserves to be their newest colleague.

THE TW0-YEAR TRACK
Cattle Call
About to serve on a search committee at a community college? Here are two common complaints to avoid.

FIRST PERSON
Rooting for the Competition
You and your friend are applying for the same jobs. You want him to succeed, just not at your expense.

CAREER TALK
Next Question?
Two graduate career counselors answer questions from Ph.D.'s about the academic job market.

FIRST PERSON
All Dressed Up ...
An ecologist goes on the job market again, and finds that he is not the same candidate this time around.

BALANCING ACT
The Bachelorette in Academe
A Ph.D. in history finds that a rural, small-town campus is no place to be single.

FIRST PERSON
Should a Mentor Be a Friend?
A tenured mentor fears that he is too emotionally invested in his relationship with a young colleague.

BEYOND THE IVORY TOWER
Coffee in 2002, a Job Offer in 2004
Networking works, says a former academic turned consultant. It just takes a few years.

FIRST PERSON
A Couple of Rare Birds
How can you summarize two scholarly careers in a single two-page cover letter?

THE TWO-YEAR TRACK
Are 2 Master's Better Than 1?
A veteran of the two-year-college market mulls the advantages for applicants prepared to teach in more than one field.

BEYOND THE IVORY TOWER
Joining the Club
A Ph.D. in the humanities who took a corporate job wonders, Was I lucky or did I sell out?

FIRST PERSON
Flying Lovers and Ugly Glasses
A trailing spouse finds herself fitted with the weary adjunct's goggles of disenchantment.

FIRST PERSON
But I Just Got Here
Just as a Ph.D. in music starts to settle in to her new teaching job, she finds it's time to start searching again.

FIRST PERSON
Just What Is a Dossier?
A job-seeking couple would gladly provide a department with any information it wants, if only the pair could figure out what that is.

FIRST PERSON
In Pursuit of a Postdoc
How does a Ph.D. candidate in biochemistry persuade a master scientist to take her on as an apprentice?

THE ADJUNCT TRACK
Not Exploited
A Ph.D. who toiled in low-paid academic jobs for four years says he would rather be called a fool than a pawn.

FIRST PERSON
A Career in Academe: Priceless
A doctoral student in English wonders if she has been foolish about credit-card debt.

MS. MENTOR
They're Just Not That Into You
Sometimes, Ms. Mentor says, winning over your foes is impossible and your best course of action is to move on.

FIRST PERSON
Tireless Research Assistants
Every RA needs to understand that the job is mostly about protecting your faculty employer's time and mental energy.

CAREER TALK
Next Question?
Two graduate career counselors answer questions from Ph.D.'s about the academic job market.

FIRST PERSON
Anticipating Offers
Unlike his counterparts in literature, a Ph.D. candidate in writing studies knows the odds of landing a tenure-track job are in his favor.

FIRST PERSON
Coming Home to Teach
After five years of freelancing as a musician in Europe, a D.M.A. returns to pursue an academic career.

FIRST PERSON
On the Market
A Ph.D. candidate in engineering prepares to give science-policy work a try.

FIRST PERSON
The Goofy Job Search
With his Ph.D. finally in hand, a job candidate in religious studies hopes that this is his year.

FIRST PERSON
Expatriate Teaching
In his first year teaching overseas, a historian experiences culture shock, budget woes, and more than a little anti-Americanism.

FIRST PERSON
Not A Martyr
A Ph.D. candidate, excited about her dissertation and job prospects, wonders why that enthusiasm makes her such an outsider in her department.

FIRST PERSON
A Search for Place
Sometimes it's the world outside the office and the classroom that determines whether a job is a good fit.

FIRST PERSON
Gay, Christian, and Conservative
With the odds against them, an academic couple goes on the market together.

CAREER TALK
The Academic Job Interview Revisited
A graduate career counselor offers a few dos and don'ts to consider as you prepare to interview for an academic job.

FIRST PERSON
Mid-Tier Mojo
A Ph.D. in English goes on the market hoping to make it big in the pool of second-tier universities.

BALANCING ACT
My Accidental Mentor
A postdoc gets the chance to see a living, breathing example of a successful female scientist.

FIRST PERSON
Game for Anything
Academic couple seeks open-minded institution for nontraditional relationship.

FIRST PERSON
Starting Over
An assistant professor with a drinking problem tries to regain control over his life and work.

FIRST PERSON
Checking Out
An academic librarian goes in search of a new position at an "emotionally healthy" library.

FIRST PERSON
On the Market
A Ph.D. in American history begins a chronicle of his search for his first tenure-track job.

FIRST PERSON
Ditch the Boyfriend
Does a woman have to follow "the rules" to be successful in academic science?

CAREER TALK
Background Checks
More and more hiring committees in academe are investigating the backgrounds of candidates. Here's what to expect.

THE ADJUNCT TRACK
Neither Reasonable, Nor Assuring
An advocate for adjunct rights argues that colleges routinely deny part-timers their rightful unemployment benefits.

FIRST PERSON
Trailing Spousedom
Watching Gwyneth Paltrow, as Sylvia Plath, fume at being stuck in her husband's shadow, a pair of spousal hires get a jolt of recognition.

FIRST PERSON
Thank You, Masked Man
Tired of playing Tonto to his adviser's Lone Ranger, a Ph.D. in the life sciences decides it's time to move on.

BEYOND THE IVORY TOWER
Breaking the Spell
How a Ph.D. in history finally resisted the lure of the academic job market.

FIRST PERSON
Just Deserts
A new assistant professor wonders about the price of ascending the academic ranks.

FIRST PERSON
The Case of the Missing Adviser
There comes a time when you stop avoiding your dissertation adviser, and your adviser starts avoiding you.

FIRST PERSON
Dead Professor Walking
Besieged by admirers after being denied tenure, an assistant professor feels like she's attending her own funeral.

FIRST PERSON
On Being a Fat Professor
Summer means there's time to get in shape, but fall returns with the usual temptations.

FIRST PERSON
Searching for Sinister Motives
A new assistant professor learns how not to start off on the right foot.

BALANCING ACT
Stuck in Transition
In the weeks after a miscarriage, a young scholar finds writing about her professional development to be too daunting.

FIRST PERSON
Postdoc Survival Skills
An anthropologist on her third postdoctoral fellowship offers a few lessons on how to make the best of a temporary situation.

FIRST PERSON
Measures of Success
Torn by indecision over whether to work in academe or industry, an engineer finally finds a position that feels right.

FIRST PERSON
A Good Speech
Asked to deliver a baccalaureate address, an assistant professor reflects on some of the speeches he has had to endure.

CATALYST
Second-Career Scientists
Academic science is a tough calling, but it can make for a great second career if you want it badly enough.

FIRST PERSON
Don't Be That Guy
An English instructor finds that she has been shaped as much by "bad" professors as "good" ones.

BEYOND THE IVORY TOWER
Square Peg, Round Hole
A Ph.D. in literature tells how he transformed himself into a freelance science writer.

FIRST PERSON
A Comedy of Errors
Is it too much to ask applicants to spell my name correctly, a vice president wonders?

FIRST PERSON
Collegiality Lessons
The one skill that her mentors in graduate school failed to teach her was how to schmooze.

FIRST PERSON
Place and Space
Is it a mistake to move away from your department while you write your dissertation?

CAREER TALK
Advice From Your Peers
Preparing to go on the market in the fall? Here's some advice from Ph.D.'s who landed jobs this year.

FIRST PERSON
Sent to the Chopping Block
Like a courtier who has fallen out of favor with the monarch, a doctoral student is dumped by her adviser.

BEYOND THE IVORY TOWER
Freelance Fumblings
For a Ph.D. turned freelance writer, things got much worse on his way to a business model.

FIRST PERSON
When the Honeymoon Is Over
At some point, the courting ends and the hot young Ph.D. has to peel potatoes like the rest of us.

FIRST PERSON
Is Graduate School a Cult?
For anyone who has been in graduate school, the mind-control practices of cults will seem weirdly familiar.

BEYOND THE IVORY TOWER
Work or Finish?
Should an A.B.D. take a corporate research job before completing his degree?

FIRST PERSON
Loss and Opportunity
As a Ph.D. in political science moves closer to leaving academe, it is his nonacademic career options that seem narrow and specialized.

FIRST PERSON
It's OK to Say No
Rejection -- whether you're the one being turned down or the one declining an offer -- is not always a bad thing.

BALANCING ACT
Easing the Baby Blues
What steps should universities take to help graduate students balance their doctoral work with their family obligations?

FIRST PERSON
Life Lessons from Football
To appreciate the rush of work and life, a Ph.D. reminds himself to ponder less and yield more.

FIRST PERSON
Switching Disciplines
A Ph.D. in psychology struck out on the market in his own field, but landed on the tenure track in a related one.

CAREER TALK
Preparing for the Conventions
If your scholarly association holds its annual meeting in the summer, now is the time to start preparing for conference interviews.

FIRST PERSON
Music to My Ears
A highly regarded music program wouldn't be interested in hiring a community-college teacher, would it?

FIRST PERSON
A Good Search
The academic market is rough, jobs are in short supply, and hiring committees can be cruel. But those aren't the only stories.

MS. MENTOR
Academic Failure
Ms. Mentor counsels an academic spouse who fears that her husband is going to be denied tenure.

BALANCING ACT
Falsely Accused
A Ph.D. sacrifices her career to follow her academic spouse and finds herself accused of sexual harassment.

FIRST PERSON
Enjoy the Walk
Now that his search for a tenure-track job is over, a Ph.D. in English savors the journey.

FIRST PERSON
Shyness and Academe
For the introverted scholar, who happily spends days alone, the social interactions of academic life can be brutal.

FIRST PERSON
Airport Musings
Spend enough time traveling to campus job interviews and you might figure a few things out -- or not.

BALANCING ACT
Not the Catch
Can a trailing spouse ever make it to the tenure track? A Ph.D. who landed a job through her husband's appointment has her doubts.

FIRST PERSON
Death of the Reader
When a young scholar's mentor dies suddenly, she realizes the profound loss of the one person who understood her work completely.

FIRST PERSON
Too Much to Ask
An M.F.A. on the job market in English encounters a new application requirement and decides that it goes too far.

FIRST PERSON
On the Market
An assistant professor of music continues her search for an opening at a college where the students want to learn what she has to teach.

CAREER TALK
Was It a Mistake?
An academic couple who unsuccessfully applied to share a job wonders if that was a strategic mistake.

FIRST PERSON
The Rhetoric of Rejection
Is it too much to ask for a timely and earnest rejection letter?

FIRST PERSON
Singing the Baby Blues
If having children on the tenure track is a career killer, is having them in graduate school any better?

FIRST PERSON
Haunted by Penguins
Was it a mistake to admit publicly to battering a plastic waterfowl icon in frustration over the job market?

FIRST PERSON
Two Can Make It, Too
Although everyone said it couldn't be done, an academic couple manages to land two tenure-track jobs in the same biology department.

ADJUNCT TRACK
Should You Join a Union?
As the adjunct union movement grows, more and more non-tenure-track faculty members will face the question of whether to join.

FIRST PERSON
A Foot in the Door
A veteran faculty member offers tips on how to break in to the full-time ranks at two-year colleges.

FIRST PERSON
On the Market
A Ph.D. in English can't stop himself from second-guessing his personal gaffes and professional stumbles on the interview circuit.

FIRST PERSON
Library Careers
A campus librarian offers advice on how to pursue a career in academic libraries.

FIRST PERSON
Interviewing in Britain
If you're a candidate for a faculty job in England, you can expect a short formal interview and a quick decision.

FIRST PERSON
On the Market
Searching for a tenure-track job, whether alone or as a couple, means constantly adjusting your horizons.

BALANCING ACT
The Mommy Candidate
For a would-be law professor, going on the job market means weighing every career move against the happiness of her family.

FIRST PERSON
Going Over the Falls
Like a surfer straddling the border between land and sea, a Ph.D. finds himself caught between the academic and nonacademic worlds.

THE ADJUNCT TRACK
The Half-Time Track
After 16 years of splitting his time between two campuses, an adjunct decides he wouldn't have it any other way.

FIRST PERSON
I'm Professor Nobody
After 13 years as a "visiting lecturer," an adjunct makes it to the full-time ranks as a "lecturer," and finds she is still invisible.

FIRST PERSON
Teaching and the Butterfly Effect
Can the small events that transpire over the course of a 60-minute class period change someone, somehow, for the better, for a lifetime?

FIRST PERSON
Becoming Visible
Here's how one group of non-tenure-track instructors fought for representation on their faculty senate, and what they gained.

FIRST PERSON
Eccentric Professors
With their bizarre behavior and magnificent obsessions, oddball academics are a glue that holds together the culture of an institution.

ACADEMIC ASSETS
How to Prosper
Your ability to make sound investment decisions at each stage of your campus career can influence how everything else turns out.

FIRST PERSON
Hung Over Again
An assistant professor fears he is throwing away his career one drink at a time.

BALANCING ACT
From Spousal Hire to Single Mom
What happens when an academic couple breaks up and the spousal hire with a half-time appointment needs a full-time job?

FIRST PERSON
Making a Statement
Perhaps the single most important element of a graduate-school application is the student's personal statement.

FIRST PERSON
Two Friends, One Opening
What do you do when you and your best friend and research collaborator want the same job?

FIRST PERSON
In Defense of LPU's
A dean of science makes the case for publishing research results piecemeal to boost your CV.

MS. MENTOR
Private Lives
Volunteering too much information is not in your best interest, Ms. Mentor says, and it might "frighten the horses."

SPOTLIGHT
Fewer Jobs in Foreign Languages
The number of faculty openings in foreign languages this academic year is projected to decline by more than 10 percent.

FIRST PERSON
On the Market
An academic couple in zoology continues a search for two positions in the same department.

FIRST PERSON
Ignoring My Inner Lawyer
A former adjunct finds that the tenure track gives him the freedom to be a better teacher.

FIRST PERSON
On the Market
A Ph.D. candidate in literature finds herself and her spouse starring in a new reality show, "The Real World: Academic Job Search."

CAREER TALK
Answering the Mail
Should a tenured professor explain to hiring committees why he is on the job market? Our columnist answers that question and others.

FIRST PERSON
Search Committee Virgin
An assistant professor serves on his first search committee and picks up a few pointers for his own dossier.

CAREER TALK
Talking Jobs
A political scientist on the job market tries to find a good answer to that perennial question, "So, what do you do?"

FIRST PERSON
The Academic Pyramid Club
The getting and giving of letters of recommendation is a chain of favors constantly repaid.

FIRST PERSON
Interviewing at a Two-Year College
A veteran faculty member offers advice on how best to prepare for a job interview at a community college.

FIRST PERSON
A Galling Interview
You can really tell a lot about your future colleagues when you collapse during the job interview.

FIRST PERSON
Faith, Persistence, and Luck
An assistant professor of English needed all three to survive the academic job market.

FIRST PERSON
Making Lists
With nothing left to collate, mail, index, or file, a job candidate finds himself confronting a fresh set of obsessions.

FIRST PERSON
The Application Packet
In applying for teaching jobs at two-year colleges, the most important element of your packet is the cover letter.

BEYOND THE IVORY TOWER
Know Thyself
Here's what a "personality test" can tell you about your career options, and what it can't.

FIRST PERSON
Ignoring Good Advice
A would-be doctoral student seeks advice from her undergraduate mentors on whether to pursue a Ph.D. in the humanities.

FIRST PERSON
The Trouble with Misfits
What does a Ph.D. in history have in common with Rudolph, Hermey, and Yukon Cornelius?

BALANCING ACT
A Family Affair
When an assistant professor of English goes out on the academic job market, it's not just his future at stake.

FIRST PERSON
On the Market
A Princeton Ph.D. in ecology decides that an academic career is not what he thought it was.

FIRST PERSON
My Imperfect Search
Is the "perfect job" in an imperfect location better than the reverse?

FIRST PERSON
Not a Bad Gig
The best thing about teaching at a community college is just that: teaching.

THE ADJUNCT TRACK
Hate Your Supervisor?
Developing a strategy for dealing with a bad boss may help you keep your job and your peace of mind.

FIRST PERSON
Waiting for the 'Big One'
A political theorist and a surfer mulls the similarities, and the one major difference, between his two passions.

FIRST PERSON
College and the Fall
Settling in to the rhythms of academic life, an assistant professor wonders what happened to his self-righteous anger?

CAREER TALK
Pregnant on the Job Market
If you are pregnant and interviewing for a job, what should you tell potential employers? And when?

FIRST PERSON
Equal Pay for Equal Work
A part-time faculty member makes the case for paying adjuncts proportionately to full-time professors.

FIRST PERSON
Two-Year Colleges Not for You?
Think Again. A surprising number of community colleges are hiring. But will you feel like a "real" professor working at one?

FIRST PERSON
Becoming a Librarian
After years of fruitless hunting for a faculty job, a Ph.D. in English finds his niche.

BEYOND THE IVORY TOWER
Library Careers
A new fellowship program opens an alternate route for Ph.D.'s into the academic-librarian profession.

FIRST PERSON
On the Market
With the odds against them, an academic couple in English prepare to go on the job market for the first time.

FIRST PERSON
Anger Management
Fury is an entirely appropriate reaction to failure on the academic job market, argues a recent Ph.D. in history.

FIRST PERSON
Give Us a Chance
Job candidates are desperate for tenure-track openings. So why does a department in the rural South keep getting the brushoff?

FIRST PERSON
On the Market
Sophie Ruscello likes almost everything about her first tenure-track job -- except for the students.

FIRST PERSON
Spousal Benefits
Hired for his expertise in gay studies, a Ph.D. finds that the university's interest in him does not extend to his partner.

CAREER TALK
The CV Doctor Returns
Our experts evaluate the vitas of four faculty-job candidates and an administrator seeking to move up.

FIRST PERSON
On the Market
An academic couple in zoology begin a chronicle of their search for two tenure-track jobs in the same department.

FIRST PERSON
Pinch Me
A Ph.D. in history is thrilled to finally be on the tenure track, but unexpectedly attached to the freelance career that kept him afloat.

FIRST PERSON
Indecision
Do I want a tenure-track job? Do I want a job in industry? Do I have to decide now?

MS. MENTOR
In a Fall Funk
Ms. Mentor observes that many academics feel victimized in the fall by the clueless and the uncaring.

FIRST PERSON
Excess Baggage
Am I finally ready to throw out my old boxes of dissertation data, wonders a Ph.D. who has abandoned academe?

BALANCING ACT
Dr. Dad
A Ph.D. in chemistry finds that his training in academic science helps him as a father.

FIRST PERSON
Five Virtues
If you insist on going to graduate school in the humanities, Thomas H. Benton says, here are the qualities you should cultivate.

CAREER TALK
Psyched Up
As a new hiring season gets under way, besides preparing your application materials, you need to get emotionally ready.

FIRST PERSON
Switching Labs
A Ph.D. in biology struggles to extract herself from the lab of a hostile mentor and find a new home.

FIRST PERSON
On the Market
Unsuccessful on the academic market, a history Ph.D. turns to consulting, but he's not giving up on academe quite yet.

FIRST PERSON
Blue Collar Ph.D.
When does a Ph.D. who toils away cutting grass for a living have a chance to network?

FIRST PERSON
Some Reflection on Rejection
For all the advice offered on landing a faculty job, not much is said about dealing with the other side of the coin -- not getting one.

MS. MENTOR
It's All About Fit
Dr. Good Fit teaches superbly, seeks advice, shares research, joins committees, makes lasagna, smiles a lot, and is fictional.

FIRST PERSON
On the Market
A Ph.D. in computer science finds himself struggling to decide among multiple offers.

SPOTLIGHT
Nontraditional Ph.D.'s
Can applicants with doctorates from distance-learning programs land tenure-track jobs in academe?

FIRST PERSON
The Disadvantages of Youth
Pursuing a doctorate at 23 can be a challenge when all of your classmates are on their second career.

CAREER TALK
A Summer Reading List
For those preparing to go on the job market in the fall, Mary Morris Heiberger and Julia Miller Vick offer a little required reading.

FIRST PERSON
Salvaging an Ego
Close to abandoning his search for an academic job, a Ph.D. finds a home overseas.

THE ADJUNCT TRACK
Quality Time
Whether you teach full time or part time has little to do with how committed you are in the classroom.

FIRST PERSON
If You Must Go
Here's what to consider before you pursue a doctorate in the humanities.

MS. MENTOR
Tone it Down
Ms. Mentor explains why most high-pitched voices get weeded out of academe.

FIRST PERSON
The Faculty Spouse
Marry a college faculty member and you may find yourself married to the college as well.

SPOTLIGHT
Jobs in History
It was a bad year to be a senior professor on the market in history.

BALANCING ACT
When to Procreate
Is it better to have children in graduate school than on the tenure track? A young scholar finds out.

CAREER TALK
Learning the Lingo
Newcomers to the academic job market can be confused by the jargon. Here's the sequel to our glossary of common terms.

FIRST PERSON
We Just Do
An instructor recalls his first teaching experience and the moment when he knew he would be a lifer.

FIRST PERSON
The Perfect Match
An academic couple -- he in physics and she in law -- sort through their offers to find two that mesh.

FIRST PERSON
12 Interviews in 45 Days
A Ph.D in computer sciences juggles too many interviews in too little time.

THE ADJUNCT TRACK
Exploited, Not Unqualified
People who disparage the qualifications of adjuncts are operating under the faulty assumption that they weren't good enough to get a full-time job.

SPOTLIGHT
Jobs in Physics
A wave of faculty retirements is under way in physics but not all departments can afford to replace the retirees.

CATALYST
Reviving a 'Lesser' Degree
For those seeking a career in the sciences but not a Ph.D., the professional science master's degree may be the answer.

MS. MENTOR
Should I Trust Him?
Choosing a dissertation adviser, Ms. Mentor says, is as important as choosing a spouse.

SPOTLIGHT
Jobs in English
The job market in English turned out to be not as bad as expected this year, but not particularly good either.

BALANCING ACT
A Change of Plans
An A.B.D. in French adjusts her career plans after her father suffers a debilitating stroke.

CAREER TALK
The Best Home Pages
Our columnists take a look at the Web pages of academics and offer critiques of what works and what doesn't.

FIRST PERSON
Left Out of the Loop
A graduate student in biology finds herself with nowhere to turn after her adviser cuts her out of a licensing deal.

FIRST PERSON
Double Jeopardy
Being black and female may have helped a young Ph.D. land tenure-track jobs, but they have also kept her on the job market.

FIRST PERSON
Don't Go
The best piece of advice you can give an undergraduate who wants to go to graduate school in the humanities is, don't.

FIRST PERSON
Wrong Answers
The chairman of an English department at a teaching-focused university advises job candidates on what not to say in the interview.

THE ADJUNCT TRACK
Stick to the Syllabus
Adjuncts should refrain from expressing their political views in class -- and not just because it could get them fired.

FIRST PERSON
The Decision
A diary of a faculty search in history comes to a close as the committee makes an offer.

CATALYST
Working in a Government Lab
Working in a national lab gives Ph.D.'s the chance to do research without teaching obligations, but it's not for everyone.

MS. MENTOR
When to Remain Silent
Ms. Mentor knows when you should speak up and when you should shut up.

BALANCING ACT
Salvaging a Career
A trailing spouse, tired of low-paying adjunct work, arranges a sabbatical for herself.

CAREER TALK
Finding Good Help
If your institution doesn't offer formal career counseling for doctoral students, where can you go for help?

FIRST PERSON
So Why Are You Really Leaving?
An assistant professor leaves a plum job and her colleagues wonder: Is it the tug of family? Divorce? Is it us?

FIRST PERSON
Far From Home
Here's how one doctoral student managed to stay connected while working on his dissertation far from his home institution.

FIRST PERSON
Another Year in Limbo
It's hard to be upbeat at the end of a fruitless year on the academic job market.

THE ADJUNCT TRACK
Call Security
That's one way to establish authority in the classroom. But Jill Carroll offers some less extreme options.

FIRST PERSON
Why I Quit
A college writing instructor decides he's had enough of the classroom and the adjunct life.

CATALYST
Beating the Odds
How two doctoral students in the sciences made it straight to the tenure track.

MS. MENTOR
Sullen Spouses
She's got her dream job. He hates the location. What to do? Ms. Mentor knows.

FIRST PERSON
The Annual Move
After a series of one-year faculty positions, an M.F.A. decides her visiting days are over.

CAREER TALK
Good References
You have a job, but you want another. When should you ask your department head for a recommendation?

FIRST PERSON
The Promised Land
After a long and winding road, a Ph.D. in English makes it on the tenure track.

FIRST PERSON
Skipping Maternity Leave
A new assistant professor questions her decision to not take a maternity leave and return to work.

FIRST PERSON
Finishing the Dissertation
Writing her dissertation was far more difficult than Renata Kobetts Miller thought it would be, and far more rewarding.

THE ADJUNCT TRACK
Teaching the Brats
Teachers are supposed to love working with students, no matter now snotty, rude, or lazy they are.

SPOTLIGHT
What's Your Philosophy?
Job applicants are increasingly asked to submit a statement of their teaching philosophy. But do departments really use them?

SPOTLIGHT
Dos and Don'ts
Need help writing a statement of your teaching philosophy? Here are some tips on what to write, and what not to write.

FIRST PERSON
Making the Deal
"That's your final position?" the candidate asks. "I'm afraid so," I reply. "Take it or leave it," I think but don't say.

FIRST PERSON
Choosing the Finalists
In a diary of a faculty search in history, the committee settles on four finalists.

CAREER TALK
Answering Your Questions
How sincere are job ads about diversity? Mary Morris Heiberger and Julia Miller Vick answer that and other questions from readers.

FIRST PERSON
Breaking the News
A Ph.D. candidate in biology screws up her courage and finally tells her advisers she doesn't want a career in academe.

FIRST PERSON
On the Market
A husband and wife in search of two tenure-track jobs suddenly find they have too many offers and options.

SPOTLIGHT
The Two-Year Attraction
Frustrated with conditions at four-year colleges, many faculty members embrace the two-year mission.

THE ADJUNCT TRACK
It's Not Fair
No, it isn't fair that adjuncts are exploited, says Jill Carroll. But it's what you do besides complain that will make a difference.

FIRST PERSON
On the Market
A doctoral student in computer science negotiates both the formal and informal application processes.

FIRST PERSON
The Alternative Teaching Market
A Ph.D. in English, unsuccessful on the academic market, finds himself a hot candidate at a job fair for private schools.

CATALYST
The Community College Scientist
The benefits and sacrifices of a career in the sciences at community colleges.

FIRST PERSON
Profits and Learners
After an abortive foray into the academic market, a history Ph.D. candidate tries his hand at for-profit education.

BALANCING ACT
The Two-Body Problem
The logistics of an academic couple's search for two tenure-track jobs are tough enough, but how do you cope with the emotional fallout?

CAREER TALK
Moving Toward Autonomy
Postdocs in the sciences serve as a transition to professional independence. Here's how to survive yours.

FIRST PERSON
Sitting Out a Year
A postdoc in psychology learns a few lessons in job hunting and opts to take the year off.

THE ADJUNCT TRACK
Getting Involved
How involved should adjuncts get in campus politics?

SPOTLIGHT
Lessons in Grantsmanship
After hiring 11 new assistant professors, SMU's engineering school takes the unusual step of training them in how to get grants.

FIRST PERSON
Closing the Deal
A Ph.D. learns to stop trying to close the deal before he's sure it's the deal he wants.

CAREER TALK
The Campus Interview
The best way to alleviate the stress of a campus interview is to prepare, prepare, prepare.

FIRST PERSON
Surviving MLA
How one job seeker survived his MLA experience and even learned to enjoy it.

BEYOND THE IVORY TOWER
Alternatives to Adjunct Work
Instead of low-paying adjunct work, should you consider a job outside academe while you hunt for a tenure-track post?

FIRST PERSON
On the Market
Her job search is in high gear, his has yet to start. Here's how one academic couple is coping.

THE ADJUNCT TRACK
Finding Time for Research
It's a challenge, says Jill Carroll, but adjuncts can find the time to write and do research.

FIRST PERSON
A Derailed Dissertation
What happens when a member of your committee suddenly decides your dissertation is not up to par?

SPOTLIGHT
Jobs for Historians
History departments had expected to be doing a lot of hiring to replace retirees, but the economy has put a damper on that.

FIRST PERSON
Conference Man
An academic superhero plans to use his X-ray vision to look into the unacknowledged hearts of job candidates at the MLA convention.

SPOTLIGHT
Jobs in English
Faculty openings in English and foreign languages drop sharply.

FIRST PERSON
Giving Birth
A Ph.D. in English prepares to give birth to an academic life and a human one.

FIRST PERSON
Where I Belong
A self-described "white Canadian heathen" finds her niche teaching at a historically black university.

CAREER TALK
Fiscal Realities
Here's what job candidates should know about how financial trends in academe affect the job market.

FIRST PERSON
A Digression on Digression
For all the stress placed on order and proper planning in the classroom, sometimes digression is what works.

FIRST PERSON
Graduate School Neuroses
Do lots of doctoral students develop neuroses late into their graduate-school careers, or is it just me?

FIRST PERSON
In the Minority
Forced to resign after only a year on the job, a new assistant professor sees an insidious force at work: racial discrimination.

THE ADJUNCT TRACK
Juggling Multiple Gigs
What are the rules for handling teaching assignments at multiple colleges? There are none, says Jill Carroll.

FIRST PERSON
The Weasel Clause
When your tenure-track career is derailed by the weasel clause, the options are grim.

MS. MENTOR
The Art of Not Making Enemies
Ms. Mentor rarely gets to tell all of her correspondents that they have done wrong. Now's her chance.

CAREER TALK
Am I My Vita?
Drafting your CV can sometimes leave you feeling like you're fabricating an identity.

SPOTLIGHT
Tomorrow's Professor
A small but growing e-mail list offers "desktop faculty development" to new academics and future ones.

FIRST PERSON
Redefining Myself
Your courseload may be heavier at a teaching-oriented college, but the chains that can constrict your scholarly work will be lighter.

THE ADJUNCT TRACK
Don't Go the Extra Mile
When you put in extra effort as an adjunct, says Jill Carroll, make sure that it serves your interests, and not just the institution's.

FIRST PERSON
On the Market
A doctoral student in computer science finds he's a hot prospect in a suddenly not-so-hot field.

CATALYST
Small-Scale Science
You may have pictured yourself at a major research university. Here's how to know if you should give small-college science a try.

FIRST PERSON
On the Market
An academic couple -- he in physics and she in law -- begins a diary of their search for two tenure-track jobs.

FIRST PERSON
Trial and Error
A Ph.D. who tried out administrative work decides to go back on the market for a tenure-track job.

CAREER TALK
The CV Doctor Returns
Our experts evaluate the CVs of three recent Ph.D.'s, a community-college instructor, and an administrator.

FIRST PERSON
Not Expecting This
A new assistant professor lands her dream job on the tenure track and then discovers she's pregnant.

FIRST PERSON
Once a Slacker
A Ph.D. candidate in film studies begins a diary of his search for a tenure-track job.

FIRST PERSON
Cookie Conditioning
Faced with having to ask her advisers for yet another recommendation letter, Karin Sconzert found a way to sweeten the request.

THE ADJUNCT TRACK
Getting Started
Jill Carroll offers a primer on how to get started teaching as an adjunct.

THE FUND RAISER
Your New Fund-Raising Job
Here's what you should hope to accomplish during your first semester in a new development job.

FIRST PERSON
The Family Business
A would-be English professor who hopes to follow in his parents' footsteps in academe begins a diary of his job search.

FIRST PERSON
A Fairly Happy Ending
An academic couple's four-year search for the perfect solution to their two-body problem finds them on the brink of stability.

FIRST PERSON
Unwilling to Move
Charles E. Winchester is ready for the market: He's published, and he's got a famous adviser. There's just one hitch.

FIRST PERSON
On the Market
A Ph.D. in English prepares to give birth and then search for a tenure-track job.

FIRST PERSON
Is This a Good Year?
Passionate about biology but weary of the pace of academic science, a doctoral student begins her job search.

FIRST PERSON
Greetings From Cairo
Daniel Kowalsky begins a year-long teaching post in Egypt and finds it an enriching experience.

BALANCING ACT
The Worst Question
For an academic couple, the worst question you can ask is about their future together.

CAREER TALK
Answering Your Questions
Our columnists advise readers about dual-career job searches, job hunting from overseas, and other career quandaries.

THE ADJUNCT TRACK
The Long, Lean Summer
Savvy adjuncts will begin to prepare right now to make next summer less financially lean.

FIRST PERSON
An Academic Transient's Tale
As a spousal hire, Joel B. Peckham Jr., discovered that his job was a gift that could be taken away at any moment.

FIRST PERSON
The Waiting Game
You've interviewed at a community college and it went well. Now all you can do is wait -- and not do anything stupid.

HUMANITIES AT WORK
Get a Plan
You need a solid plan for your professional development, even if you don't know how you plan to use your Ph.D.

CATALYST
Perpetual Postdocs
New Ph.D.'s in the sciences play a numbers game: They can't have too many postdoctoral positions, and they can't have too few.

BALANCING ACT
Don't Go It Alone
The one thing female and minority scholars should most avoid in order to succeed in academe: isolation.

FIRST PERSON
The New Economics of Hiring
Positions disappear mid-search, and candidates are invited for campus interviews as long as they pay their own way.

THE ADJUNCT TRACK
Adjuncts, Students, and E-Mail
Resist academic nostalgia for the "good old days" when students hung out in faculty offices, says Jill Carroll, and use e-mail to interact with students.

HUMANITIES AT WORK
Academe and Activism
A Ph.D. finds that an internship on a reservation confirms her belief in combining scholarship with social activism.

FIRST PERSON
Postdocs for Humanists
For Ph.D.'s on the job market in the humanities and social sciences, Peter S. Cahn offers another option: Apply for postdocs.

SPOTLIGHT
Rookies in the Classroom
In the fall, hundreds of graduate instructors and new assistant professors will teach on their own for the first time. Here's what to expect.

FIRST PERSON
Foreign and Female
Shabana Mir confronts the complications of being British, Pakistani, Muslim, and female on the job market in the United States.

FIRST PERSON
The Community-College Job Interview
What to expect, what you'll be asked, and what to wear when you interview for a faculty job at a two-year college.

BALANCING ACT
Bringing Your Work Home
Naomi J. Miller experiments with ways to integrate her work with her family life.

CAREER TALK
Do I Need a Web Page?
If you're going on the market this fall, it might help to have your own Web page. Here's how to make it a good one.

FIRST PERSON
Confessions of a Lone Extrovert
In an academic culture dominated by introverts, what's an extrovert to do?

THE ADJUNCT TRACK
Up a Creek Without Insurance
For adjuncts, the challenge of finding affordable health insurance can seem overwhelming. Jill Carroll spells out the options.

FIRST PERSON
Next Stop: Cairo
Shut out in his search for an academic job in the United States, a Ph.D. heads to the Middle East.

CATALYST
Postdoc Progress
At Stanford University, beleaguered postdocs got angry and then got organized. Now they're seeing some results.

ACADEMIC ASSETS
It's Payback Time
You've left graduate school with a Ph.D. and a sizeable amount of debt. Here's how to get started paying it off.

CAREER TALK
Your Summer Homework Assignment
If you're thinking about going on the academic job market this fall, here's what you should be doing this summer.

THE ADJUNCT TRACK
Avoiding Adjunct Burnout
Many adjuncts don't have the luxury of a summer off. Jill Carroll has some ideas for how to avoid burnout.

FIRST PERSON
Outside the Academy
A doctoral student finds that her job in the real world offers an academic ideal that the academy itself rarely delivers.

FIRST PERSON
Completing the Cycle
The chairman of an English department signs off from another year in the academic hiring cycle.

FIRST PERSON
A License to Clean
With her doctorate in hand but no academic job in sight, Julie Crosby cleans house.

FIRST PERSON
A Job Applicant's Manifesto
Is the academic job market designed to weed out the unsubmissive?

CAREER TALK
Networking 101
You may not think you have a network of contacts to rely on in your academic job search, but you do.

FIRST PERSON
To Whom It May Concern
A good application letter is the key to getting your candidacy noticed in a community-college job search.

FIRST PERSON
A Reprieve From Unemployment
The job search of a new Ph.D. in religious studies ends unexpectedly with a tenure-track offer.

THE ADJUNCT TRACK
Can Adjuncts Afford to Retire?
Jill Carroll looks at how to save for your retirement on an adjunct's income.

FIRST PERSON
Are You Ready to Move?
As summer approaches, Vincent Moore offers tips on how to prepare for those last-minute faculty job openings.

HUMANITIES AT WORK
Making a Difference
A look at four doctoral students who put their scholarly abilities to work in the public interest.

FIRST PERSON
Hits and Misses
A department chairman tallies his regrets and his successes in handling this year's job search.

CAREER TALK
Learning the Lingo
The jargon of the academic job market can be confusing. Here's a glossary of terms you need to know.

BALANCING ACT
Don't Explain, Don't Complain
That's the motto Lisa Krissoff Boehm lives by when it comes to balancing work and family.

FIRST PERSON
The Community-College Job Search
It's a different animal than the hiring process at four-year colleges, writes Dana M. Zimbleman.

FIRST PERSON
Not What I Had in Mind
A community college was the last place Christine Rauchfuss Gray wanted to teach.

BEYOND THE IVORY TOWER
When It Doesn't Work Out
It seemed like a good job when you took it, but what do you do when it turns out it isn't?

FIRST PERSON
You're the One
The interviews are over, and it's time to make a choice. Here's how one department chooses a finalist and makes its offer.

THE ADJUNCT TRACK
Getting Good Evaluations
An adjunct's survival depends on good teaching evaluations. Here's how to get them without resorting to stand-up comedy.

SPOTLIGHT
Letting Lecturers Go
A plan to hire fewer lecturers and more tenure-track professors at the University of California at Davis runs into opposition.

FIRST PERSON
An Offer I Can't Refuse?
Is it cynicism or good sense to choose a promising career over a potential relationship?

FIRST PERSON
The More Things Change ...
After Travis J. Ryan joined the tenure track, he thought his life would be different from graduate school. It is, and it isn't.

HUMANITIES AT WORK
In the Public Sphere
Academe has adopted the rhetoric of public service, but scholars -- especially young ones -- are under enormous pressure to retreat from it.

CATALYST
Scientific Misconduct
Too many graduate students are willing victims of research theft in return for a recommendation.

FIRST PERSON
Out of Academe
After seven years of fruitless searching for a tenure-track job in the history of science, Chris Cumo is calling it quits.

MS. MENTOR
Mean Committees
Search committees often have bad manners, Ms. Mentor counsels, but they rarely hate you.

FIRST PERSON
Following Directions
Grant Greene learns the first rule of campus interviewing: Pay attention.

SPOTLIGHT
Keeping the Faith
Here's what you need to know before you take a job at a denominational college.

BALANCING ACT
Following Your Passions
If you follow scholarly trends rather than pursuing your research passions, you may win recognition but you'll lose yourself.

FIRST PERSON
Unexpected Perks
Teaching at a small, liberal-arts college, says James M. Lang, brings with it some unexpected benefits.

CAREER TALK
Negotiating a Better Deal
Even in tight financial times, it's possible to negotiate better terms of a job offer.

FIRST PERSON
Welcome to the 13th Grade
As an instructor, Mike Davis likes to treat his students as adults. But some students just won't let him.

FIRST PERSON
A Happy Job Search Story
They are out there. Here's one from a Ph.D. in exercise physiology.

BEYOND THE IVORY TOWER
Working for Uncle Sam
Landing an internship with a federal agency is often the easiest route to beginning a government career.

FIRST PERSON
The Question No One Asks
Job candidates in academe answer a lot of questions during interviews, but there's one big one they're never asked.

FIRST PERSON
Being a Professor and a Parent
Thomas H. Benton discovers that his life as a parent makes him a better teacher, and vice versa.

FIRST PERSON
Teaching Versus Research
Peter S. Cahn interviewed at a teaching college and a research university and found aspects of each job inspiring and frustrating.

MS. MENTOR
Embarrassed in Academe
A terror of public humiliation dwells in the souls of all untenured academics.

FIRST PERSON
The Tenure Game
Figuring out what counts in the quest for tenure.

FIRST PERSON
The Campus Visit
So you've landed the big on-campus interview. Here's what to expect.

CAREER TALK
Your Activism and Your CV
How much should you reveal on a vita about your political and academic activism?

FIRST PERSON
Lost: One Adviser and Mentor
When Sarah Alexander's adviser was denied tenure, his wasn't the only career that was derailed.

FIRST PERSON
Where Are My Clothes?
It was Brett R. Bodsgard's first on-campus job interview. He had a new suit, tie, and shoes. What could go wrong?

SPOTLIGHT
More jobs than job seekers
In mathematics education, Ph.D.'s are few and job openings go unfilled.

FIRST PERSON
The Ones We Didn't Hire
If you didn't get the job, Mary Cullinan writes, here may be one of the reasons why.

HUMANITIES AT WORK
A Responsive Doctorate
Finding sound ways to make the Ph.D. more relevant to the world beyond academe is the focus of a new program.

FIRST PERSON
On the A.B.D. Track
Brian C. Shipley needed to finish his Ph.D, but he also needed money. It was time to get a real job.

FIRST PERSON
Professorial Prayers
A liberal Catholic academic adapts to a new world as an assistant professor at an evangelical college.

CATALYST
From Nobel to Ig Nobel
More than 30,000 scientific prizes are awarded around the world. What can winning one of them actually mean for your career?

FIRST PERSON
Transforming Myself
With interview season in full swing, Grant Greene transforms himself from bitter graduate student to enthusiastic young scholar.

MS. MENTOR
What Should You Wear?
Ms. Mentor comes to the aid of wardrobe-challenged academics.

FIRST PERSON
Hiding the Baby
Should you keep quiet about your infant during the job search?

FIRST PERSON
Losing Status
A former faculty member takes a staff position, and suddenly finds she no longer has a career -- just a job.

FIRST PERSON
"Sorry, You Are Not a Winner"
Julie Crosby tries to read the signs as she awaits word on a tenure-track job.

FIRST PERSON
Your Money or Your Life
How much does it cost job candidates to land an academic position? Emily Peters tallies the bill.

FIRST PERSON
The Job Interview
Fresh from interviewing 30-plus candidates at the MLA, Dennis Baron looks at this rite of passage.

SPOTLIGHT
Getting that First Job
New assistant professors discussed, at the recent MLA convention, how they landed their first tenure-track job.

FIRST PERSON
How I Got My Job
Why do some Ph.D.'s prevail in their search for a tenure-track job while so many others fall by the wayside?

THE ADJUNCT TRACK
Collegiality With Full-Timers
Jill Carroll offers advice on how to act like one of the gang, even when you're not.

SPOTLIGHT
The Market for Historians
Job openings in history reach record levels, driven by faculty retirements.

FIRST PERSON
A New View on Interviews
It's not just the candidate who wants to make a good impression in a job interview.

HUMANITIES AT WORK
If They Had It to Do Over Again
Here are some tips on career planning compiled from a national survey of doctoral students.

SPOTLIGHT
The State of Hiring
How the recession has affected hiring at a regional state university in Tennessee, a community college in California, a liberal-arts college in Iowa, a public research university in Arizona, and a private research university in New York.

SPOTLIGHT
The Job Market in English
Job openings are up in the ever-competitive market for English faculty members, but so is the number of new Ph.D.'s.

FIRST PERSON
Reading Job Applications
An English department chairman tells what he is looking for when he reads the applications of job candidates.

FIRST PERSON
The Great Compression
'Tis the season when graduate students, in interviews and cover letters, learn to compress a decade of work into a few sentences.

CAREER TALK
Giving Up
You've searched for an academic job for three years with no luck. When is it time to move on?

FIRST PERSON
Stopping Grade Inflation
The untenured faculty members who do most of the grading can do little about grade inflation if they want to keep their jobs.

FIRST PERSON
Whatever It Takes
After sending out 150 job applications to community colleges, Gretchen Aggertt Weber got one job offer. But one was all she needed.

FIRST PERSON
Being Dr. Mommy
Against advice, Pamela Johnston decided to be honest during job interviews and not hide the fact that she's a mother. Here's what happened.

FIRST PERSON
The Importance of Compromise
An academic couple -- she in chemistry and he in psychology -- struggle with whether to sacrifice his career goals or hers.

CAREER TALK
A Tight Market
So the job listings look a little slim in your field this year? Here are some tips for how to track down more openings.

CAREER TALK
The CV Doctor
Our experts rework three faculty CV's -- in communications, ecology, and psychology -- and turn them into résumés for administrative and nonacademic jobs.

FIRST PERSON
How Not to Succeed
Daniel Kowalsky offers his personal list of five mistakes to avoid on the path to tenure-track happiness.

FIRST PERSON
A Question of Fit
In job interviews, Mike Land finds, what matters is less your qualifications -- everyone at this stage has them -- than how you fit.

FIRST PERSON
Friend or Foe?
Alone on the academic job market, Steven Michels found a friend in a competitor.

FIRST PERSON
Luck and Timing
The old adage about perseverance -- if you work hard enough you can do anything -- is true only up to a point, when it comes to job-hunting in academe.

FIRST PERSON
Leading a Double Life
Julie Crosby, a literature scholar by day and a theater manager by night, begins a diary of her search for a tenure-track job.

FIRST PERSON
Knowing What's Next
Peter S. Cahn, a Ph.D. in anthropology, learns that figuring out his next scholarly project is important to landing his first tenure-track job.

FIRST PERSON
A Teaching Statement
Colleges often ask faculty applicants to write a statement on their philosophy of teaching. Jeffrey Marcus wasn't sure he had one.

FIRST PERSON
On the Market
A historian in religious studies faces distrust on the job market from both secular and religious institutions.

CAREER TALK
Pop Quiz
Mary Morris Heiberger and Julia Miller Vick give a short quiz to help you determine if you're ready to go on the job market.

FIRST PERSON
The Ways We Say 'No'
Thom D. Chesney analyzes the 235 rejection letters he received in his ultimately successful, four-year quest for a tenure-track job in English.

FIRST PERSON
Putting Down Roots
Gene C. Fant Jr. describes how to replace the transience of graduate school with the permanence of a career.

SPOTLIGHT
Negotiating the Non-Tenure Track
Given a choice between positions on and off the tenure track, some academics are opting for the non-tenured spot. Here's why, according to Cathy Trower.

Also see:

Career Talk
Practical guidance for academic job seekers from professional career counselors.

Ms. Mentor
Words of wisdom about academic culture.

First Person
Firsthand accounts of Ph.D.'s on landing jobs and working in academe, or outside the ivory tower.