Sometimes I hear reactions to The Professor Is In, that my level of attention to details and minutiae (everything from what kind of bag you carry to where your voice rises in your delivery of a sentence) is excessive--even anal or obsessive. … [Read more...] about Data Point, Data Point, Data Point…
How To Write Academic Job Cover Letters
Update on My Book: Blurbs, Reviews, and a Promotion
The book inches closer to actually existing in the material world (August 4)! It has gotten some lovely blurbs by amazing people, like this one by the inimitable Rebecca Schuman: “If you would like your academic career to begin in delusion and end … [Read more...] about Update on My Book: Blurbs, Reviews, and a Promotion
Buy My Book!
Love the blog? Now get it in handy book form--only $11.40! Available for pre-order now--comes out August 4! Buy it at all these places! It also makes a great gift for all those struggling grad students in your life! For bulk orders for use … [Read more...] about Buy My Book!
I Don’t Know You
In last week's Job Offer Digest, one of my successful clients wrote this: "Still, don't kid yourself; working with Dr. Karen is hard! It forces you to take a long hard look at yourself, your work, and your presentation of your work. As she knows you … [Read more...] about I Don’t Know You
How to Apply for a Dean Position (A Guest Post in the form of an interview)
The writer of this post is dean at a public liberal-arts-and-science college in the Midwest. S/he has spent a career in public higher education at comprehensive and baccalaureate campuses in a number of instructional and administrative … [Read more...] about How to Apply for a Dean Position (A Guest Post in the form of an interview)
The Job Offer Digest
Those of you who follow me on Facebook know that last week a little debate arose there about whether it was good to anonymously post all the job (and postdoc) offers received by my clients, or if that practice had the effect of making less successful … [Read more...] about The Job Offer Digest
Americans Don’t Brag
Americans don't brag. That's not true; Americans brag all the time, about many things--money, sex, the fish that got away. However, we don't brag as much as you'd expect in our job applications. This may seem counterintuitive, considering the … [Read more...] about Americans Don’t Brag
“I Plan to Take Full Advantage of My Acquired Skills!”
A line from a letter last week: "In my own lab I plan to take full advantage of my acquired skills and use the XXX equipment to further investigate xxxx." This kind of language is braggy and at the same time, completely devoid of meaning. Who … [Read more...] about “I Plan to Take Full Advantage of My Acquired Skills!”
Don’t State the Obvious
There is a kind of line in job documents that is technically blameless, but is so generic, so very much "stating the obvious" that it also completely pointless. This kind of line fills space while doing nothing to distinguish you in any way. The … [Read more...] about Don’t State the Obvious
Four Tips for Getting Hired at a Christian University (A Guest Post)
Today’s anonymous author is a tenured professor in the field of religion at a mid-sized Christian University. He has sat on and chaired numerous search committees for both faculty and administrative hires. He sees the enormous stack of applicants for … [Read more...] about Four Tips for Getting Hired at a Christian University (A Guest Post)