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How To Write Academic Job Cover Letters

#Dispatches From the Front, What Candidates Are Doing Wrong, Part III of III: “Don’t Forget the Basics”

By Karen Kelsky | February 10, 2020

In our new Dispatches series, we crowdsource responses to questions we see about the academic job market and career. Last week we put out the question: “Search committee members–what mistakes do you see candidates make? What do you wish they … [Read more...] about #Dispatches From the Front, What Candidates Are Doing Wrong, Part III of III: “Don’t Forget the Basics”

Filed Under: Dispatches, How to Interview, How To Write Academic Job Cover Letters, Landing Your Tenure Track Job, Major Job Market Mistakes, Strategizing Your Success in Academia

Workshop Summary: Hacking the Academic Job Market

By Karen Kelsky | September 19, 2019

By Katie Harling-Lee This post and a companion post on the Non-Academic Job Market are summaries of two talks I gave at the University of Durham in the UK, generously compiled by Katie Harling-Lee, who attended. For anyone curious about my … [Read more...] about Workshop Summary: Hacking the Academic Job Market

Filed Under: How To Write Academic Job Cover Letters, Landing Your Tenure Track Job, Major Job Market Mistakes, Strategizing Your Success in Academia

How to Turn Your Teaching Duds into Memorable Statements

By Karen Kelsky | July 31, 2019

Sharing another post in our new semi-regular series, "Missives from the Editing Trenches" written by long-time TPII editors. They are the real MVPs, working in the trenches to catch you in all your job document pitfalls -- from the self-deprecating … [Read more...] about How to Turn Your Teaching Duds into Memorable Statements

Filed Under: How To Write Academic Job Cover Letters, Landing Your Tenure Track Job, Major Job Market Mistakes, Strategizing Your Success in Academia, Teaching and Research Statements, Teaching Portfolios

Trailer Park Professor: On R1 Success and Learning to Value Yourself (A Guest Post)

By Karen Kelsky | March 30, 2019

I got the chance to meet a client-turned-R1 assistant professor at the AAA meetings, and I asked her what she found most helpful about the work with me.  She took the time to write it out. This is what she wrote. I finished my PhD in Anthropology … [Read more...] about Trailer Park Professor: On R1 Success and Learning to Value Yourself (A Guest Post)

Filed Under: Advising Advice, Graduate Student Concerns, How To Write Academic Job Cover Letters, Landing Your Tenure Track Job, Major Job Market Mistakes, Mental Illness and Academia, Shame, Strategizing Your Success in Academia, Yes, You Can: Women in Academia

Your Academic Cover Letter: Don’t Fall into the Cliché Trap About Teaching!

By Karen Kelsky | November 18, 2017

By TPII editor extraordinaire, Verena Hutter This is a continuation of our 2017 series on the Academic Cover Letter. Verena is walking us through the paragraphs of the cover letter.  Scroll back through the blog over the past 10 weeks or so for … [Read more...] about Your Academic Cover Letter: Don’t Fall into the Cliché Trap About Teaching!

Filed Under: How To Write Academic Job Cover Letters, Landing Your Tenure Track Job, Major Job Market Mistakes, Writing

The UK Job Market, Part III: “I Beg Your Pardon, But May I Have This Job?” (The Winning Cover Letter)

By Karen Kelsky | November 3, 2017

By Alice Kelly, Ph.D. Alice Kelly is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Oxford. She completed her PhD in English at Cambridge in 2014, with a year as a Fox Fellow at Yale, and before that she studied at Sussex, Reed College … [Read more...] about The UK Job Market, Part III: “I Beg Your Pardon, But May I Have This Job?” (The Winning Cover Letter)

Filed Under: How To Write Academic Job Cover Letters, International Perspectives, Landing Your Tenure Track Job, Major Job Market Mistakes, Strategizing Your Success in Academia

Your Academic Cover Letter – The Second Project Paragraph

By Karen Kelsky | October 6, 2017

By TPII editor extraordinaire, Verena Hutter This is a continuation of our 2017 series on the Academic Cover Letter. After you’ve outlined your publications and planned publications, you’ll outline your second project. Two things right away:  I … [Read more...] about Your Academic Cover Letter – The Second Project Paragraph

Filed Under: How To Write Academic Job Cover Letters, Landing Your Tenure Track Job, Major Job Market Mistakes, Publishing Issues, Strategizing Your Success in Academia, Writing

Pitfalls of the Publication Para

By Karen Kelsky | September 15, 2017

By Verena Hutter and Karen Kelsky We continue in our series on the elements of the cover letter....  Scroll back over the last couple months to find the previous posts on self-introduction, content and contribution paragraphs! The heavy … [Read more...] about Pitfalls of the Publication Para

Filed Under: How To Write Academic Job Cover Letters, Landing Your Tenure Track Job, Major Job Market Mistakes, Publishing Issues, Writing

My Dissertation on X Examines X

By Karen Kelsky | September 8, 2017

One of the writing problems that stands out the most in this Fall's job documents is the "painful repetition" problem. This is when someone writes, "My dissertation, 'A Study of Elephants,' is a study of elephants." Here are some more: "I have … [Read more...] about My Dissertation on X Examines X

Filed Under: How To Write Academic Job Cover Letters, Landing Your Tenure Track Job, Major Job Market Mistakes, Writing

The Job Search is Not a Striptease

By Karen Kelsky | September 1, 2017

One of my pet peeves in job documents is when the job candidate coyly gestures toward a research conclusion, without actually coming out and saying what the conclusion is. I have no idea why so many job seekers are so invested in this coyness.  The … [Read more...] about The Job Search is Not a Striptease

Filed Under: How To Write Academic Job Cover Letters, Landing Your Tenure Track Job, Major Job Market Mistakes, Promote Yourself!, Strategizing Your Success in Academia, Teaching and Research Statements, Writing

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