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A thread about academic jobs in math based on the latest post on my blog:
If you are going to take away one piece of advice from this thread, let it be this one:
** Start thinking about your resume as early as possible during your grad school years. ** 1/n
If you are going to take away one piece of advice from this thread, let it be this one:
** Start thinking about your resume as early as possible during your grad school years. ** 1/n
A warning about the unfortunate reality of finding a job. It is hard. The job hunt is stressful, a very long, drawn-out process, with uncertain results, and hard to go through, for you and loved ones. However, there is a lot you can do to tip the scale in your favor. Plan! 2/n
One thing is clear: it is no longer enough to graduate with a “strong thesis,” whatever ‘strong’ means. In order to be marketable at a wide range of institutions the ideal candidate needs to have demonstrated excellence in research, educational experience, colleague potential. 3/
Yes, true, you should try to produce the “strongest thesis” possible. But what does that even mean? “Strongest” here, IMO, actually means “most interesting” to a wide audience of mathematicians in your area (or, even better, including others outside of your immediate area!). 4/
Networking as a grad student (as a postdoc too!) is really, really important. Start in your department: the first people you will communicate with and meet are the staff members in your department offices. Be friendly, ask for their advice, be thankful for their help. 5/
When networking, keep in mind that it would be wonderful if by the time you graduate, you can get a letter of recommendation about your research from a faculty member who works outside of your own institution. 6/
IMO, your research statement should be an advertisement of your work and techniques you are fluent with, and there is no need to go deep into technicalities that only a few specialists may be interested in. Those same specialists can read your papers in your site or the arXiv. 7/
Many of us in the profession care deeply about our teaching and our students, and we strive to constantly improve our undergraduate and graduate programs. Thus, we expect the same from those we hire, even visiting faculty and postdocs, including research postdocs. 8a/...
No matter how great your research is, if you are unprepared to teach your own courses (and do a good job at it!), then you are not a good fit in a department where we value our under/graduate program and we care about our under/graduate students. 8b/
What if your teaching evaluations are not that great? As long as you do care about your teaching, then there are lots of resources out there to help you improve your teaching technique. Most institutions have a “Center for Teaching Excellence," so benefit from it. 9/
Use your teaching statement to tell us about all the educational activities (see prior section) that you have participated in during your grad program to grow as an educator. While we do want to hear about your own philosophy, and your own approach to teaching students, ... 10a/
... many of us are more interested in a teaching portfolio, where you showcase all the different educational projects you have engaged in, and more importantly all those others that you have initiated or helped put together. 10b/
Very important: your teaching statement (TS) should touch on diversity and inclusion in mathematics (not just in a note at the end of the statement!). What are your thoughts on the subject? How do you think you could contribute in efforts to improve diversity? 10c/
Do you have any relevant experience in making content accessible to broader audiences? How can you help improve retention of underrepresented groups in math? Some institutions now require a separate diversity statement, but I encourage you to approach the topic in your TS. 10d/
If you are invited to an interview on the phone, at the JMM, or on campus, then you are on paper qualified for the position. The rest of the interview will try to establish that you have great colleague potential. Mathematicians are people, and we like to hire nice people. 11/
Being a good colleague does not start and end in your department. There is an entire mathematical community that you can be a part of, either online, or through events such as conferences. We want you to be visible, and as engaged as possible in the community. 12/
** An important piece of advice **
Circulate your first drafts of application materials early among faculty, fellow grad students, friends, family, so they can give you their best advice and feedback. 13/
Circulate your first drafts of application materials early among faculty, fellow grad students, friends, family, so they can give you their best advice and feedback. 13/
Choose your letter writers wisely. Who knows your work best? An ideal writer is a person who expects to write a letter for you, so that is why it is crucial to cultivate these relationships before it is time to ask for a letter. Discuss the letter writers with your advisor. 14/
Once the application materials are ready, it is time to start looking at http://mathjobs.org to see what jobs are available and what deadlines are coming up. The first deadlines are as early as September, but most deadlines are after mid October. 15a/
However, new job ads will keep appearing until as late as April or May, so
** keep looking **
at mathjobs until you have a job lined up! Do not give up. Applying for jobs is a marathon, not a sprint, so be mentally ready to be looking for jobs for months. 15b/
** keep looking **
at mathjobs until you have a job lined up! Do not give up. Applying for jobs is a marathon, not a sprint, so be mentally ready to be looking for jobs for months. 15b/
This is almost a tautology but your best chances of landing a job are at positions that you are a very good fit for, so spend extra time working on those applications that you are particularly excited about. 16/
During your last year of grad school, plan to attend the JMM in January. Since this is the largest annual mathematics gathering, many institutions send representatives to (briefly) interview candidates during the JMM. Say in your cover letters that you will be at the JMM. 17/
And for the love of God, do not wear a suit at the JMM. IF you own a suit, you wear it often, and are comfortable wearing a suit, then by all means, wear a suit to the JMM. Otherwise, if you are not used to wearing suits, don’t. 18a/
The last thing you want to is to feel uncomfortable in your own clothes (everyone can tell and it makes everyone uncomfortable). You can definitely dress up for an interview, but some business-casual clothing (e.g., button-down shirt and khakis) suffices! 18b/
When you finally receive the happy news that you are invited for an interview (by phone, video-conference, or in person), it is time to prepare, prepare, prepare. First, review your own materials. What are the main points that you want to highlight during the interview? 19a/
Then, study their department website, their faculty composition (who works there, what they known for), the structure of their under/grad program, etc. Then go back to your own files: what makes you a good fit for this department? Why you think they chose you? 19b/
In summary, be prepared. Be professional. Be enthusiastic. Be confident about your skills! With enough forethought about the process, and enough preparation, you too can get an academic job in math. THE END. https://afieldguidetomath.wordpress.com/2020/07/26/jobs-in-math/
