The academic job market is overcrowded, but departments are hiring, and each year thousands of graduate students and other candidates will get phone calls offering them tenure-track positions. It is typically a moment of mutual giddiness. The department heads are excited at the prospect of a terrific new colleague; the job applicants now know that…

When a person sends in his or her job-application materials, he or she is not just assembling separate documents to fulfill the requirements of an ad. Those documents are part of a larger rhetorical whole, and together they form an argument for the viability of his or her candidacy for a particular job. Documents should be crafted meticulously,…

For the novice, the logistical challenges of an academic job search can be exasperating, especially when dozens of applications are involved. Getting things right (providing the correct materials, from CV to sample syllabi, in the style and form most sought by a particular search committee) and submitting the application on time (via sometimes…

Increasing numbers of colleges accept job applications only online. Illustrates the job application process at Montgomery College, Maryland as the college changes to an online system for all job applications. (SLD)

In this article, the author describes the hiring dilemma confronting liberal-arts colleges and offers advice to job seekers who are interested in working at liberal-arts colleges. One should read the college's mission statements and research its history. If it's serving a minority-students population and one has worked with those students, one…

Offers suggestions for deciphering letters of recommendation in academia. Notes the critical role such letters play in job offers, tenure decisions, and grant decisions. A table gives examples of typical positive phrases in such letters and possible negative interpretations. A variety of examples illustrate problems of honesty, confidentiality,…