JOB HUNTING RESOURCES

Resource for graduate students seeking funding for research support, language study, multiple-year general support and dissertation-writing support.

In academia, your curriculum vitae (CV) is the master list of all your professional accomplishments and is a requirement when looking for jobs in academia. Many of us (both authors included) have spent hours accumulating every item possible for this document. As a result, the modern academic CV is usually a multi-page document that covers everything of note you have accomplished during your graduate education.

Maybe you have become disenchanted with academia and/or the academic job search, or you have recently discovered the numerous possibilities outside of the university. Perhaps you have known from the beginning that a different path calls to you, or maybe you’re just curious. Whatever the case may be, read on for tips and suggestions for how to begin your Alt-Ac job search and determine the skills you need to acquire to land the job you want.

When you entered graduate school, did most doctoral students want an academic job and think they would be able to get one? According to 32,000 students who participated last year in the National Doctoral Program Survey, that was the common perception, despite the realities of the academic job market.

Whether your ultimate goal is to become a tenure-track professor or not, if you like research, becoming a postdoc is still a common next step for many graduating PhD students. By becoming a postdoc, new PhDs can (finally) receive a full-time salary to conduct research and diversify their skill set, making themselves more marketable for future job searches. As I started preparing to seek out postdoc and job positions for next year, I asked five postdocs for advice. It seemed that many followed a general timeline, set before prospective graduation.