2012-13 Job Market

For those paying attention:

Second verse same as the first.

Yup, it's that time again, when the lucky academic debutantes start hearing back regarding interviews for the jobs we all applied for in the fall. And, just like last year, it's looking like no one is asking me to dance this year either.

I applied to 4 positions, one big public research U, a large private U, a small liberal arts college, and a smaller state college. The research and private U's have sent out requests for additional materials for those on their short list, the small state college in L's home state has contacted applicants they want to interview. The SLAC is a top rated, highly competitive institution that doesn't appear to have contacted anyone yet. I suppose there's a minor chance they might ring me up, but I'm not holding my breath.

So what does this mean? 1) I'm glad I didn't spend the last weeks of my pregnancy putting together more teaching portfolios that no one is ever going to look at (seriously, it's like making your own prom dress and then never taking it off the hanger). 2) I'm also glad that we didn't book travel to the convention where the interviews I didn't receive will take place.

In the larger picture, I'm not sure and don't want to make any hard and fast decisions right now, but an academic career is not looking good for me. Whether it's my application or my field, something isn't clicking. I did a lot of work on my application this year, and got feedback from my multiple people at my home U, a colleague at smallish state college, and some faculty at SLACs. My diss was submitted, I had lots of grants and grant money, and a publication on my CV. The only thing I'm missing is a bigger name publication and more FT teaching experience (despite the enormous amount of teaching we do in our TAships at UC Ewok Village, they dont' seem to count for much on the market).

I guess my plan over the next few months is to 1) get my article finished, polished, submitted and hopefully published. 2) start looking for FT work in the late summer/ early fall. 3) Consider going back on the market in fall 2013, but unless I have academic-related employment at that time, that will be my absolute last round. I'm tired of trying and my shelf life as a PhD will be nearing it's expiration date at that time.

I'm bummed, but not devastated like I was last year. In part b/c I'm completely distracted by Bucket. In part b/c I've been away from a Uni and teaching for so long that I have perspective on what an academic life is like and I'm not sure I want it. As L keeps saying, it'd be one thing if pursuing this job would really bring you happiness or make tons of money, but from what we see, that's rarely the case. So in between feedings I'm going to start looking around the Old Pueblo for related-work and headhunters/employment agencies that I can work with to get my resume non-academic friendly.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying watching Bucket sleep in a pair of wool pants I knit for him. They are great covers for cloth diapers and keep him very warm. This picture also shows that I had no idea the size of newborns when I knit these pants. Enjoy: