The GEEZ team interviewed nine former GEEZ presenters who were on the 2020-21 job market. They generously shared advice and thoughts on the job market for current GEEZ PhD students. You can learn more about their background at the bottom of the blog post.
This blog post is the first of a series of three blog posts. Everyone’s experiences are different but we hope the blog series helps you get ready for this new step in your career! Throughout the month, we will talk about advice for future job market candidates, thoughts for PhD students in economics of education, and finish with wise words of encouragement!
The first question we asked our former GEEZ presenters was whether they could share one piece of advice they received or something they wished they knew before or during the market. We present their answers in an attempted chronological order of the job market.
Before the job market:
Try to get out of the student mindset and start presenting yourself as a “real" economist as soon as possible (ideally year 4 and onwards). The best way I found to do that is to talk to economists (grad students and faculty) outside your own university (conferences, meeting with seminar speakers, talking to policy makers, etc). Within your own university you’re always going to feel like a student, once you start talking to people outside your committee, you’ll realize you do in fact know a lot and have real value to bring to the table. Building comfort around that identity that you’re expected to suddenly assume on the job market in the years leading up is extremely helpful and something I wish I had done more of. Dr. Christina Brown.
I receive a lot of advice. Some of them were useful, some of them were true in some context, but did not apply to others. One thing I wish I knew before, that many people say but I really did not understand fully, is that the job market is really random. What you do (which is usually a lot of effort) matters probably 1% in determining the place you will end up at. Therefore, try to do your best, that 1% is the only thing you can control, so you better do it properly, but also focus on something that would be important after the market. If you need to improve your paper, focus on something that would make your paper more ready for submission, rather than more ready for the job market. Dr. Silvia Griselda.
When you start the job market:
Ask at least one person, if not 2 or 3, who was on the job market in the last 1-2 years and got offered a job that you find to be ideal for their job market materials (cover letter(s), teaching, research, diversity statements, etc.). Preferably, this person would have a similar background to you (i.e. was in the same program, you both had a shared committee member). Having examples makes it easier to write the materials, especially if you have a few examples so you can see what patterns come up in the successful materials. I made sure to ask at least one person for each type of job I applied for (government, think tank, academic). Also, ask for any job tracking documents or any other tools they used to make the process easier. You don't need to reinvent the wheel. Dr. Danielle Sandersone Edwards.
In terms of logistics, I think the best advice I can give is to have all of your materials (JMP obviously, but also CV, cover letters, research, teaching, and diversity statements) ready early. Our department suggested late October/early November, but I found that a non-zero number of jobs had early October deadlines. This is especially true for econ-adjacent jobs that ed people might be interested in, like at policy and ed schools and non-academic positions. Dr. Stephanie Owen.
I think that the best advice I can give to people who are not yet on the job market is: treat your advisor as the first member of your hiring committee. The letter of reference is in my opinion probably the most important thing on the market. Of course your advisor wants you to do well, but there is also a reputational concern for them. You need to show them that you can be independent and will make a good researcher after you graduate. This will help them write a strong LOR for you. Another thing I wish I did was to register to the job market sites earlier than I did. There are a few jobs that are posted early on and that have deadlines in Sep-Nov. Another piece of advice that I got from people after the market was to really customize the cover letter for jobs you find are a good fit. I did this to some extent, but I think I could have dug a bit deeper to signal to some departments that I am really familiar with what they do, that I want to work with someone in particular who is there and that I am very interested in this job. (Of course, others say that no one in research universities reads the cover letters, so it's up to you to decide!). Another practical piece is: use Interfolio or a similar service to manage your reference letters. Some places will require you to send them directly, or upload them to some link, and you really don't want to be wondering if your advisors/admin people remembered to do this. Dr. Andrei Munteanu.
Applying for jobs:
Send as many job applications as you can: you are increasing your odds of getting a job. There has to be, of course, a balance. You will not apply to a biology job if you are an econ of ed JMC. The reality is that it is rare to find an opening that is a perfect fit. Do not refrain from applying if you don’t meet 100% all the requirements.
Optimize your time: finding a job is a full time job but you will also have to make decisions about which jobs you will apply for. For example, some jobs asked me, as part of the application package, to send a written proposal for a project that the potential employer wanted to conduct. If a job opening is asking you to write/create application materials that you can only use for that application. Then, it is not worth it no matter how “sexy” the job is. Instead, you can use that time to apply to other jobs, improve your CV, webpage, or cover letter.
Organization is key: You will send so many applications that you will forget where you applied. Create a spreadsheet that includes the places you have applied and that you intend to apply. Create separate folders for each submitted application where you include the application materials and the application form.
Be a planner: you will be working on your dissertation while trying to find a job. Finding a job will take you more time than your dissertation. Plan ahead and get started with your dissertation so that you can spend some months only looking for jobs. Do not procrastinate.
Ask for help: ask as many faculty as you can in your department to give a quick look to your CV and cover letter and any other application materials before you start applying. Dr. Lina Anaya Beltran.
While waiting, after the applications are sent, and during the interview stage:
Some good advice I received (rephrased): - The market is very random. There are many factors that you cannot see or control for. Do not take the JM outcomes too personally. - Do not compare yourself to others. Each case is unique. In the end, everyone needs only one job. And this job is not the end. - Keep close contact with your advisors: update them on your plans, progress, and any intermediate outcomes. They can help in many ways. Dr. Xiaoyue Shan.
Talk with someone you know or will know in the department that you want to apply. When applying for jobs, talking to someone in the targeted department will help you to know which kind of faculty they want to hire. It also helps you know the format of their interview (especially if you apply for an international job that does not have a fixed format of the interview process). I did not succeed in my first interview because 1). they want to hire a political science person, despite their job ads saying public management and policy applicants were wanted, 2). I was told to change my presentation to their specific format two days before the interview, 3) their interview was held at 2 AM in the morning. Dr. Rui Wang.
For the first question, I would say, you must calm yourself down. Since there might be many schools outside North America, they will send you notification and interview results during midnight. Thus, I did not sleep well for at least two months during my market, waiting for my mobile phone to ring every single night. This is very bad. Just remember, take a good sleep, take a good rest, don't be so nervous, especially at night. Dr. Zibin Huang.
By Catherine Michaud-Leclerc
Edited by Lina Anaya Beltran
More about our interviewees:
Dr. Christina Brown was our first GEEZ presenter back on April 21st 2020. Christina received her PhD at UC Berkeley and is now a postdoc at the Becker Friedman Institute. She will join the University of Chicago as an Assistant Professor in 2023.
Dr. Lina Anaya Beltran received her PhD at the University of Arkansas and is now a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Bradford.
Dr. Rui Wang received his PhD at American University and is now an Assistant Professor at Shanghai University of Economics and Finance.
Dr. Xiaoyue Shan received her PhD at the University of Zurich and is now a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Andrei Munteanu received his PhD at McGill University and is now a postdoctoral researcher at USC and UWM. He will join the Université de Québec à Montréal in 2022.
Dr. Danielle Sandersone Edwards received her Ph.D. in Education Policy from Michigan State University. She is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Annenberg Institute at Brown University.
Dr. Zibin Huang received his PhD from the University of Rochester and is an Assistant Professor at the College of Business, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.
Dr. Silvia Griselda received her PhD at the University of Melbourne and is now Post-Doc researcher at AXA Research Lab on Gender Equality at Bocconi University.
Comments
Post a Comment