Post-Graduate Pathway Reflections: Day 1
Today was the first day of the Spring 2025 Faculty-First Look (FFL) program, a four-day professional development opportunity on the dos and don’ts for graduate students looking to join the professoriate. Hosted by NYU Steinhardt’s School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, FFL brings current faculty and students together to demystify the academic job search process through intergenerational knowledge sharing. Given the program’s length, each day is intensive in order to maximize the amount of information shared. These are a few of my initial reflections and takeaways from today’s sessions. I’ll add to this mini-series throughout the week.
1. The academic job market is highly competitive, and the federal landscape isn’t helping. The opening discussion focused on NYU’s response to the presidential administration’s attack on federal funding, academic freedom, and higher education institutions as safe havens. Faculty continued to endorse applying to numerous faculty and postdoctoral positions (I’m talking upper double digits), but fellow cohort members were open about their struggles with doing so because of recent hiring freezes and "stop work” orders. Given the evolving nature of the federal attacks on DEI and individual responses by colleges and universities, I appreciated the acknowledgment of how difficult these next couple of years (at least) will be for folks entering the job market, and I’m left wondering 1) if academia will experience a mass movement of scholars and students both to and from certain states based on political alignment and 2) where can I find a crash course on the political economy and legal rhetoric of higher education.
2. Increase your scholarly visibility by marketing your research. I’ve played around with sharing screenshots of new articles on my Instagram story, but I’ve been seeing examples of scholars publishing really creative and aesthetically pleasing posts with actual content from their work, and I like the idea of doing that to share with close friends. But I’ve also been thinking of ways to increase engagement offline. (There’s only so much I can do from a private account, and I’m not ready to make a public one just yet.) One of my advisors started connecting me with his professional network, and I realized how much engagement still happens through word-of-mouth. Someone told me, it felt like they learned about me from a proud uncle. In this way, I can see in-person interactions bolstering visibility and possibilities for collaboration. It doesn’t necessarily sit well to call it “marketing,” but it is a skill to be able to summarize your research agenda, pitch your ideas concisely, and share your values with others.
3. Don’t assume search committee members have thoroughly read your application materials before an online interview. Several panelists spoke on this point, which, honestly, feels wild to me. The key takeaways from these conversations were to list the most relevant accolades for a particular call on the first page of your CV and to highlight important ideas from your personal statements that committee members may not have focused on during their initial review of your application. As much as possible, tailor your materials and your remarks to the hiring call and your evaluation of the department or institution’s current priorities and needs.
4. Bonus strategies for interviewing:
Pace yourself when responding to questions. Your ability to hold a conversation for 30 minutes may also be read as your capacity to lead a classroom discussion for the same amount of time.
Prepare questions for the committee based on campus climate, faculty meeting engagement, previous accreditation recommendations, tenure promotion rate
Meditate or listen to music before your interview. (Yes to deep breathing and hype music!)
