How To Get A University Job

Getting a University job is not an easy thing to do. It takes years of hard work and dedication, but once you get there you will be richly rewarded. There are plenty of people out there who have great qualifications and when it comes to applying for jobs you are going to be up against existing teachers. If you think that you have the intelligence, the patience, if you think you are a good teacher and you can get great grades, then maybe this is something you can consider for a career. If it is, you can use our guide on how to get a University job.

1. Finish your Ph.D. A lot of people make the mistake of applying for University jobs having completed most of their Ph.D but without having completed the dissertation part of their degree. This is not looked upon favourably by Universities, and with so much competition for positions, there really is no excuse not to get this done.

2. Focus in on your area of expertise. Whatever your Ph.D. is on must be what position you apply for. If you try to spread yourself too thinly, you will stand no chance. As a new professor you are going to struggle against existing ones anyway, so to take yourself out of your comfort zone is going to make things even more difficult for you.

3. Look for personal recommendations. It is important to University committees to be able to see that a trusted name from your field thinks that you would be a good addition to a decent University. It is name dropping in a sense but when there is so little to choose between in candidates, this sort of thing can carry very strong favour.

4. Straight talk in the interview. There is no need for any gimmicky presentations on your computer with a slide show at the end. What you do need to do is to prove that you are a good public speaker and you can deal with questions being fired at you. They have seen all the tricks in the book when it comes to blinding them with science. Let your knowledge do the talking.

5. The Dinner. One of the last things you will have to do as part of your application is to attend a dinner with the tenured members of the department. This is an old tradition at universities, and it is not really about your qualifications about the job, more your ability to fit in with the other professors. Your job here is to act professionally, not bring up the position, and try to behave in a civilised manner befitting the occasion. Try to make friends, but on their terms!

Good luck with your applications. This is going to be a tough road for you, but if you make it through, you will have a great job, probably for as long as you want it.