When I went on the job market during my last year of grad school (1996-97), I found myself drowning in a sea of questions: When should I apply? Should I print my application on fancy paper? What was a standard "benefits" package? Not surprisingly, the best answers came from recent grads (in person and on-line) who could share their own experiences. After I accepted a job offer I wrote up what I had learned; this piece I updated recently based on my experience of being on the other side of the fence as a member of a search committee.
Other people's experiences may well vary from this, especially since the job market has changed in the past six years. It would be lovely to hear any updates or different experiences that others may have.
Where do I find out about jobs?
The AMS has an employment web page at http://www.ams.org/employment. Jobs are added daily under Jobs Listing, and there is also a link to useful articles about hunting for jobs. The Chronicle of Higher Education lists its job openings on the web at http://chronicle.com/jobs/
every Friday; community college jobs are intermixed with tenure track and temporary jobs, so read the ads carefully. Other math magazines advertise job openings (usually in the back, sometimes under Classified Ads) and will often list a slew of them around October or November. Job notices may also be posted in a public place in your mathematics department.
What do I include in an application?
Some subset of The Cover Letter; your curriculum vitae, or CV; your graduate and maybe even undergraduate transcripts; a Statement of Teaching Philosophy; a Statement of Research Interest; and anything else they ask for. You can print these out on regular paper or nice paper, and you can mail them in regular department envelopes or in big envelopes.
(As an update in 2002: now that I'm on a hiring committee myself, I can say again that it really doesn't matter if the paper is regular or nice; on the other hand, it's easier to read applications that haven't been folded).
Cover Letters: Include one with every single application. You should state what position you are applying for in the first paragraph, and throw in the school's name for good measure -- it will read less form like. It should be about one page long (some of mine were two pages, though, and I'm still around to speak of it), and you can include a brief summary of why you are good for the job, or highlight anything about your work that stands out. Some schools don't read the cover letters carefully, but some people I talked to on hiring committees (mostly at smaller schools) treat the cover letter very seriously, as it is one of the only places for your personality to come through. A word of warning: check your cover letter for mistakes before you send. It is remarkably easy to mix things up as you type up a bunch of these (I myself mixed up the headers and the bodies for two different schools, and only caught it at the post office during my final check).
The Cover Letter is also the place to mention that you will be at the National Meetings in early January (which you will be at, if at all possible, even if you don't do the Employment Register) and you would be happy to meet with them there.
(Update in 2002: During our job search, it remains true that the cover letter is very important. It stands out when a person describes how they would fit in at our particular school. It also stands out when the cover letter hasn't been proofread carefully for spelling and grammar.)
CV: Include one with every single application. They are generally a couple pages long (mine was three), and should be typed on one side only. Don't staple them (or anything else), though you might want to include a header. You should list your address, any awards, job experience, papers, talks, and references. One administrator told me that the two things that stood out about my application were that I had been elected to Phi Beta Kappa as an undergraduate, and that I was interested in mathematics education. In
that order. On the other hand, departments often noticed that I had given a lot of talks, and they liked that (actually, some of my talks were similar, but if I made any changes, I chose a new title). If you are applying for a research position, awards and fellowships should be on the first page; these show that people are willing to give you money. Schools like that.
Transcripts: Yes, some schools require these. Unless they specify official transcripts, you can send photocopies (I was told this by a hiring committee); in general, official transcripts are only required of finalists. If you are in doubt, write to them and ask. I sent copies of my transcripts to all schools (except the few that said, "Send only...) because I took a lot of different kinds of courses as an undergraduate and graduate student, and I wanted to show schools that I really did have that "liberal arts" background. If a school doesn't request transcripts, or only requests graduate transcripts, it is up to you whether you want to send more.
Statement of Teaching Philosophy: Be yourself for one or two pages. I did one page, by clever use of fonts and margins. A fellow grad student always kept his cover letters to one page, but his Teaching Statement was two pages long, back-to-back on the same piece of paper. We both got jobs we like. If you use any buzz words (technology, group work, cooperative learning, undergraduate research) then emphasize your previous experience. I included my Teaching Statement with every application (except the "Send Only" crowd), because I was trying to emphasize my interest in teaching.
(Update in 2002: After reading several Teaching Statements, many of the statements are several pages long and, if they contain useful information, that length is no problem. It is particularly nice when people include specific examples of their own experience: how they've used group work, where they use computers in class, etc.).
Statement on Research Interests: I'm a bad person to ask about this. I wrote one about four pages long that passed muster with my advisor, but I only gave it to the one school that asked; otherwise, the paragraph in my vita sufficed. On the other hand, these are pretty important for research jobs. The general idea to convey is that you are working on something interesting that is relevant to lots of other areas, and you have a plan for future research.
What about letters of recommendation?
You need at least three. Four is better, and five is fine if they are talking about different things. Some schools request up to two that talk about teaching; the teaching ones should if possible be written by someone who has observed you (that is what September is for). Ask potential letter-writers now, and remind them in a month. Let them know when you need the letter by --- give them, and you, some leeway with this. Only a few jobs have application deadlines before November 15, so you might want to request that everything be in by mid-October. If an office at your school sends out letters, you can check periodically to make sure that the letters have been submitted and sent out. You may have to address envelopes yourself; generally you will not include your
name on the envelope, but might put a post-it note on the top. It should be clear what the deadline is, and you should allow plenty of time for them to be mailed (I allowed two weeks). Some schools don't care if the letters of recommendations are in on time. Others do, and will throw out your application if the letters aren't in their hands by the deadline (one school specifically warned me about this). You letter-writers may not realize how early some deadlines are, so you may want to remind your letter-writers as the deadlines if letters haven't been written.
When do I apply for jobs?
Most deadlines are between December 1 and January 15. Your application will stand out if you send it in early. By all means, send it in before January 1, however, even if the deadline is much later, and mention in your cover letter that you will be at the Joint Meetings in January. A lot of schools conduct interviews at the Joint Meetings, and you are far better off if you have already applied to the school and they have had the chance to look over your application. I had several schools arrange interviews with me (via email or phone) this way.
One person wrote to the YMN and mentioned that they had sent their applications in early, and then a week or two before the meetings they emailed the various people to remind them that they would be at the Joint Meetings. They got a bunch of interviews that way.
What happens later?
Many schools will call you at work or home to arrange a phone interview, possibly as early as December. Other schools will interview in the Joint Meetings, either in addition to or instead of phone interviews. Starting in February, schools will bring you out for a campus visit. Often you must buy the ticket and they will reimburse you. Make sure you know the terms of the reimbursement; some schools will not reimburse you if you turn down the job, though most are just fine. Be sure to thank everyone for every interview, whether the interview is by phone, at the Joint Meetings, or a campus interview. I did all my thanking by email, which is probably gauche but there it is. You will meet with some uppity-up during a campus interview to discuss salary and
benefits. As some basic facts, salary info can be found in the Annual Survey (posted in the Notices in or around the December issue). You will probably also get health insurance (perhaps not as good as what you have now) and retirement. The way retirement works is that you put aside some of your salary pre-tax (2-5% is what I've heard), and the school will then put in some percentage (7% seems low, 8-9% seems average, 10% and above seems good), although the schools might wait one or two years before contributing. A small number of schools offer post-retirement benefits (for example, paying for health insurance after you retire). This is a wonderful thing, but not very common.
Find out about tenure and promotion; these often go hand-in-hand, but at some schools promotion may be competitive. You should also find out about travel funds (these may be automatic, or may need to be negotiated) and sabbatical, which may be competitive or non-existent. Ask about moving expenses; they may or may not provide some money, and it seems common for the schools not to say anything if you don't bring it up. Find out about that new computer that you need for your research, whether or not you have to pay for an internet connection, whether they have funds for office furniture or if they provide it, and other stuff I can't remember.
You may need to negotiate computer equipment from the beginning. Some departments or schools will give new hires a standard package, but others expect you to ask for anything you need (including a new, as opposed to used) computer, a printer, a scanner, etc. Find out how this works and ask faculty in the department what they recommend, because it can be more difficult to
acquire anything in later years.
Finally, good luck!
