1 Preparing for the job market and transitioning into your first tenure- track position Alexander...

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Preparing for the job market and transitioning into your first tenure-

track position

Alexander SerenkoM.Sc., MBA, PhD, Esq., CNN, MTV, BBC

Faculty of Business, Lakehead University Thunder Bay, Ontario, also the home to Harvard

University and MIT

ASAC 2015 – Doctoral Consortium

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Agenda

Personal Story / BIO / Icebreaker Preparation for the job market Job search strategies Interview or campus visit Negotiating a job offer Starting your academic life (things to do first

and not to do at all)

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Personal Story / BIO / Icebreaker

Third-generation academic IT background MBA in e-Commerce, McMaster U

Met my future supervisor (Brian Detlor) and my mentor Nick Bontis

PhD in MIS in 2 yrs 9 months, tenure in 2.5 yrs Don’t try this at home

Why Lakehead? Family, nice people in the IS area, compensation

package, environment, intuition

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Disclaimer This presentation reflects the personal,

biased, and probably absolutely wrong views of the speaker

Regardless of what I say, I believe that academia is the second best job in the world

You are paid to do whatever research you want (just get tenure first)

Presented at the Doctoral Consortiums before Thought they would never let me speak again

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Importance of Doctoral Consortiums

Networking Ideas Feedback on your dissertation

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Job market preparation

Keep your long-term goals in mind Where do you want to be in 20 yrs? Personal preferences

Research Teaching Service

Create a profile of an ‘ideal’ school Be realistic

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Things to keep in mind Location, location, location

“Sure it's big but look at the location” - Shrek #1 reason for faculty turnover at Lakehead What is your family going to do?

Even though academia is terribly slow, change happens

Teaching universities become research institutions

In research universities, teaching-focused tracks appear

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Things to keep in mind Course load

4 or 5 in Canada 4 – 6 in the US (6 is the norm) Canada:12 sessions 3 hrs, US: 15 sessions 3 hrs Academic jobs in the US are more demanding (at

least, this is what my PhD buddies say) Course reductions

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Things to keep in mind Course load

What courses you may be teaching Do multiple sections count? Courses that no current faculty members want to

teach May be outside of your area of expertise

Things change quickly!!

T&P requirements E.g., Lakehead does not count publications from a

dissertation towards T&P

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Things to keep in mind Internal politics Get inside info

Your PhD program graduates Your advisor and faculty

Research funding – ‘we have no $$, get your own SSHRC’

One-year appointments often become tenure-track positions

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Application Package Professional resume

Get help from HR faculty, career services and colleagues – multiple rounds

Do NOT misrepresent yourself 10% of all resumes that were checked contained

false information Publications that never existed, wrong author order,

professional journals as peer-reviewed, etc. You may be blacklisted forever

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Application Package Teaching / Research Statement

Outline your past achievements and emphasize future potential

Customized cover letter I am applying, I am good, I did this, I published

in, etc. - Wrong Ctrl-V Ctrl-C If you really want the job, do your research and

make sure this letter is written for them, and it is about them

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Application Package What are they looking for?

There are three criteria for hiring Research – publications Research – funding Teaching – can you teach what we need?

There are three criteria for T&P Research Research Research

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Application Package There are dramatic differences in research

productivity of academics Theoretical explanation:

Sacred spark Cumulative advantage

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Application Package - Sacred spark

Multiplicative (i.e., interactive, synergetic) Direct

Effect

Personal (i.e., internal) Factors:- Research Abilities- Talent- Skills- Prior Training- Persistence- Work Habits- Motivation- Creativity- Long-term Orientation- Gratification Deferral- Openness to Criticism

Extraordinary Research

Productivity

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Application Package – Cumulative advantage

Multiplicative (i.e., interactive, synergetic) Direct

Effect

Multiplicative (i.e., interactive, synergetic)

Direct Effect

Recursive Effect

Direct Effect

Resources and Advantages:- Access to Resources - Time (e.g., teaching release) - Financial support (e.g., grants) - Graduate students - Research colleagues - Facilities (e.g., labs)

- Teaching and Administrative Leeway- Familiarity with Top Journal Publication Requirements- Bias of Editors- Bias of Reviewers

Initial Research Success

Extraordinary Research

Productivity

Rewards:- Institution’s Prestige- Researcher’s Prestige- Name Recognition- Encouragement of Colleagues- Research Self-Efficacy- Researcher’s Value for an Institution (i.e., expert power)

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Job Search Strategies

CAUT (paper and online) Each school’s website

Create a list and visit all of them weekly Personal contacts or talk to the school

directly Conferences!

E.g., AMCIS for IS, interview booths on site Professional association websites

E.g., IS World for IS Talk to the recent grads, advisor, etc.

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Job Search Strategies

Submit Resume Cover letter Research/Teaching statement, teaching evaluations Names of referees Reference letters (only if required)

Try to identify a friendly faculty member in your area and talk to him/her

It is OK to cold-call a person in some cases Hiring committee members may not directly

talk to you not to breach the protocol

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Campus Visit

33% chance of getting an offer You will be sent a schedule Learn about faculty members in advance

Names, research areas, major publications, etc. Identify a decision maker

Formal – the Dean and Area Chair Informal?

The interview starts when you discuss your visit over the phone/email

Communicate in a professional tone!

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Campus Visit

You will have meals with hiring committee members, Area Chair, Dean, faculty members

This is part of the interview You will meet as many faculty/area members

as possible Put yourself in their place (have a break between

the classes, let’s go for a coffee for 10 mins) Dinner You will need energy

I got up earlier and had an extra breakfast before You can talk, not eat

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Campus Visit

Formal presentation The best way to ruin your career Research presentation

Your dissertation or another COMPLETED project People expect to see the results – where are you in your

PhD? Not a brief discussion of several research papers you

wrote for your PhD courses, or future research Not only a lit review and research questions You may mention future research directions/projects

after you are done with your actual presentation 1 ppt slide “Future Research”

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Campus Visit

Formal presentation Teaching presentation (if asked) Pick a neutral topic Something you are familiar with, but not the

audience You need to demonstrate that you may

communicate the material to the audience which is unfamiliar with this area

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Campus Visit

Do NOT (based on the personal experience):

Read the slides Comment on sensitive issues (e.g., superiority of

qualitative / quantitative research) Use coarse language (sh..t, my PPT doesn’t work) Use font size 5 for PPT slides Miss the ‘agenda’ slide Talk to the wall Talk to the computer Avoid eye contact

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Campus Visit

Do NOT: Put long sentences in small font Don’t explain the model by using your finger on

the computer monitor (people on the other side of the computer can’t see it)

Talk to yourself

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Campus Visit

Formal presentation This should be the best presentation you

will ever do in your life You MUST spend several days rehearsing your

presentation Memorize all slides and the entire speech Make a few jokes, don’t be boring Handle questions well

“I did not expect somebody here to know this…” Predict all questions in advance

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Campus Visit

Formal presentation You may be asked to teach a class

Inquire about the topic in advance You may meet grad students

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Campus Visit

Interview preparation Attend hiring interviews in your faculty, even in

other areas Make significant progress on your dissertation ABD is a must Interview at conferences to get experience Make your presentation simple. You are the

subject matter expert, not your audience Give this presentation at your school

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Campus Visit

Questions to expect during an interview Illegal questions (“what’s your wife going to do

here?”) Why us? When do you expect to complete your PhD?

Be realistic, do NOT mislead them Publication plans? Conferences to attend? Are you OK with re-allocation? What classes did you take? How would you teach this course? Preferred research method? (Qual vs. quant)

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Campus Visit

Questions to ask Courses and course load. Does it change over

time? Office presence / office hours (but beware) Is this position fully funded / approved? T&P requirements Success of previous T&P applicants Service expectations TAs/GAs/Markers Class size

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Campus Visit

Questions to ask Travel support (faculty and university) Internal funding Future plans of the faculty Specific courses you may be potentially teaching Teaching release in the 1st year Teaching release for research Where would your office be? How do the faculty spend their summers?

Summer courses? Vacation? Research? When do I start? May I delay the appointment?

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Campus Visit

Questions not to ask first Salary and compensation package

Check the website and collective agreement Salaries over $100K in Ontario in the public sector are

online Internal politics Financial situation of the school or university

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General Advice

Show a genuine interest in people / place Respect the location Show how your expertise will contribute to

their faculty Behave as if you visualize yourself working

there Keep internal politics in mind (some faculty

members may dislike each other) Be confident but not ignorant Be nice to everyone

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Job Offer Negotiation

Don’t discuss it during the interview If asked, say you are familiar with the range

and average salaries in your discipline in Canada /US, but don’t state $$

Wait for an offer to arrive Then you will have a week or two to negotiate the offer This is the ONLY time you have power over the

administration

Negotiate ONLY if you will accept the new offer. Think about the other PhD students in your school

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Starting salary is important but not the KingAnnual increaseTravel and PDFTeaching load – preps vs. courses, teach courses that

you previously taughtCost of livingTuition waiver for spouse and childrenUnion presence, benefits, moving expensesHouse hunting expensesStart date, when do I need to finish my dissertation?

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BATNA – Best Alternative To Negotiated AgreementAlmost impossible to know their BATNAYour BATNA depends on

Your area of concentration Current job market condition Other offers

Note that in some cases you may negotiate the salary but not the benefits (which are set in the collective agreement)

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Pros of negotiation More $$ now and in future

In one case, an assistant professor negotiated a $10,000 increase

Cons They may say ‘no’ Extra work for the Dean or hiring committee View you as a troublemaker even before you

arrive Will find ways to get back at you later

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First Days on the Job

Take care of your familyFind a family doctor

Ask the Dean and others to help youAre there any senior faculty with ‘unorthodox’

views on junior faculty members?Figure out tenure and promotion (T&P)

requirements in detailTalk to the recent T&P applicantsNumber of articles, do publications before joining

this university count?

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Attend a university’s orientation session for the new facultyGood networking opportunity

Teaching preps take lots of timeTwo preps in one semester took 80% of my time Try to keep all the materials for the next year

Find a mentorA senior faculty member, dept chair, etc.Secretary may be a great source of info

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Do NOT assume that all rules are the same as they are in your previous school“We did it this way at McMaster, how should I do it

now?” E.g., mandatory release of final exams to the library Often, the financial office is the source of problems

Minimize distractions by students Clear info in class, mass emails with clarifications, all info

is online for those who don’t attend the class, etc. 90% of all interruptions come from 10% of the students If I teach well, I have more time for research…..

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Low teaching evaluation in your first year is not a problem, but good evaluation is….????Show continuous (even small) improvement

Minimize the serviceAvoid internal committees – source of politicsExternal / university level service is safer and counts

moreFinish your dissertation!!

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Things NOT to do

You are a junior untenured faculty memberUnderstand this and know your limitsDon’t try to overthrow the DeanDon’t sever as a chair on any committeesDon’t try to lead the SenateDon’t publically criticize the PresidentDon’t tell senior researchers how to do researchDon’t fight with your colleagues/administrators

Conflict or differences of opinions – just LET IT GO

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Remember

Don’t allow your early enthusiasm of joining academia to disappear because:Academic politics is intense. Pay no attention to it.

Be above it. This is not your worldMany students are not excited about real learning

(give me my B and a degree)Your major challenge will be to address pathologies

created by others rather than to actually improve and deliver high-quality education and research output

This is still the second best job in the world!

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Questions?

PPT is available online

aserenko.com

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