Preparing for an Academic Career Path

Academic Job Interviews - Campus Interviews

Because transportation and accommodation expenses for campus interviews are borne by the university, only the top 3-4 applicants will be invited. The formal interview will be a small portion of the visit, which usually spans a couple of days, but every aspect of the visit should be perceived as an interview since the applicant will be carefully scrutinized at all times. Many otherwise strong applicants have lost out on job offers for indiscreet comments made before and after the formal parts of the visit.

Before the visit, applicants should carefully prepare to discuss their dissertation and any other research experience, their teaching experience and philosophy and their future research plans. By examining the job posting and current course offerings in the target department, applicants should be able to identify both courses they could teach and courses they could develop to enhance the current offerings.

Preparing one or two good course syllabi for such courses, would be an impressive addition since it would demonstrate ability to design courses and understanding of a particular department's needs. It is also prudent to be able to discuss how one's research interests complements (without replicating) that of a few faculty members.

Few, if any, of the faculty on the interview panel will have expertise in the same area(s) as the applicant so it is important that explanations be accessible to the non-expert and connected wherever possible to common areas of interest.