The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 6 research/teaching positions.
Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.To see trending, go to Andrew Spaeth's visualization of previous years' list.
On June 7, 2023, the 2023 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 4 research/teaching positions.
Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? This will be the first open thread.
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Oh s***, here we go again
ReplyDeleteJust throwing out some useful info I've come across:
ReplyDeleteVery detailed description of a successful applicant. Her field is biology, but many of the pointers seem generally helpful: https://www.mckinleylab.org/_files/ugd/73faf8_d0c08c91b9344859973cf6bba4fc4368.pdf
A couple of nice threads:
https://twitter.com/vbarber820/status/1667560307001110528?s=20
https://twitter.com/JasonKhoury1/status/1665461835364175874?s=20
https://twitter.com/JohnDSailer/status/1555621810149916673?s=20
https://twitter.com/GarciaLabMS/status/1623046103280103428?s=20
Super helpful. I have never seen a search committee member explaining their process of selection previously. Thank you.
DeleteI found Twitter to be very helpful last year. It takes some time to figure out what keywords to search for and scroll through 100s of Tweets, but there's some really good stuff to be found.
DeleteI was a successful candidate last year and thought I'd share something I underappreciated when applying/interviewing: fit. How well you fit a department is a key factor. When a posting says a department is interested in people in X area or with expertise in Y, they usually mean it. I didn't receive any interviews for positions where I did not do what they said they were searching for. All of my interviews were with places hiring people like me, and the position I accepted had a job description that aligned very well with my work. Many don't specify what they want but often have preferences behind the scenes, which sucks. I wouldn't say not to apply if you're interested in a school/geographical region, but know that if they say they want someone working on organic synthesis, for example, and you do anything outside of organic chemistry, you better be a rockstar in your area to have a chance at an interview.
ReplyDeleteI was also a successful candidate last year and agree wholeheartedly! I suspect that many of the candidates who apply to 50+ schools would be ~as successful applying to 20 that are great fits. Of course there are exceptions, but I get the feeling they are rare.
DeleteWhile I agree overall, often places that we feel are not-so-great-fits by reading their ads will invite you for interviews. This is because internally, you were a good fit for their requirements, which they didn't explicitly state in their ads. So, my suggestion is apply to as many places you can without losing sanity (note: personal experience from one job cycle that worked out).
ReplyDeleteThe priority date for the University of Buffalo jobs should be 10/1/23 not 11/1/23
ReplyDeleteAny reason the University of Utah job doesn't have a link? I poked around their website and couldn't find the posting there either.
ReplyDeleteAlso looks like the ACS jobs posting has expired too.
DeleteLink has been fixed
DeleteOn Washington University's comment, "Applicants will be reviewed on a rolling basis until [priority date]...", is this common practice even when not specified?
ReplyDeleteFrom my experience, if they don't specify a rolling basis then there's just one deadline. Not necessarily advantageous to submit early for most positions.
DeleteProbably fairly common. I'm a search chair this cycle and we have a normal priority date/deadline in the position posting which is still a way out. I am taking a quick look at applications as they come in and taking some quick notes about whether the application meets our basic qualifications and things like that. At least for my institute, there is no advantage in applying early because as long as the application meets basic requirements, it is going to be fully reviewed by the committee after the deadline.
DeleteI would recommend using the time available before the deadline to carefully proofread and tailor your application materials. We get some applications submitted early that have cover letters referring to other institutions or positions in other fields, research proposals well beyond the length limits, missing application components and so on. Depending on the issue, it might not be disqualifying, but that kind of stuff suggests low effort/interest in the specific position.
I see one position is requesting a startup budget in the cover letter. What is typical for an R1 institution? I've done some shopping for equipment/supplies but don't want to unintentionally lowball myself
ReplyDeleteUsually, it's to eliminate applicants from the start that are likely outside their budget range. I saw this for some R2s last year but not any R1s, since they tend to be better funded. Asking for that number upfront is worrisome to me. How much you might need is hard to estimate without knowing what resources they already have that can be shared. Does it specify equipment budget? Just startup budget? The latter would include personnel costs, your salary, relocation, etc. My package (for a biochem type of lab) was ~$500k for equipment and the total was a little under $2m. From people I've talked to, this is in the ballpark for R1s.
DeleteI've found a few PUI postings that are listed as a "full-time" faculty position but they don't specify where or not it is tenure-track. For example,
ReplyDeletehttps://www.higheredjobs.com/faculty/details.cfm?JobCode=178530751&Title=Assistant%20Professor%20%2D%20Chemistry
Should I assume a position is NOT tenure track if they don't explicitly state it in the job listing?
I would email to ask. If they're expecting a research program, that's not typically a requirement of a VAP.
DeleteYou might look up their faculty handbook, usually that will say what types of positions the institution has. It could also be a continuing type of appointment, but maybe the institution doesn't have tenure. Or it could be an oversight in the ad, it does also say they're starting review of applications October 1, 2023 for an August 1, 2023 start date.
DeleteThis is as good as a time of any to note that "full-time" positions do not count as "tenure-track" and are therefore not eligible for the list.
DeleteWhen looking at positions, I will do a word search for the word "tenure" in the ad, and if it does not have it, I will then follow up with a search for the name of the institution followed by the word "tenure", and it typically will reveal if the institution has tenure for the faculty. I will then look for the faculty handbook for the institution. If none of these reveal a tenure-system for promotion at the university, the position will not be included.
Has anyone gotten the sense that there are fewer candidates on the market this year? I've heard from a couple schools that they are getting way fewer applications than expected.
ReplyDeleteI agree, and seeing application deadlines extended already this year reaffirms this... But I think it is also fair to say, at least for domestic trainees, that it is difficult to financially justify the grind necessary to get the job that (at the very least at the beginning-to-intermediate levels) just doesn't pay well in HCOL areas, and family pressure begins to easily trump career aspirations. I trust this is a sobering observation that rings true to many? I could be wrong but please comment with your thoughts!
DeleteI agree, probably bc the total number of postdocs is declining every year (primarily due to low pay and financial stress).
DeleteI'm curious to see how this plays out. My gut feeling is that more people will get faculty jobs but that's assuming the pool is similarly talented to previous years. Hiring is a major investment and most places won't settle for someone outside their top couple candidates unless they're desperate for someone to fill a teaching gap or whatever.
DeleteBut, there are also fewer positions compared to last year (and before?).
ReplyDeleteMy assumption is that the pipeline of applicants had been fuller than usual the last couple of years after the 2020 disaster year. By this point, most of the 2020 (2021/22 jobs) pool will either have gotten jobs or "given up" for double the pay and potentially better work/life balance in industry.
DeleteLooking at the plots, last year was above average (excluding the COVID year). I don't think this year is unusually low.
DeleteA school that I'm looking at doesn't require a cover letter as part of the application materials (I confirmed this by opening up the application portal). Would it be worth writing a cover letter and attaching it as part of my CV, or would this do more harm than good?
ReplyDeleteEvery app I did last year asked for one. You should contact them and ask, but it's unlikely to hurt if you include one. I got the impression that your cover letter is probably the only thing other than your CV that people are guaranteed to seriously look at .
DeleteA cover letter is a place for you to advocate for yourself on one page of paper. Seems to me a good opportunity.
DeleteFYI, there is a typo on the list. The entry for Beloit College has a mistake in the city column. It has a link for the job posting to Colorado State University.
ReplyDeleteAny thoughts about when (/how long after the job posting date) we should expect to be contacted for interviews by a college (PUI) that doesn't have a priority deadline ("Open Until Filled")?
ReplyDeleteYou should check the search status tracker sheet linked at the bottom of the list. That might give you an idea of the delay for a PUI. Without a priority deadline it's going to be hard to predict, though, especially if the applicant pool is smaller this year. A lot of schools will wait until they have a certain number of good candidates before interviewing anyone.
DeleteIs there a new interview tracker for 2024?
DeleteI'm sure CJ would be happy to update the spreadsheet if someone wanted to create a new tracker for this year. The chemistry bumper cars list wasn't being updated last year, so one of the people searching for a job made her own and CJ linked to it. Since Tori got a job, she probably won't maintain it this year.
DeleteI'll just create a new sheet on the old tracker for this year.
DeleteHas anyone gotten any Zoom interviews yet?
ReplyDeletelook like yes: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zZf5I43l4jXVUWsIUZVo7UeA9vrIszitGdkYA9XUBgY/edit?usp=sharing
DeleteAny idea what happens to the search at e.g. US Naval Academy when the government shuts down?
ReplyDeleteConsidering that most of the USNA chemistry faculty are civilians (I believe), this Politico article from 2013 tends to indicate that they will be not be working, so the search will be on pause (but this also depends on the priority date): https://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/government-shutdown-military-academies-097677
DeleteThe USNA priority date is the same day as the projected shutdown. The US Air Force Academy was 9/15, so they may be further along (but probably not far enough along that a shutdown would not be disruptive to their search).
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