Scholarlyhires Blog

For those currently in a Higher Education careers search group keep this in mind: with your resume, less can be more.

Considering the large numbers of unemployed Higher Education professionals competing for the same college positions, and considering the multiple hats a hiring manager is likely to be wearing, time just will not allow the scrutiny required to read through one long resume after another searching for the key word or phrase demonstrating that you are a the best fit for the position offered. Reviewed also, either from the resume or at interview, are how you write and speak, your level of understanding of spoken words and written tasks, and will I have to send this person who holds a masters degree to a communication class at cost to the department?

A one page resume that pinpoints your skills and strengths, lists your previous institution’s name and your position, and one or two associations or activities (related or that show contrast to your work life and provide a snapshot of your well-roundedness), far outweighs the 2 or more page, bulleted 10 points showing what you did in all of your academic positions and situations. Save that information for special request or better yet, for the interview!

Additionally, if you’re smart (and I am going with the belief that you are and therefore on this site) you may decide to be more flexible regarding the direction of your career. In days gone by, one would only consider career movement upward or laterally. However, in today’s tough economic and employment climate it is not so far out there to consider less. If so, remember to customize your resume to highlight the particular knowledge skills and abilities, as well as experiences that position you as the best candidate because there are still hundreds, perhaps thousands, also applying for these college jobs. Everyone within academia, from Faculty Dean to entry level go-fer, is expected to multi-task and do more and to require less in salary to do it.

Have you ever wondered if advertised faculty jobs really exist, or if academic search committees are “really hiring”?

Believe it or not, we’ve all wondered this from time to time. Nothing is more frustrating than receiving sterile rejection letters stating, “Because we could not find a suitable candidate...” What do they mean by we could not find a suitable candidate? Aren’t we suitable candidates? Objectively speaking, we are. However, in the subjective world of university employment or college employment, even Nobel Laureates could be deemed unsuitable.

Why? Very good question... Perhaps a better question is whether higher education positions are advertised for the purpose of hiring someone, anyone, best qualified to fill a need, or create extra “busy work” during faculty search season?

How can you tell if a search is legitimately committed to hiring or not? Research your prospective employer. Investigate web sites for employment and academic departments, see if any historical track record of canceled or suspended searches exists. Graduate students at least a year before degree completion should start researching and saving advertised faculty jobs in an archive. When ready to start applying and interviewing for academic positions, go back into those advertisement archives and see if a new ad looks too familiar. This is how we collect valuable data on professional fields and patterns of “employment behavior” by different institutions of higher education and academic departments. Sometimes jobs are advertised with no intention to ever fill them, or with very unrealistic expectations of the ultimate candidate for hire. Sometimes a faculty job has chronic misfortune of attracting very unsuitable applicants, or being a cruel revolving door with little stability and security. Sometimes job searches really are legitimate but other factors sabotage hiring.

We’re applying for academic positions for our academic careers. Always do some research before applying.