waiting...
I got up bright and early this morning and rushed to open my computer--I wanted to check the job list, which is the list of tenure-track assistant professorship positions available nation-wide this academic cycle. The list is posted once per year (on around Sept 14 or 15), and I have been anxiously waiting for it. I even got up late last night from bed to check, thinking that it might be posted after midnight. Alas, both last night and this morning have turned out fruitless. It won't be posted until 11 am PST!
This is a big moment for advanced grad students across the country. All of us are waiting for this list, wondering if there are a lot of jobs offered in our field. (To give you a sense of what "good year" might be, let's say that if there are at least 20 jobs offered in your field--mine is Victorian--that would be a pretty good year. Yeah, it's super-competitive. 20 jobs available in the entire country!) Several of my classmates have gone on the market several times and haven't gotten anything. Since the list is offered once per year, that's pretty much just one chance to get a job per year. It's like applying for grad school--if you don't get in this year, you have to wait a whole other year.
The process goes something like this: job list comes out in September; send in your application (which includes a 25-30 page writing sample, dissertation abstract, cover letter, c.v.--the academic version of a resume, and letters of recommendation) which are usually due late October or early November; wait and hope you get asked for more materials (sometimes they don't ask for a writing sample immediately); end of November and beginning of December you hope to get called for an interview; December 26-30 attend our annual English Department convention for interviews (held at a different big city every year--this year in Chicago). Getting an interview is actually already pretty far in the process. Most of my friends who have gone on the market in previous years have never even gotten to the interview stage. After the interviews in December, if you get asked to do a campus visit, then that's huge. That means you are one of two or three candidates that they are considering. Then you usually fly out to campus either in January or February and give a "job talk" (about a 45-minute presentation of one of your dissertation chapters). And then there's more waiting. I think March is about the earliest you find out if you get the job or not. And if no job, you start the process all over again the following September.
So for those of you wondering what I've been up to, this is it. I'm working on my job market materials, which is a lot harder than it sounds. The abstract and job letter are incredibly hard to write, I've discovered, for they involve distilling my entire dissertation into two-page and two-paragraph forms, respectively. I've been working on the former for two weeks now, and still feel that I haven't got it right.
And I'm still not done with my dissertation. Back in early August, my committee told me to start focusing on preparing for the job market and worry about finishing my dissertation next year. I initially balked, and was pretty upset at this news, but now I am okay with it. After several weeks of struggle and being upset with God, I have accepted this outcome with peace. I trust that this is good, even if it's not what I want (having to delay yet again my hope of being finally done). I stopped asking why and stopped rebelling against what God has obviously ordained. I believe that God has more for me to learn in this process, this journey of the dissertation, and that this delay, while hard for my pride, is good for my soul. It hasn't been easy, this process of acceptance, but it finally came while I was in LA. For the first time since I heard the news from my advisers, I was able to say "Yes, Lord" to my situation. This peace needs to be cultivated every day, however, and I find myself needing to fervently pray truth to remind me of the right perspective, instead of being tempted to wallow in self-pity and doubt.
So here I am, still waiting in many areas of my life...two-and-a-half more hours to go...
This is a big moment for advanced grad students across the country. All of us are waiting for this list, wondering if there are a lot of jobs offered in our field. (To give you a sense of what "good year" might be, let's say that if there are at least 20 jobs offered in your field--mine is Victorian--that would be a pretty good year. Yeah, it's super-competitive. 20 jobs available in the entire country!) Several of my classmates have gone on the market several times and haven't gotten anything. Since the list is offered once per year, that's pretty much just one chance to get a job per year. It's like applying for grad school--if you don't get in this year, you have to wait a whole other year.
The process goes something like this: job list comes out in September; send in your application (which includes a 25-30 page writing sample, dissertation abstract, cover letter, c.v.--the academic version of a resume, and letters of recommendation) which are usually due late October or early November; wait and hope you get asked for more materials (sometimes they don't ask for a writing sample immediately); end of November and beginning of December you hope to get called for an interview; December 26-30 attend our annual English Department convention for interviews (held at a different big city every year--this year in Chicago). Getting an interview is actually already pretty far in the process. Most of my friends who have gone on the market in previous years have never even gotten to the interview stage. After the interviews in December, if you get asked to do a campus visit, then that's huge. That means you are one of two or three candidates that they are considering. Then you usually fly out to campus either in January or February and give a "job talk" (about a 45-minute presentation of one of your dissertation chapters). And then there's more waiting. I think March is about the earliest you find out if you get the job or not. And if no job, you start the process all over again the following September.
So for those of you wondering what I've been up to, this is it. I'm working on my job market materials, which is a lot harder than it sounds. The abstract and job letter are incredibly hard to write, I've discovered, for they involve distilling my entire dissertation into two-page and two-paragraph forms, respectively. I've been working on the former for two weeks now, and still feel that I haven't got it right.
And I'm still not done with my dissertation. Back in early August, my committee told me to start focusing on preparing for the job market and worry about finishing my dissertation next year. I initially balked, and was pretty upset at this news, but now I am okay with it. After several weeks of struggle and being upset with God, I have accepted this outcome with peace. I trust that this is good, even if it's not what I want (having to delay yet again my hope of being finally done). I stopped asking why and stopped rebelling against what God has obviously ordained. I believe that God has more for me to learn in this process, this journey of the dissertation, and that this delay, while hard for my pride, is good for my soul. It hasn't been easy, this process of acceptance, but it finally came while I was in LA. For the first time since I heard the news from my advisers, I was able to say "Yes, Lord" to my situation. This peace needs to be cultivated every day, however, and I find myself needing to fervently pray truth to remind me of the right perspective, instead of being tempted to wallow in self-pity and doubt.
So here I am, still waiting in many areas of my life...two-and-a-half more hours to go...
posted by mariyaya | 8:04 AM
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