Evaluating Academic Job Offers

Any suggestion about how to evaluate academic job offers assume the existence of a choice. However, in many disciplines, it is not unusual to have only one offer (and that is considered a very significant success). Even so, you always have choices, and Michael Schoenfeldt (English) suggests that taking nonacademic choices seriously can enhance your success in the academic realm (and if not, it can make you more able to transition successfully out of it). So, you might evaluate your academic offers against each other (should a plurality exist) as well as against whatever you might do if you didn't take any of them.

The following is a summary of advice on this topic given by Professors Eileen VanTassell (Michigan State University), Jeanne Raisler (Nursing), Naomi Andre (Music), and Alford Young (Sociology & Afroamerican and African Studies) at the Academic Job Search Symposium held on September 22, 2000. You can find the full transcript here. 

The first step (one you have likely already completed) is to identify your priorities and evaluate your options in light of those priorities. Is it important for you to be in a major research institution or would you prefer to be in a small college that emphasizes teaching? Is it imperative that you live near - for example - skiing opportunities, or does geography not matter so much?
 

Departmental issues

• Pay attention to interpersonal cues. Do people in the department seem happy? Do you feel comfortable there?

• Note the departmental culture: is it a place where colleagues meet to talk about ongoing research or one in which everyone works busily behind closed doors? Which style would you prefer?

• Be attentive to the strengths of both the department and the institution. If you spend the next 6-8 years there pursuing tenure, you will likely be shaped by these strengths (as they will influence the opportunities available to you). If these strengths are different from your present interests, do you feel that adapting to them would be productive for your life as a scholar and a teacher?

Institutional issues

• Talk to as many people (students, colleagues, administrators) as possible. You want to understand both what their experience is at this institution as well as what their expectations of you will be. For example, do professors have an informal relationship with students in that a student with a question might contact a professor at home or are relations more formal, with interaction only during scheduled office hours?

• Consider the size of the institution. Do you want to be in a big place that will provide opportunities to be part of many different research communities or would you rather be in a smaller place that emphasizes its expertise in your discipline and therefore might place a greater value on your work?

• Does the institution invest in resources that you will need in order to carry out your work and be successful?  

Regional issues

• Your personal network as well as local papers or community magazines can help you get a sense of the region you are considering.

• Consider the university/town balance. Do you want to be in a place in which your institution dominates the area or do you want to be in a place with lots of other things going on (other industries, other colleges, etc.), which might allow you to separate yourself from your work at the end of the day?