Conducting Simultaneous Searches

My current position is an Assistant Professor at the School of Pharmacy, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. At the time of my job search (summer of 1999), I was considering four similar academic positions and two consulting jobs.

• You were searching simultaneously for positions both within and outside academe. What were some of the challenges inherent in doing those searches concurrently? What were some of the benefits?

The challenges involved in conducting a simultaneous job search for health care consulting positions and academic positions were the tremendous differences that existed in the process. Right from developing a resume or cv, to the style and format of the interview and the timelines to make a decision was on opposite sides of the coin. Preparation for the consulting interviews were far more difficult then the academic experience- for the simple reason of experience. Having spent over five years in graduate school, I was more familiar with the expectations of the academic world and subsequently was more at ease in preparing to possibly enter it. The consulting world was very different. For instance, I spent en entire semester developing a resume, one that was succint and adequately translated my research skills into "real world" problem solving skills. The workshops offered by Career Center coupled with the advice from the career counselors was very helpful in this process. In addition, I picked up a few books recommended by speakers I had heard at Career Center’s seminars that proved to be very useful. The informational sessions offered by consulting firms on campus also helped bridged the gap between what I thought I should do and what I really should have done! Overall, the non academic job search presented challenges at very stage, that can be overcome through information and perseverance.

The advantage of going through the non academic job search (which commenced a little earlier than my academic jobs search) is that I gained a lot of confidence in my abilities to successfully interview in academe. In my opinion, a job search in the academic world was lot less intimidating than that in the non academic world.

• How was searching outside academe similar to and different from an academic job search? How did timelines compare?

First, the decision to develop a resume versus a cv. While the academic world encourages a detailed explanation of one’s work, the non academic world is less forgiving. As a fresh Ph.D from Michigan, the unspoken rule was a one page resume, in bullet points, that showcased my talents and abilities of the majority of my adult life!

Second, the interview process itself. Academic interviews are typically held over a period of one or more days, where you meet numerous people on a one-on-one basis and are encouraged to talk about your work and your future vision (things you should be actively thinking about, while entering the job search world). In the non academic world, you may have a series of interviews, some over the phone, where your mind is put to the test, answering mind teasers and problem solving case scenarios. In addition, the interview is typically for a day, and in my experience, I had constantly explain to my interviewers, why I would choose a consulting position over an academic job. There appears to be some stereotypes about Ph.D’s and their niche in the academic world, and one has to work hard to prove otherwise.

Third, the timelines. This was probably the greatest source of frustration. The academic world is a lot slower than the non-academic world and after your campus visit are apt to take a while to get back to you. Not quite so in the non-academic world. I received a very tempting offer within days of my visit and had to stall them for over a month (which is really stretching things beyond the customary two week period), while I had made a decision. Subsequently I had to ask my current employer (at an academic institution) to make me an offer if they were interested within a few days of my interviewing there, and after interminable conference calls at midnight on Saturday, things finally came through. The one lesson I learnt is that while one should spend a great deal of time preparing for the interview and is often in doubt about the outcome, offers do come by, some faster than others and a clear understanding of these issues is important. It would be unfortunate to accept a job offer, only because of bad timing.

• How did you evaluate your options (not your offers, but your options)? What factors were most important to you as you considered paths within and outside academe?

Within academia, the notion of academic freedom and the flexibility of balancing work and family were very appealing. In addition, the ability to publish one’s work, one’s thoughts and opinions, unfettered, was also important to me.

In the non academic world, the ability to solve problems for corporations, i.e., the application of one’s research into practice, and the substantial increase in pay (after years of living as a grad student!) were certainly appealing. However, the constant travel that such a job demanded was a negative factor in my decision-making process.

• Did you use two different types of documents, a resume and a vita? If so, how did the documents differ?

I did use two documents, my resume was short, a page long and outlined all my experiences in bullet points. Most of my work related experiences focused on my research and its translation into contemporary business practices. Little attention was given to my teaching experiences.

My vita was 3 pages long and was more descriptive in the explanation of both my research and teaching experiences.

• Talk about how you tried to market yourself to nonacademic employers. How did you talk about your graduate school experiences?

This was certainly challenging. First, I had to do a lot of soul searching to discover, if I had the necessary qualities to succeed in the non academic world. Second, I had to translate my research experiences into skills that are useful in contemporary business practices, both in my resume and in my interview. As my field is health care research, there was quite a bit of overlap between my research and my work, so after some practice with problem based case scenarios, I was able to make that transition a lot easier. One thing that really helped was my inherent interest in the business world. I had been reading the Wall Street Journal and Business Week for years and it was much easier to talk about how my graduate school experiences were relevant in the non academic world.

• Did academic employers know that you were also looking outside academe, and vice versa? Did this come up in interviews?

I was a lot more open about my job search options with the academic employers, they often asked outright. I was more tight lipped with the non academic world, I sensed that any revelation of my academic interests, might pigeon hole me into the academic stereotype.

• I know that you received more than one job offer. Can you talk in general terms about how you negotiated the offers? Do you have negotiation tips for students?

Key to the negotiation process was buying time to make a decision. As I mentioned earlier, the non academic world had much tigther deadlines than the academic world. With regard to the academic work, where I did a majority of my negotiation, I had some detailed conversations with faculty and previous graduates from my program about what I could and could not negotiate. I made detailed notes of it as most my my negotiation was over the phone. One thing I did learn, was not to push negotiations for matters (such as salary etc for a fresh gradaute) that are deemed non-negotiable. Each institiution has its own implict rules and the best source of that information are new faculty at the prospective institiution who have been through the process themselves.