Surviving Your Academic Job Hunt: Advice for Humanities PhDS

by Kathryn Hume

This book shows job hunters how to train themselves to succeed in the humanities job market. They can study examples of the documents and work up answers to the questions posed in phone, conference, and campus interviews. They will also learn about bargaining for items such as subsidies, databases, and start-up packages. The book can be used by department job officers to train students, or by job hunters training themselves. Minority job hunters will find questions and advice specific to their position. The material on academic economics and politics will help job hunters transform their mindset from student to faculty.

Genres: Academia, Nonfiction, Self Help, Humanities, Academic

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 15, 2005

Reviews

[Vita · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book needs an update. It's 2019, hello.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hume's book is a must read for any graduate student in the humanities who desires to become an academic. Hume offers a clear plan for how to begin and perform the job hunt, how to manage interviews at national conferences, and what to do at campus interviews and when negotiating for a job offer. Her project largely demystifies a process that doesn't seem to get talked about a lot, and she offers helpful advice and examples of former students who have successfully landed jobs at teaching schools and research schools. Additionally, her last few chapters are helpful in envisioning what being an assistant professor will be like, and those chapters are probably very useful reads for beginning professors.

Hume also offers example documents from others' job hunts in her Appendices, which provides helpful models for humanities PhD scholars looking for a job.

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short book is a gem, providing advice for doctoral students, recent doctoral graduates, and new faculty. The tone is one of a coach giving advice, not just imparting information. It is written for humanities graduates, so had references to many academic hiring practices that were not relevant to my field. However, the real strength of this book lies in the fact that it discusses the experience of becoming an academic, not just the steps. The author states how you will be perceived in different circumstances, the reasoning behind networking as well as what it looks like, how to navigate issues of seniority and departmental politics, and even describes some specific issues that minority faculty members are likely to face and how to deal with them.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Makes a body paranoid. The most OCD book. One of my favorite tips? Put large bills in your shoes at conference interviews so in the case your wallet is stolen, you can take care of yourself so that...you don't have it on your mind while you're interviewing. Rather reminds me of the bride looking up at the axe in the lintel in that old fairy tale, worrying about everything that could happen. A little paranoia, though, may be good.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find it hilarious that one of the suggestions is to "be sure to get a driver's license." Are we teachers really that thick?

I would give this 3 1/2 because it is one of the better designed books I have encountered in this arena of text.