March 2024
Tips for a Successful On-Campus Interview for a Professorship: Mastering the Job Talk
By Aminah Crawford
Campus visits are essential to the academic job search process. Successfully navigating campus visits and delivering a compelling job talk and teaching presentation positively impact a candidate's chances of securing employment. To help graduate students understand and prepare for this significant event, Bold Leaders in Urban Education (BLUE) hosted a workshop on the topic, given by alumnus Dr. Emily Holtz, an assistant professor at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville!
Big Picture
Graduate students who aim to become professors at educational institutions can expect to start applying for jobs one year before graduation, or in the year they complete their dissertation. Jobs are typically posted in the fall for the following year, with Zoom interviews typically occurring between October and December and campus visits from January to March. Decisions on employment are typically given in March or April; however, that it depends on how fast the university wants it to go.
Planning
Organization is key! Start a spreadsheet with each institution you apply for and have headings for elements such as location, classification, the department you are applying for, link to position, etc. It might also be helpful to order the institutions based on your desire for employment. Caveat: While you apply to multiple institutions, it is very likely that you will not get Zoom interviews and campus visits for most of them! A rule of thumb is 30%; thus, you should be getting Zoom interviews for about 30% of your applications, and of those, you ideally should get 30% inviting you for a campus visit. If you are not meeting the 30% rule, perhaps you should have someone review your application materials.
Application Materials
Below are the application materials institutions will ask for. You should start preparing these materials before you start your job market search!
- CV
- Cover letter
- Diversity Statement
- Teaching Statement
- Research Statement
- References
- Less Often Asked For
- Sample Syllabus
- Course Evaluations
Preparing Your Presentation:
You’ve been invited to campus; now what?? Here are some essential tips that you should consider. Hint: Organization.
- The interview starts when you begin communicating about your travel. Typically, the search committee chair invites you, and from there, you are in contact with administrative staff who help you organize everything. These people talk to the search committee, so you want to leave them with a good impression. Be friendly, responsive, and grateful!
- Then, you will receive an itinerary that details your entire campus visit, including who you will speak to, when, where, and for how long.
- The campus visit typically lasts about three days. You will most likely fly in late afternoon/early evening, spend an entire day in one-on-one and group interview settings, and then fly out the last morning.
- You can expect your full day on campus to be jam-packed from sunup to sundown. Being organized and prepared can help ease nerves and get you through the day!
- As you examine your schedule, look up the people you will be meeting. Look at their role with the university, CVs, research, etc. This will help you make connections and craft meaningful questions.
- Take a notebook for each campus visit and have a sheet for each person. On the sheet, you can write:
- Information about them
- Talking points for a future conversation
- Keep notes from conversations, etc.
- This will help you prepare for individual meetings and remember who you meet, when, where, and the conversation!
- Appearance
- Business professional attire
- Wear appropriate layers, especially if traveling to northern states. Remember, you will likely be there in the middle of winter!
- Be subtle aka
- Subtle jewelry, nails, and perfume
- Wear professional but walkable shoes (Imagine walking TAMU in heels)
- After
- After you present, let them start the Q&A session. If they do not have much to say, use your questions from your notebook!
- When you get back home, send a thank-you email to each person you interacted with, highlighting a key event or memory for which you are grateful. It might be as simple as telling a person, “Thank you for picking me up from the airport. I really enjoyed our conversation about __.”
Campus visits are integral to the application process because the job talk allows candidates to demonstrate their research expertise, engage with their future faculty peers, and explain why they are the best fit. The teaching presentation shows the candidate's pedagogy, interpersonal skills, teaching philosophy, content knowledge, and lesson planning. Campus visits involve discussions with academics, staff, deans, and graduate/undergraduate students. Beyond the presentations, you can expect meetings with faculty, staff, deans, graduate and/or undergraduate students, etc. These interactions offer candidates opportunities to learn more about the institution, its culture, and its expectations of the role.
Please consider joining BLUE's Email List for other workshop opportunities like this one!
Please consider joining BLUE's Email List for other workshop opportunities like this one!
About the Author
Aminah Crawford
Aminah Crawford is a third year Ph.D. student in the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Culture in the Curriculum and Instruction program. Aminah’s research investigates the (in)equity of student development, college access, and career readiness for traditionally underserved student populations and pre-service and in-service teacher preparation. A Wisconsin native, Aminah is a proud first-generation college student & cheesehead who enjoys warm weather, tacos, and making people laugh.
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