Academic Careers
Are you interested in a career in Academia? Before applying, you may consider if you are applying for research-intensive or teaching-intensive roles, and determine if a postdoctoral position is necessary for your field/career growth.
Research-Intensive Faculty
These positions are typically situated in academic departments and university centers that emphasize research as well as teaching. The types of higher institutions with faculty positions range from research-intensive doctoral institutions, four-year institutions offering master's degrees, and liberal arts colleges.
Teaching-Intensive Faculty
These positions require as many as 5 or more courses each term, student advising and institutional service. These careers are found at many kinds of institutions, including 4-year comprehensive public universities, private liberal arts colleges, community colleges, and more. Regardless of the type of faculty you endeavor to become, there are steps that you should take from as early as possible to ensure that you build a competitive record for an academic job application.
Is a Postdoc the right choice for you?
Many faculty recommend that new PhDs take up a postdoctoral position after graduation, while other scholars recommend against it.
Completing a postdoc is typically a requirement for tenure-track faculty research jobs and for most college teaching positions, and many postdocs engage in such training in order to progress toward these positions. Outside of the tenure track, it is much less likely that a particular position will require postdoctoral training, though there certainly are instances where PhDs can use such experience to enhance their candidacy. Some PhDs take on a postdoc to increase their number of first-author papers, and others seek to apply for transitional grants. More resources on postdoctoral appointments are available from the UMD Office of Postdoctoral Affairs.
Key Aspects to Keep in Mind as You Develop Your Academic Career
Depending on where you are in your PhD process, here are some tips to get you started on your academic job search:
| Scholarly Activities | Early-Stage | Late-Stage | Evaluation Criteria |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preparation | Intentionally build an organized and professional CV | Clarify and develop YOUR persona/identity as a new scholar | Define your uniqueness |
| Research | Leverage writing that you do for courses and creating a publishing plan; Attending on-campus, regional, and national conferences | Write your dissertation with a strict publication plan in mind; Propose and organize a panel or symposium at national conference | Have publication(s) and presentations in your CV to demonstrate your research capacity |
| Teaching | Increase your knowledge of best practices as a teacher - take advantage of workshops offered on-campus by TLTC | Be the instructor of record of 1-3 courses | Have teaching experiences on your CV to demonstrate your ability to teach independently |
| Service | Participate in your program/department/school’s local committees | Serve as a reviewer for journals or academic conferences | Have various activities to show on your CV that you are an active participant in your academic communities |
| Networking | Build connections and mentoring relationships; expanding network | Cultivate reference letter writers from outside your institution | Ground your growth in a community |
| Fellowship/Grants | Applying for fellowships/grants no matter how small | Apply to "new investigator grants" - deadlines and eligibility vary by funding institution | Have evidence to demonstrate your ability to support your research agenda, or obtain “extramural funding” |
| Develop Your Understanding of Faculty Careers | Attending departmental and university-wide events such as seminars and lectures | Actively engage in professional development activities to learn more about faculty careers | Prepare for your academic career early and throughout your doctoral journey |
| Navigate the Academic Job Market | Read job ads so you can relate your work to trends | Go on the academic job market as ABD for practice | Get all your documents ready and aim for the type of roles/institutions that align with your values |
Helpful Resources
Preparing for your documents? Want to understand the entire process?
Go to Beyond the Professoriate, a virtual learning platform. Under "Faculty Careers," you can begin to learn more about various documents you need to compile for a faculty position.
The National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity.
The National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD) is an independent faculty development center, with a community of over 450 colleges and universities, dedicated to supporting academics in making successful transitions throughout their careers.
To take advantage of this opportunity, you can activate your confidential, personal membership by completing the following steps:
- Go to http://www.FacultyDiversity.org/Join
- Choose your institution from the drop-down menu.
- Select “Activate my Membership”
- Complete the registration form using your institutional email address (i.e. @InstitutionalEmail.edu)
- Go to your institution email to find a confirmation email. Click “Activate Account” in the confirmation email.
Remember: Your faculty mentors are the best source of information about the academic job search process in your discipline! Your academic advisor and other faculty in your department should be your first point of contact when starting your academic job search.