Seasoned New York graduate students met recently with more junior ones to discuss “The Political Science Job Market.” Rather than focusing on larger statistical trends, the collegial conversation addressed practical “how to” questions of landing one’s first academic job.

Speakers took turns tackling subjects such as resumes, job talks, and campus visits. The discussion – part Carnegie Endowment and part Dale Carnegie – was broadly applicable to those seeking faculty positions in the social sciences, and higher education generally.

The cover letter should address why one is a good candidate for a department, they were told. In submitting a writing sample from one’s unfinished dissertation, the consensus was it is better to send an “empirical chapter” than a “theory chapter.”

Discussion turned to the “job talk,” when prospective candidates are invited to campus to give a lecture. “If you’re a women, don’t play with your hair” while lecturing, one said. Why? It may inspire “catty comments” – it’s best not to be referred to as “the one who played with her hair.”

“Do not read your job talk,” the students were told; instead, practice using bullet points, preferably before a mirror dressed in interview attire. Also, the trend now is to use power point presentations rather than slides.

Other advice: Get an early look at the room where the job talk will take place. If the lectern is far from the screen, move it closer, since people should focus on the speaker as well as the screen. It is prudent to e-mail the presentation to a contact at the school, in case a laptop gets lost; and to take slides as a backup in case the power point technology doesn’t work.

In the presentation, “don’t put huge blocks of text” overhead, since the audience will be less inclined to read long excerpts. Also, fancy colors and animation can be distracting; stick to a “straightforward presentation.”

Rhetorical advice followed: “It’s important to grab people’s attention in the first five minutes. Establish the stakes involved” and underscore why the talk involves an important research question. An entertaining anecdote, or a counterintuitive fact that tells why the speaker became interested in the subject can be useful.

It’s better not to exceed 40 or 45 minutes; an hour talk can be boring, they were told. “Get to your work very quickly” and don’t spend a majority of time reviewing other research literature.

When accepting a job talk, find out if people at the school ask questions during the presentation or if they are held to the end. If possible, ask for the latter, because it cuts down on interruption. If an audience member attacks the presentation, “don’t seem that you’re overwhelmed” but defend the position.

“Write down audience questions,” the students were told. It will help to remember multipart questions and the audience will “think they are giving you important feedback.”

There was discussion as to whether one should deliver one’s first job talk at a place you don’t care about as much on the theory that “the first is your worst.” Some agreed with this, but others gave their best talk the first time. Also, the talk should not be scheduled the day one flies into town, to avoid jet lag.

While visiting the campus for the job talk, the candidate generally has various interviews. When given this itinerary in advance, it is important to be familiar with each faculty member’s area of research, and if any has published in areas close to one’s own, be sure to have read that work or at least abstracts of it.

One student asked, “What questions can I expect during this interview?” The most common question likely to be heard is, “What can I tell you about X university?”

Stories were told of incidents that took place during such interviews: faculty who had not read the student’s job application; one who had another candidate’s resume (whom he or she knew) visible on his desk.

“If you list a language on your curricula vitae, a professor may speak to you in that language,” one said. “They will certainly assume you can speak it if you’ve published in that language on the subject.”

And if an interview goes badly? Not to worry: all the interviews may not be equally as important, and only a few interviewers may comprise the actual search committee.

Other advice for on-campus visits: “Don’t be gossipy” about internal fighting in the department or about previous sexual harassment suits even when talking to graduate students on campus. “How can you tell if the department is Balkanized?” one student asked. “It will be obvious,” the older graduate student responded.

They were told it was probably “not good form” while on campus to ask about salary and benefits, but it was all right to ask about the quality and extent of research support. Other advice: Questions about the tenure process should be raised with the chair; good questions to ask graduate students are what courses they want taught that the department has not yet offered.

Discussion turned to job offers. “If they realize they’re in a bidding war, they may give you tons of concessions.” The story was told of a candidate who expressed so much enthusiasm about a school that they thought he or she had accepted its offer, even though the candidate still had another school at which to interview. They were informed that it is better to phrase one’s remarks such as “I’m really excited, but I should explore all options” or “I’m really excited about the prospect of teaching here.”

Special advice was given to those applying to teach at elite liberal arts colleges: “Do not downplay your research by saying such things as ‘I’m just a teacher'” since the schools want their teachers to be active scholars, too. Candidates were also advised to bring syllabi and be prepared for specific questions such as “How you would teach X course?” down to details such as what texts they would use.