Search Jobs Beyond Graduate School

Beyond the Professoriate helps doctoral students and PhDs successfully transition into academic or nonacademic career paths.

Beyond Graduate School the only professional development training platform designed for master's students.

Conduct Research on the Institution

Find information on the school or institution's website

Here you can find out quite a bit about the school: where they are located, how many students they have, what they're campus is like, when they were founded, if they're public or private, etc.

• U.S. News and World Report Rankings

  They have information including number of students, student/faculty ratios, tuition costs, and much more.

• Carnegie Foundation Rankings

  Here you can find out the ranking of the institution you're interested in and what it means.

• The Chronicle of Higher Education

  Look here for information on how much faculty are paid, type of institution, number of students, etc.

Potential Application Materials

Based on the research you conducted about the institution, tailor your application to reflect that information. Here are some of the potential application materials for your job search.

• Curriculum Vitae (CV): A comprehensive statement emphasizing your professional qualifications, education, experience, accomplishments, activities, and special qualifications.
• Statement of teaching interests (or teaching philosophy): A narrative that includes your conception of teaching and learning, a description of how you teach, and justification for why you teach that way.
• Statement of research interests: A summary of your research accomplishments, current work, and future direction and potential of your work.
• Letters of recommendations/professional references: You should talk with each person who will be recommending you, telling them about the types of jobs you are seeking. Provide them with copies of your CV and anything else they may need.
• Other application materials include a professional development plan, sample syllabi, writing samples or copies of published papers, and sample course evaluations.

Tell us about yourself

It is ok to talk about things that are on your resume like where you went to school, and it's good to let them know how you got to where you are. Try to keep the topics mostly applicable to the position you're applying for, although something short and (somewhat) personal can be ok for them to remember you by.

Describe your research.

You should be able to describe your research in 3-5 minutes. It's great not only to talk about the research you've done, but future research you'd like to do as a post-doc or faculty member.

Why do you want to work at our institution?

Show them that you've done some research about the institution. For example, "I've really enjoyed the teaching experience I gained as a graduate student and would like to work somewhere that places a high value on teaching." Speak to the size, type, and location of the institution; the students; and about the program/department to which you're applying.

Do you have any questions for us?

Your response should always be yes or it seems like you don't care and/or haven't done your research. Ask to learn more about a specific lab on campus or about the type of teaching or research support available to faculty on campus.

Other questions to prepare for:

• Why did you choose this dissertation topic?
• What are your research goals for the next five years? Ten?
• What theoretical framework is your dissertation (or other research) based upon?
• In what way does your dissertation research contribute to the field? To this department?
• If you could create and teach any course, what would it be?
• Give specific examples of ways in which you motivate both a classroom and individual?
• How do you feel about teaching required classes?

At public institutions, where salary levels are more strictly based on government funding, it may not be possible to negotiate salaries or university-wide benefits. It may be possible to negotiate some other items including: