2022 Faculty Job Search Prep Camp – Virtual

If you’re planning to apply for faculty jobs, either in this upcoming cycle or in the future, join us for this virtual two-part Faculty Job Search Prep Camp to get a head start on planning your job search. Through workshop presentations and faculty and alumni panels, we’ll help you understand how you can best prepare for each step of the process, from assessing your readiness to go on the faculty job market and crafting application materials to preparing for interviews and negotiating offers.  Click here to see the videos of the programs from the programs presented in August.

Faculty Job Search Prep Camp attendees are encouraged to make a virtual one-on-one appointment via Handshake with a Career Services advisor to discuss a faculty job search document that you’d like feedback on. Check Handshake for all the times available for appointments!

Presented and co-sponsored by:

                             

 

Schedule of Events – Part 2

Thursday, October 20th–Preparing for interviewing

9:30 – 10:30 AM: Interviewing strategies for faculty roles on and off the tenure-track
Click here to watch the video

For all faculty jobs, search committees are looking for the best candidate. But how does that translate into interviewing? What types of interviews might you face as a candidate, and how to best prepare for them? We will address general interviewing strategies as well as the online resources offered by Career Services to assist in your preparation.

10:45 – 11:15 AM: Integrating technology into your teaching demo
Click here to watch the video

Many faculty and alternative-academic positions now require a teaching demonstration. This is separate from your research presentation, but should still highlight your expertise, and be engaging for an audience of undergraduate and graduate students who will be invited to attend and provide feedback. Increasingly, academic jobs emphasize the desire for innovative pedagogical approaches that use educations technology to increase accessibility and foster digital literacy skills for students at all levels. In this workshop, Amanda Licastro, PhD, Emerging and Digital Literacy Designer for Penn Libraries, will guide you through effective approaches to integrating technology into your teaching demo.  

11:30 AM –12 PM: Talking About Teaching When You Haven’t Taught Much (or Yet)
Click here to watch the video

Many faculty jobs have a significant teaching component. But many PhDs and postdocs have had limited opportunities to teach. Maybe your only classroom experiences have been as a teaching assistant, or maybe you have not yet had the opportunity to teach. Ian Petrie, PhD, Senior Associate Director at the Center for Teaching & Learning, will present on how faculty job candidates should address teaching in interviews when they have had limited opportunities to teach.

Interviewing for Faculty Jobs Panels:

Hear from Penn faculty and PhD alums who are faculty members at a range of institutions about their unique experiences on the interview trail –both as candidates and as search committee members. Learn how they prepared for interviews, the types of questions they were asked, advice on conducting interviews via Zoom, advice on giving job talks, and the structure of their campus visit interviews, among other topics.  Information on panelists coming soon.

1 PM –2:15 PM: Advice on navigating on-campus interviews and job talks [STEM Panel]

  • Nandan Nerurkar, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University (Mechanical Engineering, 2010)
  • Benjamin Partridge, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, University of Rochester (Chemistry, 2018)
  • Lisa Rodrigues, Associate Professor of Environmental Science, Villanova University (Earth & Environmental Science, 2005)

2:30 PM –3:45 PM: Advice on navigating on-campus interviews and job talks [Humanities/Social Science Panel]

  • Gregory Callaghan, PhD, Assistant Professor of Classics, Union College (Ancient History, 2022)
  • Elizabeth Clay, PhD, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Central Connecticut State University (Anthropology, 2021)
  • Jasmine Henry, PhD, Assistant Professor of Music, University of Pennsylvania (Music, Rutgers, 2022)
  • Corine Labridy, PhD, Assistant Professor of French and Francophone Studies, University of Pennsylvania (French, UC Berkeley, 2020)
  • Jose Loya, PhD, Assistant Professor of Urban Planning, UCLA (Sociology, 2020)

Friday, October 21st–Negotiating and starting a new role

10 AM –11 AM: Negotiation strategies on the academic job market
Click here to watch the video

This workshop will equip you with the resources, strategies, and confidence for negotiating an academic job offer. We’ll cover the terms of a job offer, what can and cannot be negotiated, research to help you prepare for negotiations, and suggestions on how to approach your negotiating with your potential employer.

11 AM –  11:45 AM: Making the most of a visiting faculty role

Join us for a conversation with Cynthia Hsu, PhD. Cynthia received her PhD in Neurobiology from Duke University and then worked as a postdoc in Penn’s Department of Neuroscience/Chronobiology. Cynthia is in her second year as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Biology department at Bryn Mawr College. Come prepared with questions on how you can best approach a visiting role.  

1 – 2 PM: How to build a meaningful career after your PhD or postdoc
Click here to watch the video

How can PhDs build meaningful and impactful careers after their degree or postdoc? Now more than ever, PhDs work in a variety of career fields, leveraging their education and training wherever smart people are needed. But how exactly do PhDs successfully job search? What are the proven strategies you can apply to successfully build your career?

As a student or postdoc at Penn, you have access to the PhD Career Training Platform, a one-of-a kind resource where you can explore career options and learn how to job search in academia and beyond. Through self-paced courses and live webinars in the Training Platform, you’ll learn how to launch a successful job search.  Join us to learn how to use the PhD Career Training Platform as part of your job search.

After attending this presentation, you’ll be able to:
– Describe the challenges PhDs face in their job search
– Identify the resources in the PhD Career Training Platform that can help you
– Apply tips and strategies to confidently begin your career exploration and job search in academia or beyond

*Panel events will not be recorded to ensure that panelists can be candid in their remarks, but all workshops will be recorded and available for viewing on the Career Services YouTube channel after the programs.

Schedule of Events – Part 1

Tuesday, August 2: Getting Ready to Apply

10am – 11am: Resources to help you through the academic job search process when applying for postdocs, non-tenure, and tenure track roles
Click here to watch a recording of the program.

This workshop will provide an overview of what an academic job search process looks like from beginning to end, and will focus on the resources both within and beyond Penn which are available to assist you. Some of the online tools highlighted that you can use to support your faculty application will include: the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity, the PhD Career Training Platform, LinkedIn, Imagine PhD, and the Career Services website. 

Preparing to Go On the Faculty Job Search:
Join PhD alumni and faculty for a conversation on preparing to go on the faculty job market. Panelists will share advice and discuss their own experiences of being job applicants as well as search committee members on the other side of the process. Topics discussed will include evaluating readiness to apply for tenure-track jobs, gaining insights into how search committees evaluate candidates through the lens of tenure and promotion, and acquiring professional development for academic success.

1pm – 2:15pm: STEM Panel | Faculty Bios

  • Shivon Robinson, PhD, Assistant Professor, Psychology, Williams College (Neuroscience 2016)
  • Sarah Rooney, PhD, Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering, University of Delaware (Bioengineering 2015)
  • Manuela Tripepi, PhD, Associate Professor, Biology, Thomas Jefferson University (Microbiology, 2013)
  • Steven Wu, PhD, Assistant Professor, Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University (Computer Science 2017)

2:30pm – 3:45pm: Humanities & Social Sciences Panel | Faculty Bios

  • Chloe Bakalar, PhD, Assistant Professor, Political Science, Temple University (Political Science, 2009)
  • Xavier Dapena, PhD, Assistant Professor, Spanish & Film Studies, Iowa State University (Hispanic Studies and Cinema & Media Studies, 2020)
  • Carla Lewandowski, PhD Associate Professor, Law and Justice Studies, Rowan University, (Criminology, 2012)
  • Zita Cristina Nunes, PhD, Associate Professor, English, University of Pennsylvania (Comparative Literature, UC-Berkeley)
  • Chenshu Zhou, PhD, Assistant Professor, Cinema Studies in the History of Art Department and Cinema & Media Studies Program, University of Pennsylvania (East Asian Languages & Cultures, Stanford)

Wednesday, August 3: Application Materials & Applying

10am – 11am: Creating a cohesive application packet (CV + cover letter + teaching/research/diversity documents)
Click here to watch a recording of the program.

This workshop will provide best practices for making your application packet a cohesive and convincing demonstration of your research, teaching, and service experiences. The CV, cover letter, and statements on research, teaching and diversity are often written separately, but will be reviewed by search committees as a complete packet. We will address how to create overlap between these documents to leverage the role that research, teaching, mentoring, and service play in all your scholarly approaches.

2pm – 3pm: Advice on finding the right STEM postdoc from current postdocs and recent faculty [Panel]

This discussion panel will feature postdocs from the science and engineering fields who will talk about their own experiences looking for postdocs, provide advice on what you can do when you start your search, and answer any questions you have on where and how you can seek out postdoc opportunities. This panel discussion will be a valuable resource for anyone considering a postdoc once they have finished with their PhD – even if you are still several years from finishing up right now.

  • Caroline Bartman, PhD, Postdoc, Chemical Biology, Princeton University (Immunology 2018)
  • Brigid Jensen, PhD, Postdoc, Weinberg ALS Center, Thomas Jefferson University (Neuroscience 2015)
  • Zoltan Simani, PhD, Postdoc, Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania (Biochemistry, University of Debrecen, 2015)

Thursday, August 4: Application Materials – Teaching

10am – 10:30am: Talking about DEI in Your Teaching Materials
Click here to watch a recording of the program.

What are successful approaches to incorporating DEI into your teaching materials?  Teaching materials often provide the opportunity to reflect on your understanding of diversity and inclusion in your own disciplines as well as in higher education broadly and discuss your contributions and aspirations in enhancing diversity through teaching. Jamiella Brooks, PhD, Associate Director at the Center for Teaching & Learning, will lead a workshop on using your DEI experiences and ideas into a teaching statement or teaching portfolio.   

11am – 11:30am: How To Present Your Teaching Evaluations in your Teaching Portfolio
Click here to watch a recording of the program.

So you have some teaching evaluations, but how do you use them in creating your teaching portfolio? Catherine Turner, PhD, Senior Associate Director at the Center for Teaching & Learning, will walk you through how to best weave your teaching evaluations into a portfolio. 

1pm – 1:30pm: Creating Effective Sample Syllabi
Click here to watch a recording of the program.

Some job postings will request a sample syllabus, or you may want to incorporate one in your teaching portfolio.  This is especially helpful to search committees if the job ad lists a specific course they want the candidate to teach.   What if you’ve never taught your own course before? Ian Petrie, PhD, Senior Associate Director at the Center for Teaching & Learning, will walk you through the best practices in putting together a sample syllabus, even if you have not taught the class (yet!) 

2pm – 2:30pm: Teaching and Your Letters of Recommendation
Click here to watch a recording of the program.

All faculty jobs will require letters of recommendation (generally 3-5). These letters should be written by faculty who know you well and can speak to your scholarship and service. Generally these letter writers are your advisor, a letter from someone else in your department or on your dissertation committee, and someone who can speak to your research teaching potential. When you have little teaching experience, how can you assist your recommenders in writing a letter that addresses teaching potential? Join Ian Petrie, PhD, Senior Associate Director at the Center for Teaching & Learning to learn more.