The Academic Job Search Handbook (2nd Edition) [Paperback]

Mary Morris Heiberger (Author), Julia Miller Vick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1996

This new edition gives specific advice on positioning oneself in the current tight market, including participating effectively in conferences, learning about openings, handling telephone interviews, and negotiating offers. The authors discuss the use of the Internet both to locate positions and to communicate with colleagues and potential employers at all stages of the search. New samples of vitas, cover letters, abstracts, and statements of teaching philosophy, and an up-to-date appendix of scholarly and professional associations (including Web addresses) are also included.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"If one needs a guide, this is the best."--The Nation

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Mary Morris Heiberger is Associate Director of Career Services at the University of Pennsylvania. Julia Miller Vick is Graduate Career Counselor at Career Services, University of Pennsylvania. They are coauthors, with April Vahle Hamel, of the Graduate School Funding Handbook, also available from the University of Pennsylvania Press, and write a monthly online column, Career Talk, for the Chronicle of Higher Education's Career Network. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 194 pages
• Publisher: Univ of Pennsylvania Pr; 2nd edition (September 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812215958
• ISBN-13: 978-0812215953
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,109,963 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential guide & companion for those on the market, August 16, 2002

By 

Amanda Wilcox (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Academic Job Search Handbook (3rd Edition) (Paperback)

The earlier in your graduate career you obtain this book the better, since the section on planning your job search gives great advice about positioning yourself as an attractive candidate well before you start applying for jobs. I found the guide an invaluable companion over the seven month period that comprised my job search. The sample vitas, cover letters, and statements of teaching philosophy were especially useful, as was the extensive section on interviewing at conferences, on campus, and by phone. The tone was reassuring but realistic, and the advice was helpful both in conceptualizing aspects of the search (e.g., think of the interview as a conversation in which the evaluative aspect is made overt) and as a series of friendly, pragmatic tips (e.g., don't check luggage when flying to an interview; bring an escapist novel to read at the hotel). The book also contains sensible discussion of how to negotiate an offer, how to handle illegal or simply bizarre interview questions, what to wear, issues surrounding dual-career marriages, and after you've gotten a position, how to handle your new academic responsibilites and secure tenure. I recommend this book to everyone who aims at an academic position, and in the future, I will recommend it to my students!

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential guide to the academic job search, August 30, 2008

By 

Laura Malisheski "Career Counselor for PhDs" (Cambridge, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Academic Job Search Handbook (Paperback)

The Academic Job Search Handbook is the essential guide for anyone pursuing an academic career. Now in its 4th edition, this book is recognized amongst graduate career professionals not only as a classic in our field, but also as an up-to-date guide book to preparing for and applying to faculty positions. Through straightforward advice coupled with sensitivity toward individual and field-specific differences, Julie Vick and Jennifer Furlong provide extensive coverage of the academic job search fundamentals, including many examples of successful CVs, cover letters, and other application materials. The recently expanded chapters on a variety of special circumstances (e.g. those who are pregnant or new parents on the job market, dual career couples, or older candidates) provide real-life success stories that encourage all applicants to capitalize on their own personal strengths while offering specific strategies to help ameliorate potential concerns of search committees.

As a career counselor for graduate students and PhDs, I experience, through my clients, the enormous anxiety inherent in such a competitive job market. The Academic Job Search Handbook provides an indispensable touchstone to help turn unproductive angst into thoughtful, confident action, through concrete and specific advice. I recommend it to all those aspiring to and navigating an academic career.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for your last 2-years of grad school, April 20, 2000

By 

Marty (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Academic Job Search Handbook (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

This book provides a wealth of information that orients graduate students who are unexperienced with the academic job market with the intricate process of securing an academic position. It doesn't provide discipline-specific information, but it DOES give an overall plan and breakdown of what you can expect during your job search. I found the sample curriculum vitaes and cover letters invaluable guides.