What They Don’t Tell You In Graduate School About

Academic Careers

Nicholas G. Hall

The Ohio State University

September 29, 2015

Presented to UESTC, Chengdu, China

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A QuestionPlease indicate which of these statements most closely applies to you:

· A. “I am most interested in an academic career.”

· B. “I am most interested in a career outside academia.”

· C. “I am currently undecided between an academic career and a career outside academia.”

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Overview (1 of 2) · Background and disclaimers· A general comment about academic careers· Characteristics for academic success· Career choice questions· Choosing a research area / topic· Choosing an advisor· Optimizing your job search · Journal article publishing issues· Funding your research· Research group· Faculty politics· Career salary profile· Taking financial control

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Overview (2 of 2)· Expected time commitment· Where your time goes· Teaching tips· Teaching evaluations · Book writing· Professional visibility· External professional service · Conferences· Consulting· Cautions· The academic midlife crisis· The main challenge· Final comments

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Background and Disclaimers· This is information which the speaker wishes he had known

when he was in graduate school· The information presented is based on the opinions of the

speaker, but has been validated by discussions with many colleagues, including at many previous presentations of this talk

· Less than 10% of the information presented is related to the speaker’s academic institution

· The information relates mainly to academic careers within universities using the “U.S. academic system”

· Due to ongoing changes in the academic work environment, the experiences of faculty members in the future will vary from the historic information presented here

· Students are encouraged to take notes and ask questions, and faculty are encouraged to share their experiences

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A General Comment about Academic Careers

It has been my consistent observation that the academics who most enjoy their careers are those whose research, teaching and third activity (book writing, consulting, …) are synergistic and mutually reinforcing.

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Characteristics for Success

· Self motivation· Ability to think creatively· Patience· Time management· Ability to synergize activities· Technical ability

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Career Choice Q1

• “I’m really interested in research. I believe I can do an acceptable job of meeting teaching expectations. Should I choose an academic career?”

• Yes. Most good researchers can learn how to become at least satisfactory teachers.

• Moreover, most universities now provide extensive mentoring and other resources to support teaching development.

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Career Choice Q2

• “I’m really interested in teaching. I believe I can do an acceptable job of meeting research expectations. Should I choose an academic career?”

• Maybe, maybe not. Being just a good teacher will classify you as a second class citizen in most research universities.

• So, be sure you understand the culture of your university before accepting a job.

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Career Choice Q3

• “I’m really attracted to an academic career, because of the chance to read and learn and understand everything in a broad research area. Should I choose an academic career?”

• Not for this reason anyway.• Most academic researchers become very

specialized and don’t read much outside the topic(s) they are currently working on.

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Career Choice Q4

• “I really enjoy interacting with people while I’m working. Should I choose an academic career?”

• Not for this reason anyway.• Most academic work is conducted alone.• See also “Diverging Directions”, K. Pryor

and J. Yen, OR/MS Today, 27, February 2000, 32-35.

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Choosing a Research Area

· Thesis area = your lifetime research area· Thesis topic = your research topic for at

least 2 years after graduation· Make a choice for the long term· Increasing importance of funding

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Choosing an Advisor

· Make a choice for the long term· Factors (most important first)• How much you can learn• How well you communicate• Their age• Their professional visibility

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Optimizing Your Job Search (1 of 8)Relative to Your Current Expectations • The job market is more competitive – you may be the top student in your

Ph.D. program, but there are many strong programs• Confidence and communication skills matter more – you cannot win the job at

the dinner on the day you arrive, but you can certainly lose it • Your reference letters matter much less – they just get you to the conference

interview, and from them on you are mostly on your own• Most of the faculty you meet know less about the area you are working on –

they are mostly focused on their particular research problem, therefore you need to sell the importance of your research more

• You are being hired less as a researcher and more as a teacher – the reason is that if you fail in your research that’s your problem, but if you fail in your teaching that’s also your colleagues’ problem. [But this does not prevent you from focusing mainly on research after you have the job.]

• The on campus job interview day is more stressful

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Optimizing Your Job Search (2 of 8)General Advice• To at least some degree, faculty make hiring decisions out of self interest -

therefore, you need to think (from their side) what you are bringing: helpful colleague, guaranteed vote, research partner, team teacher, technical problem solver, consulting partner, friend, …

• If a faculty member “owns” a teaching area, then don’t assume they necessarily want to share it, so discuss your other teaching interests first

• Express a strong interest in teaching (even if research is your main focus)• Practice your interviews with at least three faculty advisors, record the

interviews and go over the feedback you receive• Bring lots of thoughtful questions, and vary them between your interviews• Don’t speak negatively about third parties, even if the interviewer does –

since you are just starting out in your career, you need to be respectful• Don’t contradict the interviewer or advise them about how to do things better.

[It may be good advice, but you can always give it to them after you have the job, or better yet after you have tenure!]

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Optimizing Your Job Search (3 of 8)

Before Going to the Job Market

• Be confident in your research– Be excited about your research– Be able to talk about your research for short and long periods of time– Get your primary advisor’s support– Defend your dissertation proposal

• Be confident in your teaching– Teach and get good ratings– Polish your English and social skills if you plan to teach MBAs in the

US

• Know some people– Network at all conferences prior to your job market year– Meet invited speakers when they visit the department

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Optimizing Your Job Search (4 of 8)Contents of Your Job Market Packet

– Cover letter– CV– Job market paper (doesn’t need to be the final version) and other sample work– Research statement– Teaching statement and ratings– Letters of recommendation

• Put your name and a date on everything (version control)

• Plan to submit at least three weeks before conferences– Schools may begin reviewing applications at any time, so get in early

• Keep an organized Excel sheet with deadlines, mailing addresses, and requirements– Helps customize cover letter, CV, teaching and research statements, etc.

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Optimizing Your Job Search (5 of 8)Research Statement

• 1–2 page document

• Discussion of what you do and why it’s distinctive and important

• Primary methodologies

• Brief description of your various projects, starting with your job market paper

• Description of the current state of your research pipeline

• Story about how all your work fits together

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Optimizing Your Job Search (6 of 8)

Teaching Statement

• Don’t underestimate the importance of teaching– Poor research will hurt you in the long run– Poor teaching will cause trouble for your colleagues immediately

• Describe your personal philosophy of teaching

• Describe your teaching interests and experience

• It can also be helpful to list the types of courses you’d be interested in teaching, customized for the school– Be clear that you do not expect faculty necessarily to share their electives

• Many schools now want teaching evaluations, so make sure you survey students when you teach if there is no formal feedback mechanism

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Optimizing Your Job Search (7 of 8)During Interviews

– Be energetic and enthusiastic– Provide a 2–5 minute summary of your research area and why it

fits at their school– Provide a 1–3 minute summary of each of your current projects– Provide a 2–3 minute description of your research pipeline– Have a conversation about your teaching interests and their

needs– Concisely describe (1–2 sentences) what your biggest

contribution will be when looking back on your career 20 years in the future

– Ask questions that show you really know and are enthusiastic about the school

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Optimizing Your Job Search (8 of 8)

The Job Talk

• Job talks vary from 60–90 minutes, and groups differ in the number and complexity of the questions they ask– Assume 40–50 minutes of material in soliloquy mode– Make sure the key points are covered by ~60% into the talk– Don’t be too scripted, be willing to digress– Have lots of supporting material as a backup, and know how to quickly toggle– It’s useful to have a 10 minute ending about future projects

• Practice as much as you can– Practice out loud with friends, faculty, and by yourself (at least 25-30 times)– Videotape yourself– Take advantage of empty rooms with projectors– After enough practice, it becomes theater– The tone of your delivery will drive the way the audience interacts with you – Refine the presentation between flyouts

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Journal Article Publishing

· Technical writing Ex. “Among the most common seabirds are gulls”

vs. “Gulls are among the most common seabirds”· Acceptance rates Slightly below 10% to about 40%· Dealing with referees The process can be frustrating, but it does work

most of the time· Revisions Time consuming and stressful

Part of a paper about seabirds

Part of a paper about gulls

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Funding Your Research

· Becoming a salesperson· Writing proposals· Evaluation of proposals· Refocusing your research to improve

fundability

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Research Group (1 of 2)· The most important factors in the success of your

research career are your continuing focus and motivation · However, assuming that these are “givens”, the most

important factor is your research group · Plan your long term research group – identify well

published people with similar (not necessarily identical) research interests, time to work, and complementary skills, impress them (at least a little bit), and start discussions with them about some problems

· Your long term research group usually does not (should not?) include faculty members from your Ph.D. school

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Research Group (2 of 2)· Conferences help considerably in meeting people with

whom you may wish to work· When working with others, make yourself valuable – for

example, you may not enjoy programming, but by offering to do it, you may benefit from different contributions by others

· Over time, some people will leave your research group, and others will join - not only is this natural, it is also healthy, since it introduces new ideas and problems

· You can easily decline an unattractive offer to join another research group by claiming that you are too busy

· It is important to remain on good terms with people who leave your research group

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Faculty Politics

· *******!!!· Can really hurt you, especially as junior faculty· Probably worse than in industry• Fixed resource environment• Relatively low turnover, after tenure· Faculty meetings· At least until you have tenure, imitate these

individuals…

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The Three Buddhist Monkeys

“See no evil” “Hear no evil” “Speak no evil”

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Career Salary Profile

· Assistant professor· Promotion and tenure· Associate professor· Promotion· Professor

· Exceptions

• (COLA + 1.5%)/year• 12 % once• (COLA + 1.5%)/year• 12% once• (COLA + 1.5%)/year

• A new job • Offer matching

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Taking Financial Control

· Become financially independent of your university

· Dangers of not doing so• Pressures to compromise• Dilution of time· How to become financially independent • Consulting• Investment

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Time Commitment· Hours per week• 62 (survey of U.C. Berkeley faculty)

· Weeks per year• 47 - 49 (anecdotal, but consistent)

· Flexibility• “You can work any 62 hours you want!”

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An Assistant Professor’s Time

· Research· Teaching· Refereeing· Service - internal

• 60%• 30%• 5%• 5%

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An Associate Professor’s Time

· Research· Teaching· Service - external· Service - internal· Refereeing· Consulting· Proposal writing

• 40%• 20%• 10%• 10%• 10%• 5%• 5%

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A Professor’s Time

· Research· Teaching· Service - external· Service - internal· Executive education· Consulting· Proposal writing

• 30%• 20%• 15%• 10%• 10%• 10%• 5%

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Teaching Tips • Continuous improvement is essential• The formal evaluation process provides some useful feedback for

this, although not all comments are useful• In modern university environments, “new prep” never goes away• I would like to reduce my share of time spent on teaching to 12%,

but in practice I can never get there, because of new prep• Modern technology reduces the burden of new prep, however

continuous upgrading of student expectations increases it• Pressure to turn in high teaching evaluation scores is

unfortunately a strong factor, especially before tenure• This creates very negative incentives for instructors• Consider using TAPPS as a teaching device

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Teaching Evaluations (1 of 3)• I don’t know many experienced instructors who

respect student evaluations, especially because they reward negative behavior.

• Some unfortunate and damning data:

- A study of MBA teaching at UNC found that 91%

of teaching score was explained by the

student’s expected grade.

- Ambady and Rosenthal (JPSP, 1993) show that 30

seconds of movie clips gives enough clues for an

outsider to predict teaching score accurately.

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Teaching Evaluations (2 of 3)

• We all know average teachers who get high scores and good teachers who get average scores.

• I have performed several peer reviews for celebrated teachers, and I usually leave wondering what all the fuss was about.

• I have also performed peer reviews for teachers using highly innovative methods but who receive poor scores, because the innovation is lost on the students who wanted much less involvement.

• So, how to beat this process?

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Teaching Evaluations (3 of 3)• Wait until the final exam to obtain a wide distribution

(easy midterm, hard final).• While in the classroom, make it obvious that this is

the place where you would most like to be.• Be confident, optimistic and “sunny”.• Be active, enthusiastic, dominant and likable.• Frequently nod and smile, even on a bad day.• Don’t frown, look down, fold your arms, or (worst of

all) fiddle with things.• Solicit midterm feedback (“Hawthorne effect”).• Wear black the first day.

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Book Writing

· Writing a book does not generate substantial royalties, unless it is a bestselling introductory text

· Writing an introductory textbook provides little academic prestige

· Writing an introductory textbook means also writing many supporting materials

· Academic publishers often sign up several competing books, at most one or two of which will succeed

· Writing a book is not a “good deal” in an expected sense, since the failure rate is very high

· Before starting, figure out why you are doing it and whether it is worthwhile

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Professional Visibility · Citation counts are important· Web of Science (ISI), Google Scholar and profile· h-index· Invitations to speak – always accept them· Sharing your research (eventually)· Volunteering for service activities· Be tasteful and careful in how you make yourself

visible (for example, don’t send a copy of a working paper with a request to be invited to present it)

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External Professional Service

· Often receives little or no reward from your university

· Makes you feel “part of the community”· Enhances your visibility· Gives you a chance to interact with the leaders of

your field (before you become one yourself!)· Gives prestige and balance to your career profile

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Conferences (1 of 2)

• DO prepare well and practice your presentation, especially the timing

• DO bring overhead transparencies of your talk as a backup

• DO boot your computer before the start of the session, and use “Standby” if you are not the first speaker

• DO have reasonable expectations about the reactions of people, especially senior people, to meeting you

• DO realize that the conference is not a club, and even many senior people have never met each other

• DO develop some good ways to start conversations (compliments are always appreciated!)

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Conferences (2 of 2)• DO NOT act like you are a big person, especially when

presenting your work• DO NOT expect people to seek you out – even if they

would like to, they probably will not have time• DO NOT sell yourself too hard – for example, by

forcing people you have just met to listen to a lengthy explanation of your work, or organizing a conference session where you are an author on all the talks

• DO NOT “work the room” in a way that is obviously self-promoting (subtly self-promoting may be just barely OK!)

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Consulting

· Probably not a good idea before you have tenure· You will be required to solve specific (possibly

boring) problems that you don’t choose· Often time pressure and deadlines apply· Provides some academic prestige· Rewards are immediate, unlike with research· Can be extremely lucrative, but only after you

have built a reputation as a consultant

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Cautions• In academia, in my experience, more than 90% of

people are completely honest • However, not everyone is• For example, a few senior people try to take advantage

of young researchers, by getting them to share their work

• Your work and your ideas are your main assets, so you need to protect them

• It is a really bad idea to present your work at a conference or university before it is submitted for publication

• It is a really bad idea to send copies of your work to others (unless you know them well) before it is submitted for publication

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The Academic Midlife Crisis

· Causes: rejections, delays, increased competition from younger scholars, lack of new problems or new ideas

· Very common, so plan ahead· Staying interested within research· Importance of sabbaticals· Branching out beyond research

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The Main Challenge

· It is not getting tenure· It is not achieving academic respect· It is not publishing x papers in y journals· It is finding something that will entertain

you for 35 + years· If you can do this, then you will truly have a

rewarding academic career experience

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Final Comments· There are many possible reasons for

choosing an academic career· However, some of these reasons don’t

necessarily last throughout a career· If you really, really love your subject, then

an academic career is an unbeatable choice· Under several other conditions, it can still

be a good choice, provided you are aware of the issues discussed here

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If you subsequently have any questions

or comments, please send them to the

speaker at hall.33@fisher.osu.edu

Are there any questions?