I’ll be completely open and comprehensive yet succinct in this recount. There are plenty of hyperlinks to files I’ve developed in my job search so don’t forget to click around! All hyperlinks are this dark blue that’s hard to see so I’ve also italicized them. /begin:
I didn’t sincerely think about being a professor until a year and a half before I got my first and only job offer from University of Hawai’i. I only started after a serendipitous introduction to Dr. Kelly Stephani. We were both presenting work funded by NASA at NASA Technology Day on Capitol Hill. She asked if I was considering staying in academia and told me I should come visit University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (stellar aerospace program). You don’t have to always have known you wanted to be a professor; I certainly didn’t.
When I got back from my trip, I applied for this new faculty development program at Cornell called NextGen Professors. I was part of the first cohorts to go through the program and it’s still going strong. I can honestly say that this program helped me a TREMENDOUS amount. Generally, the program taught me how to navigate academia, build my skills, create my plan, and prepare for my career. For brevity, I attached the full program objectives and outcomes at the bottom. The unwritten and precious benefits I also received were an ambitious, diverse, passionate cohort and closed-door honest conversations with diverse faculty on the other side. I recommend finding a program for exposure and to keep you honest in this process. There are so many unspoken rules and microcosms of culture that you just need to immerse yourself.
As with anything, this journey is very specific to me. Context helps you identify what aspects of my journey may apply to you and which you should disregard. Here’s me:
I come from aerospace engineering, focusing on dynamics, controls, and systems engineering. Engineering PhDs typically take 5 years and for my concentration, do not absolutely need postdocs to get faculty positions (yet). Most do though.
During the time of application, aerospace interest seemed to be a very hot topic with commercial space on the rise and real potential for manned space in the next decade. Many schools started to put real financial backing into creating or expanding spacecraft systems positions. Still relevant at time of writing post.
Granted, not many schools can support an aerospace program. They are inherently expensive programs that need a good engineering program as a foundational basis. Each state, Puerto Rico, and Guam have a Space Grant program, that supports an aerospace education.
I am a woman, a minority in my field of aerospace engineering.
I have a NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship.
My adviser’s name is well-known in the field.
My university is top-notch.
Many aspects of my background work to my favor except how young and fresh I am. Aerospace is hot right now. This fresh wave of feminism makes it easy to advocate for young, successful women. My fellowship, adviser, and university are prestigious. Despite these factors that work in my favor, I thought that this application cycle was going to be unsuccessful. Hey, it would just be practice.
This market is incredibly competitive. There’s luck. The university must have retirements or new job creation for someone in your field. The applicant search is partially through word of mouth. To optimize likelihood of success, you should let your adviser know so that they forward you job applications from their colleagues. You should apply early and broadly if there’s a chance you will go to that university. You should be prepared to not get research done, travel extensively, and be emotionally depleted once interviews start.
To give you a sense of timeline, here’s mine with my successful application bolded. This process could have continued as I was still getting emails and calls in March, but generally, if you haven’t heard past March, assume you won’t.
April 29, 2017: NASA Technology Day on Capitol Hill. A female faculty member at Tech Day was representing NASA STRG alongside of me. She wanted to get coffee and talk about faculty positions, specifically at UIUC.
September 22, 2017: UIUC search committee chair reaches out to me to apply for faculty positions. Wow! I’m flattered, so I begin to seriously consider faculty positions. I apply and get accepted to the NextGen Professors program, a career development program advancing diverse future faculty.
December 2017 – January 2018: Casually apply to a few faculty positions
February 1, 2018: Phone interview with CU Boulder for a Robotics, Dynamics and Control position
October 2018 – December 2018: Submit all application packages to over a dozen schools
November 30, 2018: UH Manoa Phone Interview
December 9 – 10, 2018: UIUC visit, seminar practice
December 13th, 2018: UDenver and UC San Diego Phone Interview
December 21st, 2018: UMN Phone Interview
January 5 – 9, 2019: UCSD On-Site Interview
January 28th – February 1st, 2019: UH Manoa Interview
January 30th, 2019: UCSD Rejection Phone Call
February 19th, 2019: UH Manoa Offer Letter
February 20th – 22nd, 2019: UMN On-Site Interview
February 26th, 2019: UH Manoa Negotiations
March 11th, 2019: UH Manoa Offer Signed
There are plenty of resources out there that tell you how to put an application package together so do you. I’ve attached each component of my package sent to UH Manoa for your reference. Diversity statements are becoming more common and I’m rather passionate about this topic
CV – Research Interests, Education, Research Experience, Teaching & Mentoring Experience, Grants & Awards, Publications, Presentations, Service And Outreach, Professional Affiliations, Media, Training, Computer Skills
Cover Letter – University Address, Position And General Motivation, Summary Of Previous Research And Hint Of Research Paradigm, Why University Is A Good Fit
Research Statement – Broad Research Focus, Breakdown Into Spacecraft Architecture, Experiment Validation And Flight Tests, Estimation Control And Learning, Funding And Strategic Plans
Teaching Statement – General Philosophy, Engagement And Experience, Crafting Problems And Experience, Lecture Style, Dream Course, Teaching Goals, Course List
Diversity Statement – Problem Statement, Evidence of Problem with Solutions, What I Think, What I Have Done, What I Will Do
I applied to various positions, 16 total, in different departments but mostly in aerospace. A quarter of the positions were directed to me by my adviser. I looked for keywords: spacecraft, small satellite, autonomous systems, robotics, dynamics and controls. There are only certain locales that my partner and I would consider: naturally outdoorsy spaces, pretty much nothing east of Colorado. I do not want a high-stress lifestyle, emphasized by an ultra-competitive environment, so I applied to a wide range of high research universities summarized in this spreadsheet. I got 5 phone interviews and most of them transitioned to a visit on-site.
The phone interviews were typically 30 minutes, on the phone or on video chat with a few faculty on the search committee. About 15 – 20 minutes are about yourself: a brief introduction about your research, summary of each statement: research, teaching, maybe some diversity, how to get funding, why would you choose this university, display of confidence/communication. About 5 – 10 minutes of questions are allocated to the committee: teaching responsibilities, number of students, vision for the department or strategic plan.
Before the on-site interviews, I prepared some topics of discussion, like what I want my lab space to be, what I would write my first proposals about, and researched the university I would be visiting. The on-site interviews are typically 1 – 2 days of relentless intense interaction, typically 12 – 20 one on one interviews, 3 meals with groups of people, and 1 job talk/seminar. Of the personal meetings, I met the department chair, dean of school, and search committee members. Of the conversations, you should make clear your: research vision, teaching capabilities (expressed in courses you want to teach and how well you communicate in the seminar), lab space and structure, how to get funding – what are the proposals you would write now, in 5 years, in 10 years, collaborations, and if you have an offer, you need to mention the impending deadline to the chair (committee or department chair). One of my favorite parts of this whole process was talking to other brilliant faculty members at the on-site interviews. They actually inspired me to want to be one of them, a colleague.
When I got the offer from UH Manoa, it was time to negotiate and decide if I really wanted to accept the final offer. Negotiating is awfully tricky as you don’t want to be too aggressive with the family you are about to join but you do need to set up the initial conditions for your career success. The best strategy in a negotiation, so I’ve been told, is to be transparent about your needs. This transparency reveals asks that have no significance to the other party, easy gives, and reveals the non-negotiables.
One of the hardest things to negotiate is the dual career. For isolated places, the university you got an offer is probably the only place your partner can also get an offer. Unfortunately, a university can’t just distribute tenure-track faculty positions willy-nilly. Instead, we found a roundabout way to fund my partner for a postdoc position, which offers temporary job security, but temporary indeed.
Looking in hindsight, I ended up in a great position with my partner here by my side. I traveled more than I was at home, I lost my voice mid-interview, but I am so glad I tried and received an offer. I’m just starting the faculty job and feel good about my pace so far, read further about my mindset. I’m very optimistic about all the opportunities and impact I can have at all these levels in my community.
During my on-site interview to University of Hawai’i, I tacked a personal day at the end to explore the island. I hiked up to Koko Head crater on this old tram line. A metaphor of sorts
Here’s my job talk at UMN. Also the on-site interview in which I lost my voice. Interviews are intense.
Appendix:
NextGen Program Objectives and Outcomes
This program was very valuable, not just for the listed objectives, but for the advertisements of other programs happening. Through this program, I was tuned into calls for the Colman Leadership Program, the Future Professors Institute, the EWISE symposium (geared towards ladies), even now, an invitation to serve on an university accreditation committee.
Navigate Academia
Learn to productively and professionally interact with faculty, peers, and others.
Seek to understand the terminology, policies, and organizational structures of academic institutions.
Identify and leverage resources to support your preparation as future faculty.
Establish intellectual and social communities, and professional networks.
Generate insights on the unspoken rules of operation and politics of academia especially at a department level.
Understand the challenges that one might face as a new faculty member who may be one of few or the only from specific social identity groups.
Understand various institutional types & various faculty career pathways within those types of institutions.
Build Your Skills
Development of skills that will be transferable to academic and nonacademic careers.
More in-depth development of skills that will prepare future faculty in the areas of research, teaching and mentoring, communications, and leadership and management
Create Your Plan
Create a dynamic Individual Development Plan
Understand yourself and your priorities;
Identify resources and areas of development;
develop goals and a timeline;
follow through with your plan;
reflect on your achievements and growth;
and reevaluate your plan periodically to make adjustments as your interests, skills, and goals evolve.
Prepare for Your Career
Develop job application materials mapped to specific institutional types of interest
CV
Cover Letter
Research Statement
Teaching Statement
Diversity Statement
Preparation for campus interviews, job talks, and negotiations around startup packages, facilities and equipment, teaching load, etc.