Getting A Job In Philosophy
Can I get a job in philosophy?
The days when a PhD and a couple of decent references were enough to guarantee a tenured job are long gone. Jobs are scarce (though this varies from year to year and from country to country) and competition is fierce. Most tenured jobs these days go to philosophers who have already had one or two, or maybe more, temporary positions as postdocs or lecturers; and competition for temporary positions is fierce too.
Nobody, therefore, is guaranteed to end up with a job. Still, the Philosophy Program has a good record of placing its students; and there is a lot you can do to improve your chances. This page is designed to help you do just that - by giving you some advice on what sorts of skills and experience you should try and acquire in the process of doing your PhD, and on how to present those skills and experience in your job applications.
When should I start applying for jobs?
There are no general rules about how close you need to be to finishing your PhD in order to be a serious contender for a job, except that in general the closer you are, the better your chances. It's unlikely (though of course not impossible) that you will be successful if you apply for a job whose start date is more than 9 months or so before your expected completion date; but bear in mind that jobs can be advertised up to a year before their start date.
When should I start thinking about jobs?
It takes time to acquire the skills, experience and general CV brownie points that will make prospective employers take notice of your CV: a good PhD thesis won't get you there by itself. So start thinking about it as early as you can.
How can I increase my chances of getting a job?
The CV is the centrepiece of any job application. Below is a list of the eight main areas you should concentrate on, together with some hints about how to make sure you look as good as you can in each area. Follow the links for more specific information on some of the topics.
1. Publications
Publications are highly prized by prospective employers. Some people have at least a couple of articles published by the time they've finished their PhD; if you have none, you'll be at a distinct disadvantage in the job market.
Publishing articles is a slow process. It can take anything from 4 weeks to 8 months from submitting a paper to a journal to getting a decision from them; and of course you may have to go through several rejections and rewrites before you strike it lucky. So if you've got an eye on your CV, start early. Click here for more information about publishing. [link does not work]
2. Presentations
If you don't have a stack of publications on your CV, it's a good idea to list the papers you have presented. If you can say that you've presented several papers on different topics to a variety of audiences, you will come across as someone with a variety of philosophical interests who is keen to share, and to hold up to public scrutiny, their ideas. And of course presenting a paper gives you useful experience, and can result in helpful comments that will increase the publishability of the paper.
So take advantage of opportunities to present papers. The main opportunities available to you here are the Philosophy Society and the AAP's annual conference.
If you are thinking of applying for jobs in the US, you can also think about submitting a paper for the APA's Eastern Division Meeting, which you will have to attend in any case for interviews. The APA gives travel grants for "foreign scholars" who have their paper accepted. You have to prepare for this well in advance; the deadline for submission of papers for the Christmas conference is usually the beginning of March. Click here for more information about the Eastern Division Meeting.
The Central and Pacific Divisions of the APA also have conferences and (less generous) Graduate Student Stipends; click here for more information. [all links need to be checked]
3. Teaching ability and experience
You will generally have to say on your CV which areas of philosophy you are competent to teach. You need not restrict yourself here to courses you have actually taught. Think about which general areas of philosophy you have acquired knowledge of in the process of writing your thesis, and which areas you have a reasonable knowledge of from your master's thesis, courses you took as an Honours student, and so on.
If you think you are not competent to teach in more than one or two areas, you need to work on it. Click here for some hints. [link does not work]
Teaching opportunities for graduate students are limited at ANU. You are strongly advised to try and get on the Graduate Teaching Program. If you manage to get onto it, you'll get some tutorial experience in the Philosophy Department in the Faculty of Arts, plus some training from the GTP as you go along. You'll also get an impressive-looking certificate saying that you've completed the training program.
If you do manage to get some teaching in the Faculty, you can take advantage of some of CEDAM's services, which are available to anyone doing casual part-time teaching at ANU. CEDAM run more intensive training courses than the GTP, and - if you give them sufficient notice - can help you to arrange teaching evaluations for the course you are teaching.
Some students in the Philosophy Program have managed to find part-time teaching elsewhere, for instance at Macquarie University. Sometimes these are advertised on the A-phil list. Note that you are not allowed to have more than 6 hours a week part-time employment without permission; click here to see the University's policy on part-time employment. [link does not work]
4. References
You will usually need references from two (sometimes three) people who know you and your work well. Employers tend to take notice of a reference in proportion to
- how well-known and well-respected the referee is
- how well the referee knows your work
- how good the reference is
- not necessarily in that order. One referee should be your primary supervisor. Your other referee(s) might be someone else from ANU (e.g. one of your advisers), or someone from outside; for instance someone who has visited one of the philosophy departments with whom you've discussed your work. It's usually best not to include referees from the university where you took your undergraduate degree unless you have had significant contact with them since you left.
If you have finished your PhD, think about asking one of your examiners to writ you a reference; they are often happy to do so. However if reading your thesis is the only contact they've had with you, so that they cannot say anything personal about you, or anything about your other philosophical interests or abilities, it might be wise to avoid this option: If you have good examiners' reports it might be better to attach them to your CV and find a different referee.
If someone agrees to be a referee for you and you are applying for a job, it's a good idea to give them a copy of your CV. This will give them the opportunity to plug any gaps; for instance if you have very little teaching experience your supervisor might express confidence in your ability as a teacher despite your lack of experience. It is also sensible to make your referees aware of the kind of job you are applying for.
Often the job ad will ask you to provide the names of a specific number of referees (usually two or three). It's fine to have more; but make sure it's clear from your CV which ones you want them to approach if they only ask the specified number. Make sure you give fax and email addresses, especially if your referees are likely to be abroad, on sabbatical or whatever.
5. Thesis information
Include on your CV a brief summary (a paragraph or two, say) of your thesis, to give prospective employers some idea of what your main research interest is. You should also give a realistic expected completion date. (This means the date you intend to hand it in, not the date you expect to be awarded the PhD.) You might also like to say who your primary supervisor is, and (if you know it) who is on your examining committee.
6. Writing sample
You will often be asked to send at least one sample of written work. Think about what you want to send well in advance, and ask your supervisory panel to comment on the work you intend to submit. Remember that some of the selection committee may not know much about, or be especially interested in, your topic; you have to grab their attention. Treat your writing sample as seriously as you would treat a paper if you were submitting it for publication.
If you have a paper accepted for publication, you can send that as a writing sample. But it may be better to send something that you've submitted or are thinking of submitting instead. If you have something in Mind, the search committee don't need to read it to know that it's good, so you get the credit for it whether you send it as a writing sample or not. The same doesn't hold for unpublished papers.
7. Research proposal
You should include a research proposal for any research-only or teaching-and-research job. Even for a short-term teaching job it's a good idea to say something about your research plans. (For such a job, you could just add a paragraph or two to your thesis summary, saying roughly what you expect to be doing next, research-wise.)
Some employers (particularly for postdocs) will explicitly ask for a research proposal. They'll often specify how long they want it to be. If not, try to fit it on one page. Make the proposed research sound interesting and worthwhile; and challenging but feasible.
Again, the selection committee will probably have members who are not especially knowledgeable about your research area; and it may also include non-philosophers. Try to engage everyone's attention. One rule of thumb is to think of your proposal in three sections. Make the first section intelligible and interesting even to non-philosophers; the second to all philosophers; and the third to philosophers with reasonably detailed knowledge of the area.
8. Administrative experience/professional services
You're not expected to have had much relevant experience to list under this heading if you're only just finishing up your PhD; and in any case, this is one of the less important parts of your CV. But it is better to have something to say than nothing (though, as always, be brief). You might be able to include, for instance:
- refereeing a paper for a journal (if you've done this, say which journal)
- web design skills
- organising conferences or workshops
- membership of committees (PARSA, Board of Studies etc.)
Which jobs should I apply for?
Don't bother applying for jobs you're manifestly not qualified for. If you're not sure - for example because the ad isn't very specific about the level of appointment or what teaching areas they want covered - it's perfectly OK to email the Head of Department or chair of the search committee and ask them for advice. If you get a negative response, you've saved yourself the effort of applying. If you get a positive response, all well and good; and they'll remember your name when they look through the applications.
Where can I find out about job vacancies?
You can find out about most philosophy job vacancies worldwide without leaving your seat, by simply clicking here. [link needs to be checked]
If you're thinking of applying for jobs in the UK, the Times Higher Educational Supplement has an email service that will send you an email notice for any job satisfying search criteria you specify. Oxford and Cambridge offer large numbers of Junior Research Fellowships (i.e. postdocs) every year; many of these are open to philosophers. JRFs often don't get advertised in the national press but only in the Cambridge Reporter. You can search the Reporter by clicking here, entering "Junior Research Fellow" in the search field, and then sorting by date. [links needs to be checked]
How easy is it to apply for a job outside Australasia?
That depends. Applying for UK jobs is normally pretty straightforward: you just have to send a CV (sometimes including your references) and (again, sometimes) an official application form. Almost all UK jobs are decided on the basis of an interview. While departments do pay the travel expenses of interviewees, living on the other side of the world does put you at a disadvantage: you are less likely to be asked for an interview if you live in Australia than you would be if you lived in the UK - but it's worth trying.
Applying for jobs in the USA is more complicated, and can be expensive too. To find out more, click here. [link does not work]
How do I write my CV?
There are no rules about how to lay out your CV. But remember to include
- Personal information: your contact address, email etc., date of birth, and citizenship.
- Qualifications: date, place and grade of degrees obtained, together with expected completion date of your PhD.
- Referees: Names, addresses, phone/fax numbers and email addresses.
Once you've decided roughly what information you want to include and how to lay it out, make sure the CV obeys the following four crucial desiderata:
- Be as brief as possible. Do not tell the reader anything s/he does not need to know. She does not care where you went to high school or which courses you took as a first year undergraduate or whether you are a champion tap dancer.
- Make it easy to read. Lay the CV out in clearly marked sections. Where possible, use lists rather than paragraphs: avoid saying things like "from 1990 to 1993 I was an undergraduate at Melbourne University where I gained a First Class degree in Philosophy. I then began my MA at . . ." etc.
- Sell yourself. The selection committee may have a huge stack of CVs to read. You have to make them want to shortlist you - and often the only information they will have about you is what is on your CV.
- Tailor the CV to the job. Think about which particular qualities the selection committee is looking for, and tailor your CV accordingly. For example if you are applying for a postdoc they probably won't be very interested in your teaching experience; whereas for a 6 month teaching job a detailed research proposal might be irrelevant. If the advert lists specific teaching requirements, make sure your CV makes it very obvious that you can teach at least some of these.
Keep an exact copy of the CV (and covering letter) you send. By the time you get called for interview, you may well have changed your referees, expected completion date, publication record, research plans etc.
Should I include a covering letter?
In general it can't do any harm - but only do it if you think you have something you need to say that does not appear on your CV; and it's vital to be brief.
If you do decide to write a covering letter, say which position you are applying for and where you heard about it. If you are likely to be hard to contact because of holidays etc., say what the best way of contacting you will be, and (if relevant) whether there are any times at which you will be unable to attend an interview.
You might also like to say something about why you are the perfect candidate for the job: draw attention to how well your research interests complement those of the department, or to the fact that you have teaching experience in the areas listed in the advert. But make sure the covering letter takes up no more than one page.