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Conflicting Advice on Writing Samples

I've heard some conflicting advice on what people who have publications should use as their writing sample in job applications. On the one hand, I've heard the obvious:

  • Your writing sample should be your best piece of work.

Seems reasonable. But what if you have publications? Here, I've heard several different things.

First, I've heard some people say your writing sample should be one of your publications, for if you send something that isn't published it (A) implies that your published work isn't all that good, and (B) there's a risk, if you send an unpublished manuscript, it isn't as good as your published work.

Second, I've heard some people say that your writing sample should not be one of your publications, as that implies that you don't have better work than your existing publications in the pipeline..

Finally, there's the issue of length. I've heard many people say that writing samples should be relatively short — 20-25 pages, 30-or-so tops — and that it can really annoy SCs, and make you look arrogant, if your writing sample is too long. But of course publications — even if they are your best work — may be substantially longer than 30 pages.

Anyway, I figured readers might find a discussion of these issues helpful — hence this post! Any thoughts?

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7 responses to “Conflicting Advice on Writing Samples”

  1. Daniel

    I think long writing samples are unlikely to get read in full before the late stages of a search. So if you do use one, best to also include a note on how one might skim/skip certain sections.

    Reply
  2. Rachel

    This is really complicated, I think.
    From discussions with people who don’t think there’s a pedigree bias, what they say is that what sets aside people from “top” programs is that their writing samples are just fantastic papers. Generally that’s because they get years to work with the very best in philosophy perfecting a piece of writing. However, I’ve noticed that these documents are rarely publishable as they are.
    If this is true, these members of search committees are favouring writing samples that are nearly unpublishable (as they are), so that means that published articles are at a disadvantage.
    I was someone on the market with lots of publications (6-7, depending on when we’re talking) and I chose to send in my most representative published paper. But when I did my job talk, I basically presented the central arguments of the book I’m working on, which is related to that paper, but let me present on something building on and different from my writing sample. For some jobs that warranted it, where I was applying to positions that had two aims (both in my AOS and a fairly specific AOC combination), I sent in that published paper and an unpublished paper at a fairly advanced stage (since published).
    On balance, if one has publications, one should send one as a writing sample iff it’s in one’s AOS for the job. The paper has to be representative of what you do. If it’s just a side-publication, then I’d send in a paper you’re shopping around (i.e., under review) that isn’t yet published. You want to show the SC a piece of work that lets them know what you work on (since they’ll be asking questions about it during interviews!).

    Reply
  3. Kenny Pearce

    On points 1 and 2: I’ve been told that, for people just out of grad school going on the market for the first time, it is very important for your writing sample to be based on part of your dissertation (whether published or not), but ALSO to be a standalone piece which is as close as possible to publication-ready. This is partly because this way the writing sample and dissertation abstract together will help the committee to get a good sense of what your dissertation is like.
    I imagine the advice for people who have been out of grad school for a while would be totally different.
    On point 3: A few jobs advertised this year actually say ‘a writing sample or no more than 25 pages’ or something like that. Most don’t specify, but since I haven’t ever seen any other length specified, I imagine 20-25 pages is what is expected.

    Reply
  4. Katie

    The purpose of the writing sample is to show the committee/dept what you can do, philosophically. Send something in the advertised AOS that demonstrates your knowledge and depth. It doesn’t matter whether it has been published before or not, since the dept/committee will form their own judgments about its quality.
    One ought not send a long, unpublished writing sample. More than 30 pages is excessive and indeed annoying. But if it has already been published, greater length is not a problem.

    Reply
  5. Jason Brennan

    No matter what you choose to send, some people will wonder what it means that you didn’t send something else. Why did you send a chapter from your dissertation, rather than a more recently published piece? Is it because your new work isn’t as good? Why did you send a new unpublished piece, rather than a dissertation chapter? Is it because your dissertation sucks? Etc. There’s no escaping that people will wonder about this.
    The best thing to do is not worry about. Send the strongest piece you’ve written in the past two years, whatever that piece is. And make sure it has a kick-ass, snappy opening, because the chances of anyone reading that writing sample past the first page are small.

    Reply
  6. Marcus Arvan

    Thanks, Jason – sounds exactly right to me.

    Reply
  7. Jaded

    I’ve been on a lot of search committees. You may be overthinking some aspects of this. Send your best work in the AOS and try to stay below twenty pages. Remember that at many schools not all (maybe not any) members of the committee will be experts in your field. They need to be able to follow it. But any experts also need to feel like it’s breaking new ground. It’s a balancing act.

    Reply

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