I recently worked with two struggling UK job-candidates on their dossier materials–both of whom have promising publication records, in one case a particularly strong publication record–and have noticed some possible cultural issues that I think may be worth discussing. My sense, having worked with these two candidates, is that these cultural differences may be putting UK candidates at a distinct disadvantage in the North American market. Although the two candidates' statements in my view needed work in different areas, both sets of statements conflicted guidance I received from the job-market consultant I used [advice that served me well on the market). Further, or so I learned from the latter candidate, because jobs in the UK typically do not require research or teaching statements–apparently a typical application just requires a CV, cover letter, reference letters, and possibly answers to specific questions about job-qualifications–UK applicants may have a hard time getting accurate information or good mentorship on how to write strong statements to be competitive in the North American market. Conversely, at least in my experience, U.S. candidates tend to receive ample guidance in grad school on these things.
Although, once again, the candidates' statements in my view needed work in different areas, it did appear to me that they had not received sufficient mentorship in putting them together. Some of the issues I noticed were:
- The research statement being too long [upwards of 3 pages].
- The teaching statement being too long [2 pages or more].
- Research statements being pitched far too high, only at specialists [using lots of jargon unfamiliar to non-specialists].
- The research statement reading more like a "research proposal", with detailed timelines, for instance, for writing a book.
- The research statement focusing more on accomplishments [viz. "Here's what I published. Here's what I defended in Paper A. Here's what I defended in Paper B."] instead of focusing, quickly and crisply, on [A] how one's arguments are unique/improvements to the literature, to [B] interest the search committee to look more carefully at one's CV and writing sample.
For reasons why I believe these things may be holding candidates back on the market, I encourage visiting Helen and my Job-Market Boot Camp. The very short-story is that while search committees in the UK may be comprised by experts [philosophy departments in the UK tend, as far as I can tell, to be quite large], many search committees in the US are small, and may not have anyone with expertise in the candidate's area. Consequently–not to mention due to time constraints on search committee members–it is critical for research and teaching statements to be short, crisp, and clear, demonstrating quickly and intuitively what is special about the specific candidate's research and teaching, in concrete terms that anyone [including a layperson or student] can understand. Indeed, or so I have heard, search committee members at teaching-oriented schools are very much looking to tell–from a person's dossier–whether that person can communicate sophisticated philosophical ideas at a level that undergraduates can understand.
In any case, my purpose in writing this post is not to rehash earlier advice about research and teaching statements, but instead to inquire with you all–both the job candidates and search committee members out there–which cultural issues appear to arise on the job-market, not only with dossiers but at other junctures as well. Helen once wrote a very helpful post on how interviews differ in the British market–but I would like to ask the question more broadly. I think these are important things to discuss–and get clear on–because I think it would be [is?] unfortunate if certain types of candidates [say, UK candidates] tended to be at a disadvantage on the market due to cultural differences. My hope is that by investigating this issue together, we may be able to find out which issues there are, in a way that may help candidates overcome such differences.
So, then, I would like to ask you all two questions:
- What cultural differences have you experienced concerning the job market [viz. North American, European, Australian, Asian, etc.], with regard to candidates, job-market process, search committees, etc., that candidates should be aware of?
- Do you have any advice for how to handle those differences effectively?
I look forward to hearing how you all answer. Hopefully, we can have a good, helpful discussion!
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