The Philosophers' Cocoon

A safe and supportive forum for philosophers.

Owned & Moderated by Marcus Arvan (University of Tampa)

Contact: marvan@ut.edu

Blog mission & moderation policy

IMPORTANT NOTE on how to ensure anonymity in commenting
Job-Market Reporting Thread (2025-26)
Job-Market Discussion Thread (2025-26)

recent posts

about

How can the Cocoon help you? (December 2016)

It's been about a month and a half since our last "How can we help you?" post, and since it's almost Christmas and we're in the heart of the job season, I figured now might be a good time for another one.

For readers new to this series, this is a periodic opportunity to pose questions to our community on anything you could use some help with (anything at all consistent with the blog's mission). Just post your query in the comments section below! You can ask questions about the academic and non-academic job-markets, publishing, teaching, or the profession more broadly. I will then select questions from the comments section and open new posts on them for community discussion.

Given that the academic job-market is now in full-swing, feel free to ask the Cocoon community questions about:

  • Skype and phone interviews
  • On-campus visits
  • Etc.

We're here to help, so fire away!

Posted in

9 responses to “How can the Cocoon help you? (December 2016)”

  1. Tom

    Oooh! I have an idea. Let’s have a thread sometime where job-seekers can write in with things they liked that search committees did. But not snarkily. E.g. I had a flyout once and when we went out to dinner the folks I was with both made sure to order drinks and then encourage me too. That was nice because I sure as hell needed one, and they made sure I felt ok getting one. Stuff like that.
    Maybe we could have one going the other way round, too? I imagine there are things candidates do that make search committees happy as well.

    Reply
  2. Me

    I agree with Tom. Nice idea. I had to stay over a weekend for one interview, years ago. It was nice when on the weekend someone from the Department offered to take me to two tourist sites in the area, both well worth seeing. Both historic homes of famous Americans. I did not get the job (the inside candidate did), but the side trips are still very memorable.

    Reply
  3. Eric

    It would be helpful if there was a post discussing things one should consider when deciding to go on the job market. For example, should one go on the market in the beginning of their 5th year as a US graduate student if they do not have a publication. If they should go on the market without a publication, what things need to be true and what kinds of jobs should they apply for? These questions are motivated by my own situation as a 4th year graduate student at a top-15 program. But, it seems like a more general discussion of whether and where one should apply when one is a 5th year could be useful.

    Reply
  4. Eric

    Another issue that may be worth discussing is how much teaching should an applicant have to be competitive at R1s, SLACs or large state schools provided that one has at least one decent publication. By decent publication I mean a third tier journal or better.
    Some people think that (1) one or two classes will suffice to make one competitive but I’ve noticed some people think that (2) more than two classes can make help make one more competitive at either SLACs or large state schools.
    There seems to be some consensus that to be competitive across all kinds of schools, one should have some teaching and at least one publication. But, beyond this, it seems that there is less consensus.

    Reply
  5. Marcus Arvan

    Great query, Eric – I’ll open up a thread on it tomorrow!

    Reply
  6. Job Seeker

    Another job market question: A lot of the jobs advertised this year—especially in one of my core research areas, continental philosophy—list as possible AOCs or mention as “special needs,” “preferences,” etc., areas such as feminist philosophy, critical race theory, or philosophy of race/gender. In many cases, these are not listed as the primary area of interest (AOS), but their inclusion in the job ad (often several of the above lumped together) seems to imply a strong preference for a certain sort of candidate on the part of the search committee. I was wondering if search committees have any advice for candidates (e.g., me) who fit these criteria in terms of research (e.g., who do some work in feminist philosophy), but who don’t fit the identity profile presumably associated with such work. I certainly understand the motivation behind such ads, given the deplorable state of diversity in academic philosophy. As a white male, how can I best present myself in application materials, interviews, etc., as someone with genuine research and teaching interests in these areas, which are not my AOS, without giving the impression that I am simply “pandering” to the job ad? This is especially relevant this year given that such preferences are listed for almost every posted job for which I qualify in terms of AOS.

    Reply
  7. Me

    Job seeker,
    The best way to show that you are interested in, say, feminist philosophy, is to publish in it. Do not bother discussing your “race” and “gender”.
    If it is a veiled way for the committee to get affirmative action candidates then it is deplorable (hey, that’s a new word!). You have no choice but to take them at face value.

    Reply
  8. Marcus Arvan

    Job seeker, I second Me’s comment. There is one, and only one, way to show that you fit the criteria: a record of research and/or teaching in the area. As I mentioned in our Job Market Boot Camp, I learned as a job candidate and search committee member that at the end of the day, the best you can do in general is not try to “sell yourself”, but instead present your research and teaching and let them speak for themselves. If you’re what the committee is looking for, then you are; and if you’re not then you’re not. In other words, for better or worse, I concur with Me that there is nothing “special” one can do. One has to simply present one’s research and teaching honestly and let the chips (as it were) fall where they may.

    Reply
  9. Job Candidate @ APA Eastern

    It would be really helpful to get some advice on interviewing at the APA Eastern for those of us who are being interviewed there for the first time very soon! What should job candidates bring? I am not sure what to show up with. Should I bring a folder with my complete dossier (CV, writing sample, research statement, teaching statement and evaluations, sample syllabi, diversity statement, etc.)? How many copies should one have on hand? How does this interview differ from Skype interviews? I have now had some practice with first-round Skype/teleconference interviews, but I’m very nervous about the APA.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to EricCancel reply

Discover more from The Philosophers' Cocoon

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading