In our July "how can we help you?" thread, a reader writes:
I recently completed my PhD and it looks like I may have missed the boat for applying for postdoc/lectureship positions that begin in the Fall. Although I am applying to the odd positions that have been coming up, I'm anticipating having a "gap year." For this year, I was wondering if anyone has recommendations for what I should be focusing on preparing or completing in order to strengthen my applications for the future. Thanks in advance!
The first thing that I would suggest to the OP is to make sure that they find better job-market mentoring. Someone in their PhD program should have given them the heads up that they needed to apply last year for postdoc/lecturer positions that begin this fall. A few years ago, I met a job-candidate at another institution who clearly wasn't receiving adequate job-market mentoring in their program. The job-market was just a month or two away (as it is now), and they seemed mostly unaware that they should be prepared for the market already. How this happens at some PhD programs, I don't know. But the OP really should have been clued in by someone in their program to these kinds of facts about the job-cycle.
The second thing I would suggest is for them to check out the Cocoon's various series on job-market prep: our Job-Market Boot Camp, Notes from Both Sides of the Market, and Secret Lives of Search Committees. In terms of a "gap year", I don't know if it will be a problem this year, as they just completed their PhD and the gap probably won't immediately be very evident on their CV. But beyond that, I don't know.
Do any readers have any additional tips or advice for the OP?
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