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Job-Market Reporting Thread (2025-26)
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How many job apps does your department receive?

In our newest "how can we help you?" thread, a reader asks:

At my university, we receive low numbers of applications for tt and post-doc positions. I would like to compare our numbers to the numbers other institutions receive. If you happen to have numbers from recent hiring processes, would you mind sharing them? I'd be interested in 1) type of institution, 2) area(s), and 3) rank. Is there a place where I might find such numbers?

Since my institution is non-English-speaking, what do you think would be an appropriate time-frame to learn the language of the country?

Many thanks in advance!

Interesting questions. There was this post reporting some data at Daily Nous yesterday, but it might be good to hear directly from readers on hiring committees.

  1. How many applications do you receive for TT and/or postdoc positions?
  2. What type of institution do you work at?
  3. Where is your institution located (e.g., state, country)? 
Posted in

13 responses to “How many job apps does your department receive?”

  1. insider

    I will address your last concern. Realistically, if you are hiring a North American, you should not expect them to learn the language in less than 6 years – and even then most will be unable to teach in the language of the country. If you are hring a European, then things are more optimistic.

    Reply
  2. assc prof

    Usually between 60 and 200 for TT positions (sometimes not well advertised).
    SLAC with a 4/4 load
    In an expensive, but very desirable location.
    As for language expectations, it really will depend on the individual. Some people with prior experience learning a language–even North Americans–can plausibly become proficient-to-fluent in two years if they make an effort. But if they don’t have the background, or are too busy or otherwise can’t/don’t make a big effort, I’d say at least four.

    Reply
  3. Grad student

    Re insider: I have seen job adverts in the Netherlands that expect new hires to be able to teach in Dutch within two years. Six seems a very long time.

    Reply
  4. job stats

    Some US R1 TT jobs I’ve applied for (predominantly in ethics and value theory) have included in their emails that they received 300-600 applications.
    As to your last question, I think how long it takes to learn the language is only one part of the question. The other is whether early career applicants (especially those from the US), who might anticipate cycling through a few jobs after this one (especially for the postdocs) will feel it’s worth the investment for what might not be their imagined ‘forever job’.

    Reply
  5. southerner

    My department ran a tt search in 2022 and a n-tt search in 2023. We are a non-elite R1 in the south.
    For the tt search, we received about 80 complete applications. For the n-tt search, we received about 35 complete applications.

    Reply
  6. insider

    Grad Student
    Try to learn Dutch in the next two years … of course you have other things to do. But that is exactly the position a new faculty hire is in. They have a full time job, and they are expected to learn a language. In the case of Dutch, many Germans can do it … not so sure about many others.

    Reply
  7. J

    Some languages are objectively more difficult to learn for English native speakers than others (see https://effectivelanguagelearning.com/language-guide/language-difficulty/ ). Accordingly, I would give different answers depending on what language we are talking about.

    Reply
  8. OP

    Thanks for your answers! We are in a Spanish-speaking country. Learning Spanish is not a requirement for post-doc positions. But there is the expectation that tenure-track faculty can teach in Spanish after a reasonable period of time. The question would be what a reasonable time period of time is.

    Reply
  9. TT person learning 中文 for fun

    Re:OP
    Depends on native language of applicant and on what other languages the applicant already knows.
    English –> Spanish is easy.
    English –> Mandarin 很非常难 (i.e., is very difficult)
    Mandarin –> Spanish is (probably) very difficult

    Reply
  10. The Netherlands

    I haven’t served on the job committees myself, but what I gather from colleagues, Dutch departments usually receive well over 100 applications for TT positions with the expectation to teach in Dutch after two years.
    Might well be less for small fields, specific searches or very small/unknown universities though.

    Reply
  11. SW

    1/ 40-60 applications for TT*
    2/ Public with 4/4 teaching load
    3/ American southwest
    *Our jobs are listed as “open until filled” but include an initial review date. HR only sends us the applications that come in by the initial review date. It’s possible that more come in later but we won’t see them.

    Reply
  12. comittee crazed

    45-100 apps for TT
    Regional with a 4/4 teaching load
    Midatlantic, small city, low col

    Reply
  13. Job

    67 apps for our last TT opening (7 years ago)
    community college with a 5/5 teaching load
    the outskirts of a major midwestern city

    Reply

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