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Tips for Australian job apps?

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

I am applying for an Australian permanent position for the first time. I would appreciate any and all advice people have to give about Australian applications. What are some differences from other job markets to bear in mind? Do Australian committee veterans have any stories to tell about when candidates got it badly wrong? Are there idiosyncratic things about the Australian system (like the REF in the UK or the NWO – not THAT NWO… – in the Netherlands) that are worth talking about in the application?

This is a great query, and I’m curious to hear answers!

Any readers able to weigh in with any helpful tips?

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2 responses to “Tips for Australian job apps?”

  1. Anonymous

    I haven’t applied for jobs in Australia, but I did my PhD there and a bunch of my friends from grad school work there. Australian academia increasingly requires you to get grants in order to move up promotion ranks, even in Philosophy. I don’t think you need to say anything about the particular grant frameworks in Australia, but it would definitely be good in your application to highlight the fact that you’ll be planning on applying for grants, and any features that make your work particularly grantable.

    Reply
  2. Anonymous

    The process is not exactly the same everywhere in Aus. The application will typically be a CV, cover letter, answers to the selection criteria, as well as contact details for references. Don’t write essays for any of these things, keep it brief.

    It is like Europe in that they will very, very rarely employ anyone to a permanent position fresh out of their PhD, but they are weirdly obsessed with those who have PhDs from overseas, typically the US. In my experience, the candidate that gets the job usually has a couple of postdocs under their belt, good overseas networks, good publications, good service and teaching experience, and a connection to Australia already.

    For the search committees that I have been on, candidates that have some connection to Australia already usually have the edge, when things have come right down to wire in a hiring decision. I don’t think it is like that everywhere (for instance, University of Sydney and ANU seem not to do this, but that may change as Sydney seems to have had a hard time holding onto staff of late).

    The application process is usually very quick, and the interviews are more like what it is in the UK.

    Never accept a job at a centre/institute with almost no undergraduate teaching and that does not make money from teaching, if it promises to be permanent, without also being very aware that your job may be made redundant down the line (ahem, ACU Dianoia).

    I hope any of this is useful.

    Reply

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