Resources for the Tenure-Track Job Search
Interfolio
It is likely that you will need to set up an account with Interfolio, which is now the standard dossier delivery service. You can have letters uploaded here, and you can also upload your own materials for delivery to institutions in a bundle.
The Chronicle of Higher Education/Inside Higher Ed
The Chronicle of Higher Education comes out weekly and has fairly extensive ads for jobs; any given issue will have six to seven jobs in English, and sometimes many more than that. Davis has copies, and you can also borrow a copy from the graduate studies office or view it online. In the fall, the Chronicle will only occasionally have ads not also listed in the MLA job list, but at all other times of the year (i.e. from January to September), it is the most useful job list. InsideHigherEd also now has good searchable features and many smaller schools post here, since as of the time of this writing, it is free.
MLA Job Information List
The Modern Language Association provides an online job information list published in October, December, April, and June. You may access this list through the MLA main page. Placement directors will distribute the username and password. The MLA job list is the "official" way to advertise an opening. It is the major source for finding out about tenure‑track jobs that will go through the normal MLA convention interview process. It is less helpful for off-cycle hires -- which means that it is less useful in the spring, although still important. You can also subscribe (through MLA) and get your own personal access.
"The Wiki"
The Academic Jobs Wiki has become an increasingly commonly used resource not only for TT search updates but even for finding listings. There are also links to job resources (including alt-ac articles) and reflections on past experiences with universities/colleges. For the most part, the wiki's value is in the updates that people post on their progress through assistant professor level searches: materials requests, interview requests, campus visits (the information generally tails off at this stage). Like all open-source, anonymous webpages, it should be taken with a grain of salt. Some schools will post updates here or respond to comments. However, it is in no way essential to use, and can produce a lot of anxiety for some people. Use with restraint, and be discreet in your own posting.
Other Academic Job Resources
Check notices posted on the bulletin board next to the mailboxes. Internet and other word-of-mouth sources can also provide information about available jobs, especially last-minute replacement jobs, which are seldom advertised formally. The placement directors will forward these as available. Tenure‑track jobs are never solely advertised this way, but internet postings (especially to specialized discussion groups) are becoming more common. If you find yourself in a particular geographic area and looking for work, a blanket mailing to all the area's colleges will very often land you some adjunct work. Almost all colleges now hire some lecturers and some do not bother to advertise these positions, depending instead on blind applications that come in the mail. Early April is the optimal time to send out such letters since many schools hire for lecturer positions right at the end of the spring semester. April to June is the season for such openings.
Duke's English department has an excellent job placement website that contains tips, timelines, and links to job lists. The University of Texas at Austin also has a good job placement website which contains interesting resources on job possibilities outside of academia.
To search for jobs in the United Kingdom, see http://jobs.ac.uk/.
Educaloxy keeps international job listings. You can sign up for their listserv.
Resources for Post-Doc Applicants
Current and prospective UNC postdocs will find information about postdoctoral fellowships on the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs website (http://postdocs.unc.edu/ops.htm). You will also find some post-docs listed on the ADE joblist.
- To search for postdocs at UNC, see http://postdocs.unc.edu/postdoc_jobs.htm.
- National Postdoctoral Association (includes job board):http://www.nationalpostdoc.org.
- See also: http://www.scholarshipnet.info/category/postdoc/ .
- Post your resume, search for jobs, and read tips on the post-doc search athttp://www.postdocjobs.com/.
- See postings of current post-docs in the humanities on the website of Duke’s Office of Research Support:http://www.ors.duke.edu/find/student/pdoc/pdochumsoc.html.
- Ford Diversity Postdoctoral Fellowships for minority Ph.D.s:http://www7.nationalacademies.org/FORDfellowships/fordpost.html
- Carolina Postdoctoral Program for Faculty Diversity:http://research.unc.edu/red/postdoc.php.
- Chronicle of Higher Education article: “Postdocs for Humanists” by Peter S. Cahn: http://chronicle.com/article/Postdocs-for-Humanists/46159.
Resources for Community College Job Applicants
Although there is no separate search category on the MLA webpage for community college jobs, typing “community college” in the search line may yield listings. The MLA also provides details on pursuing this career: https://www.mla.org/About-Us/Governance/Committees/Committee-Listings/Professional-Issues/Committee-on-Community-Colleges/A-Community-College-Teaching-Career
- American Association of Community Colleges Career Center: https://jobs.aacc.nche.edu/
- See also http://www.higheredjobs.com/.
- See also http://www.jobhero.com/.
The Versatile PhD program/portal to which UNC students have access via the Career Services webpage (onyen login required; see below) also currently has a variety of resources including personal testimonials from humanities doctoral degree earners who teach/taught at community colleges.
Resources for Non-Academic and Alt-Ac Jobs
UNC DOECL alumni who have gone into non-academic and alt-ac jobs work in areas ranging from instructional design to creative writing to wide-ranging cultural programming. Some alt-ac jobs include teaching, so you can continue this aspect of your work if it is important to you.
For non-academic and some alt-ac jobs, you should prepare a resume rather than a CV, be prepared to speak about skills as well as accomplishments, and create a LinkedIn page to showcase your experience.
Visit the University Career Services website (http://careers.unc.edu/) and sign up for the UCS Registration System. This system will give you access to job and internship postings, and to the career services listserv. Inquire about networking nights and career fairs.
Amy Blackburn is the chief contact at the moment for our grads.
Department Alt-Ac Handbook
This handbook is a convenient digest of then-current alt-ac articles, created in 2016 by RA Kevin Pyon and Prof. Heidi Kim. It tries to distill some of the most commonly circulated ideas about alt-ac preparation and job searching. Login required.
Links to Information:
- The Versatile PhD is probably the top online resource at the moment for developing non-academic careers for humanities and social science PhDs. Access it with your ONYEN through Career Services.
- Anne Whisnant (public historian and fixed-term faculty at UNC for many years) has a page with listings of terrific alt-ac resources.
- See UC-Berkeley’s guide to jobs beyond the academy:http://career.berkeley.edu/Phds/PhDCareerJob.stm.
Links to Job Search Websites:
- Http://www.academic360.com/ provides links to other job-hunting websites in academic and administrative positions.
- Academic Careers Online is a “global academic job site for teaching jobs, education jobs, and professional jobs in education and academia”:http://www.academiccareers.com/.
- Private School Teaching and Administration:http://www.nais.org/.
- Technical Writing Jobs:http://www.stc.org/.
- Business Communication: http://www.iabc.com/.
- National Council of Teachers of English (information about university, community college, ESL, and high school teaching jobs):http://www.ncte.org/about/over/careers/.
- Federal Government Jobs (the federal pay scale is based on education level, so the PhD makes applicants eligible for higher-level jobs):http://www.usajobs.gov. Career Services can also assist with pursuing government employment.
- Non-profit jobs: http://www.idealist.org/
- Nonprofit Times: http://www.nptimes.com.
- General job search engine: http://www.wetfeet.com
- National Coalition of Independent Scholars: www.ncis.org
Books and articles:
- See the Career Center resource room for numerous books on both academic and non-academic job searching.
- Karen Kelsky, The Professor is In
- Maggie Debelius and Susan Elizabeth Basalla, So What Are You Going to Do With That?: A Guide for M.A.’s and Ph.D’s Seeking Careers Outside the Academy (Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2001).
- Outside the Ivory Tower, by Margaret Newhouse (Harvard University Press, 1993).
Conference Call and Research Websites
For calls for papers on English and American Literature and Culture, see the University of Pennsylvania's electronic mailing list:http://www.english.upenn.edu/CFP/index.html. See also the listings in PMLA. Sign up for the listservs of your major field associations or check their websites. Major conferences often send out calls for papers a year or nine months in advance.
Online research tools:
- “Literary Resources on the Net”: http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Lit/,
- “Voice of the Shuttle”:http://vos.ucsb.edu/.