The academic job talk
Photo by Rashid Tajuar on Unsplash
Few moments in academia carry as much pressure—or possibility—as the academic job talk. I love coaching people on how to craft their job talks. I liken my role to that of Al Pacino as the football coach in the movie Any Given Sunday. As he proclaims, football is a game of inches; for instance, one step too early or too late in running your route and you can’t catch the ball. But, he continues, if you can gather up all of the inches around you, you can ultimately find success and win the game (you can find the movie clip here; note language NSFW). In other words, if you want to come out on top, you have to gather up every advantage that you can. Take nothing for granted. This is probably true of most aspects of life, and it’s certainly true of academic job talks. There are a lot of tips out there for crafting a compelling job talk. People will give good advice about formatting your slides and figures so that they really pop, or about selling your next ambitious research project. All important stuff. But, the most important “inch” isn’t actually your most recent groundbreaking data or your future directions. It is the introspection that you do behind the scenes. The most important inch of your job talk happens before you ever open PowerPoint, Google Slides, or Canva. It comes from being grounded, unapologetically, in who you are.
One of the challenges of academia, especially if you didn’t grow up in it, is that it’s a big mystery. It can be downright terrifying. Now, add to that mystery a few other layers of complications. First, the academic job market is brutal. No other way to describe it. Positions aren’t numerous and the field is competitive. Second, if you identify as being part of an under-represented group, you may not see yourself reflected in the membership of the search committees. Third, if you or your family has experienced economic hardships, or if you are financially responsible for others, there’s probably a voice in the back of your head whispering constantly that there is no safety net for you, grab on to whatever you can, however you can. What does all of this add up to? It adds up to a situation in which you may feel pressured to contort yourself into whatever you think the search committee is looking for just to get a job and to finally make some money. You end up portraying yourself as someone you are not.
The problem with this approach is that it doesn’t allow for your strengths, unique skills, and confidence to shine through. You simply won’t be comfortable in this contortion. Even in the best of circumstances, an overly performative job talk can present problems down the road. You may land the job, but end up unhappy if you have committed to teaching a class, or serving on a committee, or conducting a line of research that doesn’t align with your expertise or long-term goals.
To avoid this sticky situation, it can be helpful to think about your answers to the following questions before building your job talk.
Five questions to ground your job talk
1. Who are you? What’s your backstory? What led you to pursue this work? What are you trained in and what research questions, methodologies, or teaching practices excite you? Why are they important to you?
2. What is your story? What are the important take-home points from your research that you would want someone to know? Imagine telling a loved one about what you do and why they should care about it.
3. Where do you want to go? By having a clear vision of your long-term research, teaching goals, and professional development goals, you help the committee understand what resources you need, what your first grant would look like, who you could collaborate with in the department, and how students would benefit from your instruction. Here, it is important to understand what could then be strategically tailored to the department where you are interviewing. If you have multiple lines of work that you find exciting, perhaps you lean into the ones that align best with that department.
4. What makes you unique? Defining your unique expertise and skillsets will help set you apart from other candidates. This is where you can speak candidly about the field and how you see yourself and your work positioned within it.
5. What is the problem the department or university is trying to solve? Remember that you are helping the department and university solve their problems. Do they need someone to run an imaging center? Are they lacking in conceptual expertise in a particular area? Do they need someone to lead specific courses or committees? Do these needs align with your long-term goals?
The answers to the above five questions then become the job talk. Your answers to ‘who are you?’ create the foundation for the Introduction. Answers to ‘what is your story?’ become expanded into the Methods and Results. The take-home messages you have identified appear throughout and in the Conclusions. Your answers to ‘where do you want to go?’ form the basis for your Future Directions. Your answers to ‘what makes you unique?’ and ‘what is the problem the department or university is trying to solve’ should be imbued throughout the talk, and evident to everyone in the room by the end of your talk.
It can be tempting to think that the academic job talk should be centered on the data or outputs. But really, it should be centered on what makes you you and what amazing things you can do for the department and field. The data and your output are simply a few components of everything that you bring to the table. If you’re struggling with organizing your job talk, reach out for a 1-on-1 coaching session; I’ll help you gather up all of the ‘inches’ to craft a compelling talk that helps you stand out.
Next week: Negotiations: Ask for what you need to succeed.
