Advice for Graduate Students Seeking Faculty Positions
PhD candidate, Shobha
Vasudevan, accepted an offer from the University of Illinois for an
assistant professor position. "UIUC is included among the nation's top
few research institutions and the ECE department has maintained a reputation of
excellence and world class research for the past many decades," says Ms.
Vasudevan. "I am very excited and will be starting sometime in Fall
2007."
Ms. Vasudevan was selected from 250 candidates. Her research is concentrated on formal verification of hardware. Here is her advice to graduate students about applying for a faculty position.
"The journey through grad school, from a diffident incoming grad student in 2001 to a professor in a top flight institution, has been a tough but rewarding one. Although I am being given all the credit for this achievement, the truth is that I owe a large part of it to some others. My advisor, Dr. Jacob Abraham, was both an inspiring as well as a motivating force through grad school. Whether it was the decision of doing a PhD, research discussions, finding new problems to work on—his firm belief in me and infectious enthusiasm have made me want to go that extra mile. My parents have been very supportive of all my decisions and equipped me to face undulations in my life and career. Most of all, I am fortunate to have wonderful friends who made the dimmest days seem bright.
"A lot of grad students have been asking me for guidelines for a successful academic job search. I would like to take this opportunity to share whatever my experiences have taught me.
"I think the first thing to remember is not to wait for things to happen. It is important to put in a lot of initiative and leave no stone unturned in the effort. You should go to conferences, research every school and department that you are applying to, contact individual profs who might be interested in your work, make sure as many people know about your work as possible—and all of that needs to be self motivated, since you rarely have a support system that helps you search for an academic job. It is not easy to know what to do at every step in this process, but spend minimal time waiting, by maximizing your efforts in all directions.
"Second, know that you are not a statistic! Since the number of people who get faculty jobs is very small in any given year, you will hear discouragement from every quarter. Many people will caution you about the high probability of rejection during the application process. In my case, since there were few other students who were applying for faculty positions in the department, there was no scope for peer discussions. What you must realize is that, if you feel you stand a good chance, you should give it your best shot. Seeking others' opinions about the process itself, often gets in the way of your focus and confidence. Don't rely on other's encouragement and don't get discouraged by statistics.
"A faculty position interview is a very unique experience. However much you prepare with the job talk, it is difficult to be mentally prepared for intense assessment by a coterie of professors over 2 full days! It is important to remain energetic through the entire interview process, since conveying your excitement and passion about your research is critical. Although it is easy to get daunted by the scholarship and personalities of many veteran professors, it is important to remember that you are an expert in your own field. If you come across as self-assured, they will see you more as a colleague and less as a student.
"I am thankful to The University of Texas and the ECE department for providing an atmosphere of learning and academic excellence. In connection with the faculty job search, however, it would be valuable to have a stronger support system in our department for applicants. It would be good to have mock interviews, seminars about faculty job searches, feedback from professors and a network of faculty candidate aspirants. I hope that in the future, ECE develops such a forum for supporting and encouraging more students to apply to these jobs."