Job Market Packet

by Mike Conlin and Stacy Dickert

Job Market Tips

Questions to ask when scheduling interviews

• Who am I speaking with and what institution/business are you with?
• What hotel are you staying in and what times do you have available?
• How long is the interview (usually 30 or 45 minutes)?
• Whose name will the hotel room be under?
• Will the hotel room number be posted on the message board or should I call the hotel room directly.
• Who will be interviewing me (often they do not know)?
• Can you send me some information on your department/business/agency?
• Ask for their phone number and e-mail address.
• Tell them where you are staying and the phone number where you can be reached over the holidays just in case. (You may want to send them a letter confirming your interview.)

Tips on scheduling

• Much depends on the layout of the hotels. If hotels are separated, try to schedule a string of interviews at the same hotel.
• Leave at least 15 minutes between interviews.
• Usually there are four days of interviews. Request the first and last days of the meetings for interviews if possible because the two middle days are the more hectic days.
• If your schedule is very full, you may want to cancel a few interviews you are not really interested in. (There is a cost associated with an interview if you have many because it is an exhausting process.)
• Based on our small sample size, we donıt think the time of day of the interview is very important.
• You might want to call some places that you donıt hear from (for which you think you are a good match). Talk to your advisor before doing this.

Preparing for the interview

After receiving a call, cut out the advertisement from the JOE, put it on a 5x7 index card in the binder and write down the important points of the telephone conversation. Write the time, hotel and the name of the institution on interview schedule received from Jean. Keep records of all your contacts on the index card. Do some research on each interview and make sure you have a couple of specific questions for the interviewers. (Example: University of Arizona: their experimental economics laboratory. University of Wisconsin: institutes.) You can get information from the material they send you, the packets in Jeanıs office and faculty members at UW. You may also want to look in the AER for a list of faculty at different schools. (You could search Econlit for articles published by those interviewing you but this may not be worth your time at this stage.)

Best suggestions we heard for Presentation

• Put lots of time into the presentation and make sure it is very polished.
• Lead off with a one minute overview of what you did and make sure you say punchline. People will interrupt to ask questions but they usually wait a minute or two.
• Donıt be rigid and seem too rehearsed. Be excited about what you are talking about (especially in the afternoon) and show a lot of enthusiasm in the position youıre interviewing for. At this stage everyone is tired of their dissertation so fake it.

Likely Questions you will hear

• Tell me about your work.
• What work do you plan to do in the future? [1 year, 5 year] (Have one or two sound bites ready to describe specific planned projects.)
• When do you expect to be completed? (The answer to this is May.)
• What can you teach? What would you like to teach? (This is important to liberal arts schools--They are skeptical that UW students are really interested in them.)
• Why are you interested in us?
• Who else are you interviewing with? (Tell them places that are similar to them. A research school, tell them other research schools on same level. Same applies for teaching schools, government agencies and private firms.)
• What books would you use to teach XXX?
• What topics would you teach in XXX or how would you teach XXX?

Possible Questions to ask (It depends who you are interviewing with)

• What is your seminar schedule like?
• What are your computer facilities like? (Ask if you have some particular interest.)
• Would I have an opportunity to teach graduate students?
• How do you see me fitting in your department?
• What is the impact of having the economics department in the business school?
• For private firms and government agencies, ask what type of work you will be doing? What is the pace like? Do people publish?
• What is the teaching load?

Questions to ask when you receive a Fly Back

• Ask them to mail or fax your interview schedule. That way you can get a list of the people that are interviewing you. Go to Econlit and see what type of research they do. Write down questions for each person that is interviewing you. (It is easier to talk about their research than about yours.)
• Make sure you are clear who is setting up the arrangements and things like: hotel you are staying at and the phone number; how to get from the airport to the hotel; and when/where to arrive on the day of the interview.
• Tell them you need an overhead projector for presentation.

Possible Questions for Fly Backs

1. Dept. Chair.
   1. General
      1. How do you view me fitting in with the department?
         1. Courses I would teach?
            • Can I buy out of teaching with research grants?
         2. Committee work?
         3. Research program?
         4. Do you seem me more as a teacher, researcher, a combination, if so in what proportion?
         5. Teaching load? Summer school teaching/support?
         6. What are plans for expansion/contraction in next year? Next five years?
         7. What kind of students come and where do they go?
      2. What are the problems/weaknesses at the departmental level?
         1. Administrative?
         2. Pedogological?
         3. Graduate?
         4. Undergraduate?
      3. What are the strengths?
   2. Research Issues.
      1. Generally, what resources are available for doing research, both in the department and at the university level?
      2. Is there support for research projects/TA's, RA's, PA's?
      3. Are faculty development grants available?
      4. Are there support services for research grant proposals?
      5. What are potential sources for research funding, both inside the University and outside (e.g., state agencies, etc.)?
      6. Who on the faculty has gotten grant money?
         • What is nature and amount of grant?
   3. Support Issues.
      1. What kind of staff/clerical support is available?
      2. Computers?
      3. Software?
      4. Telephone restrictions/budget?
      5. Xeroxing limits (class handouts + research papers)?
      6. Internet access?
      7. Library resources?
         • Computerized lit searches? PsychLit?
         • Periodicals access? Copy budget for articles. Interlibrary loan?
      8. Travel money/support? Airfare? Hotel? Meals? Professional Memberships. Books?
   4. Tenure.
      1. How does tenure work?
      2. What is the process?
      3. What are the expectations re balance of course load/service/publications?
      4. Who in department has gone up/will go up recently?
      5. Of those who have gone up in last five years, what the average number of publications?
      6. Is there periodic evaluation to assess progress? How does it work?
      7. Is there documentation or policy statments about tenure process? Can I obtain a copy?
      8. Is there a policy on sabbaticals or leave? (e.g., would going on Fulbright hurt/help tenure chances?).
2. Dean.
   1. General.
      1. How does the Dean see the department in relation to the other departments in the College? In terms of research? Teaching?
      2. Does he/she have views about directions they should be moving in? Are those views shared by faculty in the department and the college?
      3. What are the expectations for promotion/tenure? How does the process work beyond the departmental level (If this hasn't been discussed in detail by the chair/head).
      4. Have any promotion/tenure cases been overturned at the college/university level in recent years (i.e., the department said "Yes" but the case didn't go through at the upper levels?). Why?
      5. Will the department begrowing/steady-state/ shrinking over the next 5-10 years?
      6. Are there resources in the college that you might be able to make use of? (subject pools;
      etc.--anything that might be of interest given what is available in the department).
      7. The Dean's philosophy of education ( e.g., our current Dean's philosophy of education is somewhat antagonistic to my area of the department).
      8. Any college/university level programs to support junior faculty research? (e.g., grants for summer months, RA money, semester leaves, etc.)
   2. Tenure.
      1. How does tenure work, especially after the department level?
      2. Requirements?
      3. What criteria are applied to a tenure decision and what are their relative weights.
      4. What percentage of people going up for tenure make it?
      5. What is the average number of publications required? Standard deviation? Max, Min?
      6. What effects does the economy have on enrollments generally, in the college and the department?
3. Faculty
   1. What is getting tenure like, esp. with Jr. faculty?
   2. Are senior faculty supportive? Is there mentoring?
   3. What do they like about U.?
   4. What would they like to see changed?
   5. Benefits--Are their gaps in coverage?
4. Students and misc.
   1. Students
      1. Things they like/dislike? What do they want to see changed?
      2. Fights/conflicts among professors, turf battles, favoritism, race, sex discrimination?
      3. What are the professors like? Afraid? Anyone give easy/difficult grades?
      4. Libraries OK? Enough computers?
   2. Other.
      1. Living/housing prices.
      2. Help with moving expenses?
      3. Cultural highlights.

For Non-academic Positions

1. What method exists for evaluation in the first year, second year, etc?
2. Who stays, who leaves, and why?
3. Who initiates projects/assignments?
4. What say would I have in deciding what projects to work on?
5. What is the length of a particular project?
6. Do they ever get published in scholarly journals?
7. Is there any limitation on publishing with company data?
8. Do people do research outside of the job requirements?
9. What is the promotion ladder like?
10. What are your family policies?
11. Whom would be your boss and what is her training?
12. What is the ratio of Ph.D. to masters and bachelors? (This tells you what the place really does and how many colleagues you have to talk to about your ideas.)
13. How much travel is involved?
14. Is continued education supported through conferences and classes?
15. Get a feel for the number of hours companies and agencies expect.
16. Are your research topics limited? (For example, one government agency does not allow your personal research to be policy related.)

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