How to Plan Your Job Hunt: Timeline and Documents

If you were to make a list of everything you need to do for a job hunt, you might well feel daunted. By breaking the process down into monthly steps, I hope to help you apportion your time and reduce chaos to manageable clusters of activity. First, note the date of your field’s national convention where preliminary interviews take place. The American Academy of Religion (AAR) meeting takes place in late November. Speech Communication interviews also take place in November, and some preliminary screening interviews for History take place at autumn regional or specialty meetings. Philosophy, English, and the various languages hold their meeting at the very end of December. History and Linguistics meet at the beginning of January. Preparations for interviewing can start four months in advance, so toward the end of July (for Religious Studies, Speech Com, and some History) and late August (for the rest). Women’s Studies, African American Studies, Jewish Studies, and American Studies candidates will hunt at one or more of those meetings, depending on the emphasis of their work.