Academic job markets are in transition.
Where face-to-face conferences were once the primary vehicle for academic job interviews, zoom, skype, and other videoconferencing software emerged as complements or replacements for conducting interviews.
Despite the emergence of online interviews, conferences remain an essential platform for Ph.D. students seeking work.
While many Ph.D. students have learned to navigate conferences, they will find their job market year very different.
Why?
Where students' initial conferences were about joining the broader community, their job market conference is about finding a permanent home.
This changes the dynamic for you, the Ph.D. student, and the people you know, who might help you find, or interview you for, a job.
So what changes?
The two-way assessment of fit differs.
It is the difference between looking at someone to be part of your friend group versus looking for a life partner.
You will overlook many behaviors if someone is going to be in and out of your life, that you will not tolerate if someone is going to hang around for a while.
You will find that you, and your possible matches, will be a lot tougher in assessing each other than you might at an ordinary conference.
So what to watch out for? And what not to do?
First, every conversation is a job interview.
I had someone casually ask about my research design at a social event.
Later I interviewed with that someone.
They probed me on my comments from the night before.
Second, practice moderation.
Some Ph.D. students have a lot of fun at the bar and at social events.
The fun here equates to drinking or gossip.
Moderate both.
A drunk Ph.D. student sharing the latest gossip is not a good look on the job market.
Third, talk less & listen more.
Students are coached to have a 30-second elevator pitch.
Students aren't coached to have 30-second questions to ask.
Once done with your pitch, have a few questions ready.
Then listen.
You can learn a lot about a place by the way faculty talk about each other or their students (hint on questions to ask there).
You don't want awkward silence.
Fourth, be yourself (but on good behavior).
Never forget faculty BS detectors are robust.
Finally, forced conversations won't help your job prospects.
In fact, they can hurt.
Don't interject, shadow, or force a conversation.
After a long day of interviewing, most faculty don't want to "stay on" during a social event or while talking with friends.
So if you bump into someone that you want to work for, let the conversation unfold naturally.
Remember that your job market year is weird; once you are past it, the dynamic will return to what you knew before.
Except.
With some luck.
You'll have a little more money in your pocket!
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