Some advice for new MAPH graduates and those looking for their first teaching positions:

Over the last couple of years, I’ve had a few folks come my way asking about how to get their foot in that often hard-to-open teaching door. I’ve even had a few people stop me out in front of various campus buildings, asking me if I taught, then launching into a million questions about what I would suggest they do to get into this or that department – no joke! I remember being astonished that these folks were literally walking around the campus soliciting advice from the sidewalk; and yet, I can understand why that would be the case. It’s not easy getting the attention, let alone an actual job, from someone in a position to hire. I’ve had some success at getting some really good courses over the last three years, but I also learned some things the hard way. So here’s my ten cents, for what it’s worth:

1. Cold calling, emailing, and letter-sending rarely works. Don’t bother spending a lot of time looking at the job boards at local colleges, either, for adjunct teaching positions, because they get enough applicants and have no need to advertise. And you can practically forget what I call the “black-hole” of most human resources departments. Your best foot-in-the-door is through someone else that’s already in the door. Get to know someone that already teaches in that department and get an introduction to whoever hires. The MAPH alumni listserve and blog are a great place to start. But network like crazy, because I’ve found that most teaching positions are acquired through relentless networking. Example: My first contact (and follow up emails/calls) with the English department (where I’ve been teaching for three years now) led to absolutely nothing – not even a response (like, “got your letter, but go jump in the lake”)! Six months later, however, I got someone in the department to mention me, and I had my first teaching assignment a week later.

2. Get to know the program in which you are interested in applying to teach. See what courses they offer and how you might best fit in. Play up your strengths, but always gear them towards the department’s needs.

3. If you see a gap in the curriculum, you may want to consider approaching the department with a new course that might interest their students and meet their needs (that’s how I got two of my regular courses). For example, I saw that no one in either the English department or Cultural Studies department at my college was offering courses that dealt with cyberspace literature or theories of cyberculture/s, so I sent in a proposed syllabus to each department. I really had no clue what I was doing, as I had never previously created a syllabus from scratch . . . but I did my research, put my best effort into it, and it worked! And one of those proposed courses was my foot in the door with the Cultural Studies department, where I now regularly teach.

4. Have your curriculum vitae and a variety of editable cover letters at the ready. You never know when you might meet someone who wants to see your CV right away. I also recommend that you get your CV online, so that potential employers an have quick and easy access to your information whenever and wherever. Online teaching portfolios are becoming more and more expected.

5. Take whatever you can get. I wasn’t at all wild about teaching a certain first year course; but I, like most new faculty, had to pay those dues. Once in, you can network even more, learn more about the needs of the department, and position yourself for better classes.

6. Offer some new pedagogical approach that you sense might be needed. Case and point: though I was no technological guru when I left MAPH, I saw the increasing need for the use of technological savvy in the classroom, so I learned all I could and began utilizing this technology in my pedagogy (blogs, wikis, various new media applications, etc.). This undoubtedly led me to more classes and a wider variety.

7. If at first you don’t succeed, try again – perhaps even with a different person. Though you want to be careful with this, because faculty politics can be really rough. The first time I contacted a chair of a department (assuming chairs were always the ones to hire), I received a very curt and negative response. What I didn’t know at the time (in this instance) was that chairs didn’t do the hiring of adjuncts, but rather directors of the sub-programs under that department. After a bit of time, I went to the director, instead, and was successful. This just points again to the need to really know the department and its structure.

8. NETWORK!! It was worth mentioning twice.

Speaking of blogs . . . I am very interested to hear from those of you who teach and have been utilizing various forms of technology within your pedagogy. When I first started teaching at Columbia College Chicago (English & Cultural Studies Departments) a bit over three years ago, I was fairly unsure of how to incorporate technology into the classroom and admittedly a bit hesitant to do so. I didn’t want to “dumb down” the curriculum by turning to popular media/technological tools or use them as some crutch for effective teaching.

However, about two years ago, I began replacing weekly homework assignments (typed and turned in) with class blog assignments, and I have had some pretty amazing results. While I did not replace any of the formal essays with blog writing (i.e. midterm/final papers), I now find that weekly blogging affords students a number of educational benefits:

1. Student blog responses to readings and class discussions often are more critical and thoughtful than weekly typed responses.
2. Students seemed more engaged in class, after having blogged about the assigned readings.
3. While students spend the first week or two typically writing in a vacuum (as if no one else in their class exists), by week three, they begin dialogues with one another, responding to others’ thoughts and comments; and by mid-semester, many are blogging even when not required, or sharing additional references, links, and/or outside sources.
4. The sense of collaboration and cooperation is greater within the classroom, because they begin to form a sense of community outside the classroom through the blog.
5. When they do approach their formal essays, the quality of writing (focus on content and context) seems to translate over into their papers in a way that did not occur before.
6. I was able to more quickly identify those having difficulties understanding the materials and respond to them offline with suggestions and guidance.

While I’ve not read any scholarly articles that thoroughly discuss the qualitative and quantitative benefits of blogging in college settings, I have become convinced that blogging can further enrich and deepen engagement with the readings, discussions, and others. My theory is that the informality of blogs is exactly that which allows students to focus more on the issues, arguments, ideas, and concepts. While formal writing skills are an absolute must, what good are the elements of grammar, composition, and overall structure if students are not able to make effective contextual connections? Weekly blogging allows students to respond more intuitively, provides a more relaxing and communicative environment, and allows them opportunities to engage more deeply with the materials.

I’ve learned a few things along the way about how to best facilitate class blogs, and it shows in each new semester’s responses. I’ve also incorporated other forms of technology into the classroom, some more effective than others, though that’s another blog for another time. I would, however, be interested to hear from those of you who teach and have utilized this or other forms of technology in your pedagogy. What has proven most challenging and/or effective? And for those of you who do not utilize technology in the classroom, what are your thoughts on the matter?

If anyone is interested in seeing how I set up my class blogs, you can visit any one of the following three for this semester. The semester’s blogging has just begun, so I’m still guiding students through effective blogging, but you can see the progression.

Introduction to Cultural Studies, Fall 2007 (http://culturalstudies07.wordpress.com/)
Reviewing the Arts, Fall 2007 (http://revarts.wordpress.com/)
Literature and the Culture of Cyberspace, Fall 2007 (http://cyberliterature.wordpress.com/)

Kristin Scott, MFA, A.M.
Adjunct Faculty,
English and Cultural Studies Departments
Columbia College Chicago
http://www.kristinscott.net

It’s been a month plus — any advice?

First, call CAPS at 702-7040. You can set up an appointment (in person or over the phone) with me or another one of our graduate career counselors at CAPS to discuss your situation. We can help you determine your priorities and design a strategy as well as a schedule for your job search.

Prepare a strong resume and cover letter for each position: Since employers often receive hundreds of resumes for a single position, they only spend between 15 and 30 seconds on each one. Your goal, then, is to make sure that your resume and cover letter immediately indicate that you have what the employer needs. Remember that it’s not about what the employer can do for you; it’s what you can do for the employer than counts. This means that you’ll be tailoring each application to the job that you’re applying for based on the research you’ve done on that organization and industry. Keep in mind that your graduate research, volunteer work, extracurricular activities, part-time work – all these count as experience!
Check out CAPS handouts on resumes and cover letters for graduate students, either at our Career Resource Center or online at caps.uchicago.edu. CAPS counselors can also review your materials before you send them out.

Practice interviewing: The interview is your chance to show the employer that you are perfect for the job. To do this, you’ll need to do research on the organization, prepare to answer a host of interview questions — both standard and company-specific — and draw up a list of questions to ask the employer. After the interview, be sure to send thank you e-mails or notes to all of your interviewers. CAPS offers practice interviews and can advise you on how to prepare for both telephone and in person interviews.

Think about Plan A, Plan B (and even Plan C): When it comes to job hunting, being flexible and open-minded helps. You may have both short-term career goals (like paying bills) and long-term career goals (like finding a position that fits your skills, values and interests). While you may need to take a temporary, part-time or full-time position to accomplish your short-term goals, see if you can find something that will allow you to gain experience and build skills that fulfill your long-term career goals. So be open to new opportunities. You don’t have to stick with the first job that you find out of graduate school, but that job might help you find something that’s a better fit. Or you might end up discovering that you love a field you’d never considered seriously before just because an opportunity suddenly came up! Serendipity plays an important role in just about every job search.

Keep in mind that, even with the master’s degree, you may have to take an entry level position, just to get your foot in the door of a particular field or organization. But many graduate students find that their skills enable them to move up quickly.

I’m bored out of my mind and I’m kind of anxious about finding a job – what can I do?

While you’re waiting to hear about your applications, try the following:
Take Time to “Know Yourself”: The Delphic Oracle’s famous temple inscription is true for job hunting, too. The better you know yourself, the easier it will be to look for jobs that fit your individual skills, interests and values. Don’t just think about the kind of career you want; think about the kind of life you want to have. Writing a resume and cover letter for a job that’s a good fit is far easier to do than trying to make a case for something that’s at odds with who you are, what you can do and what you’re interested in. And if you convince an employer that you’re a good fit, then you if you can show an employer that you’re a good fit, then that employer is more likely to bring you in for an interview. CAPS counselors can guide you through the career exploration process during individual sessions or our Career Exploration seminar.

Do your research: I can’t stress enough how important it is that you research the fields, positions and organizations that are of interest to you. Employers want to know that you understand not only the available position and the industry but also their specific organization and its needs. And this research will help you determine whether or not you actually want to work in this area or for this company. The CAPS Career Resource Center has a wealth of current career and job-related information. It’s also easy to surf the internet for resources like the Occupational Outlook Handbook (http://www.bls.gov/oco/home.htm), organizational web sites, professional associations, and other valuable sources of information. CAPS is happy to send you links and bibliography for any field that you’re interested in!

Networking *is* working: Information interviewing really is key to any job hunt. For one, information interviews are crucial to your research; they allow you to understand a field or organization better, to learn how to break into a field, to practice interview skills and to build a network of contacts. In addition, many job openings are never posted. Instead, people find out about these opportunities through networking.

An information interview is not a job interview. That being said, such connections can often open doors, especially if you’re interested in fields like publishing or museums. You can conduct an information interview with just about anyone who’s doing something that interests you: family, friends and friends of friends, casual acquaintances, university staff, former co-workers, even people you’ve never met but who work at an organization that interests you. You should also take advantage of our Alumni Careers Network and UChicagoTRAK. CAPS can walk through you the informational interviewing process and offers a helpful “Informational Interviewing” handout.

Strategies for Keeping Sane?
Come up with a schedule and commit to doing at least 1 or 2 job hunt related activities a day. Those activities might include self-assessment, industry research, information interviews, job applications or following up on applications or job leads. CAPS can help you set up this schedule and we’re happy to touch base with you regularly on whether or not you’re meeting your deadlines.

Volunteer, do part-time work, temp or intern at a place you’re genuinely interested in. This will get you out of the house and give you something to do that you’re invested in. But it will also give you valuable insight into and actual experience a field, help you make contacts, and provide you with non-academic references.

Take time for yourself: No one can spend all day job hunting and stay sane. Be sure to make time for fun and relaxation. Hang out with friends and family. Trade stories with fellow job hunters. Reward yourself for staying on top of your job search!

Good luck job hunting!