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Post by Archivist on Sept 9, 2011 15:59:24 GMT -5
No crystal balls here, but there are a few more data points. At this point in the game the 2011 market is keeping pace with last year's.
2007-10 2007-10 2007 2008 2009 2010 | 2011 | Month Avg. Cum. Avg ---------------------------------------|-------|-------------------- June 35 35 29 27 | 32 | 32 32 July 110 78 30 63 | 49 | 70 102 August 96 90 50 79 | 89 | 79 181 September 35 41 70 84 | 30* | 58 239 October 94 94 101 115 | -- | 101 340 November 53 29 58 32 | -- | 43 383 December 25 41 36 37 | -- | 35 417 ---------------------------------------|-------|-------------------- June-December 448 408 374 437 | 170* | 60 417
* through 09/09/2011
Please remember that these counts are based solely on the number of pages in the monthly .pdf file of all ASA listings. Most ads are contained in a single page, but not all. I am, however, using this measure consistently across the years so it provides a reasonable basis for comparison.
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Post by guido on Sept 9, 2011 17:40:23 GMT -5
I've heard that the later job listings (October, November) lean more heavily toward toward teaching positions, SLACs, etc. Is that true, nor not?
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Post by truth on Sept 9, 2011 17:54:48 GMT -5
I would say that's largely true. The R1s compete to get their ads out as early as possible, ensuring they have the best shot at the best candidates. The non-R1s can be a little slower with the ads, and thus the later in the cycle, the more teaching-oriented and non-TT (VAP/PostDoc) you'll see posted. Same goes for the spring semester, but with even fewer overall ads (these seem to typically be more replacement hires for individuals who were poached in the fall cycle, hence even more VAP positions).
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Post by guido on Oct 3, 2011 12:35:34 GMT -5
Archivist,
Now that September is past, would you care to update your table? I'm sure we'd all be interested in seeing the results.
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Post by was that so hard on Oct 3, 2011 13:05:30 GMT -5
I don't know if I have the exact same measures as "archivist" but, a quick search of posted "9/1 - 9/30" for Assistant Professor jobs in the ASA job bank revealed 102 postings in September.
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Post by guido on Oct 3, 2011 13:09:11 GMT -5
No, darn it! Archivist has to do it!
Thanks, was that so hard, or whatever your name is.
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Post by Archivist on Oct 3, 2011 23:14:48 GMT -5
I don't know if I have the exact same measures as "archivist" but, a quick search of posted "9/1 - 9/30" for Assistant Professor jobs in the ASA job bank revealed 102 postings in September. Same data source, but I am not limiting the count to Assistant Professor positions. No real justification for this except that it is easier when dealing with the archived .pdf list rather than the web form. The main reason for continuing this methodology is to provide consistency when comparing to years past -- it isn't the overall number I look at (because I only need one job!) but rather the trend. The count of 147 positions for September 2011 is based on all that were listed, including deans and post-docs. These counts do eliminate the bogus "Stuart and Friends" and testing posts from the ASA Job Bank. Even without those this represents the most jobs listed in the JB for any given month in the last 4 years.
2007-10 2007-10 2007 2008 2009 2010 | 2011 | Month Avg. Cum. Avg ---------------------------------------|-------|-------------------- June 35 35 29 27 | 32 | 32 32 July 110 78 30 63 | 49 | 70 102 August 96 90 50 79 | 89 | 79 181 September 35 41 70 84 | 147 | 58 239 October 94 94 101 115 | -- | 101 340 November 53 29 58 32 | -- | 43 383 December 25 41 36 37 | -- | 35 417 ---------------------------------------|-------|-------------------- June-December 448 408 374 437 | 317 | 60 417
So far this year's market looks considerably better than the last three, I'm wondering if that trend will continue or if we've already seen most of the "October" jobs by now.
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Post by junior on Oct 4, 2011 10:06:30 GMT -5
thanks Archivist. But weren't a number of the September postings repeats from earlier months? My quick qualitative look at the postings shows about 20-25 (maybe more) listings that I definitely noted earlier in the summer.
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Post by Archivist on Oct 4, 2011 11:42:41 GMT -5
thanks Archivist. But weren't a number of the September postings repeats from earlier months? My quick qualitative look at the postings shows about 20-25 (maybe more) listings that I definitely noted earlier in the summer. This is certainly possible. I've been compiling my lists based on the "Search By Date Posted" field, and if a school posted once in the summer and then purchased another ad, it would show up twice. I've been assuming that, given the expense to the institution of posting in the ASA-JB, they would only do it once. If multiple schools actually post several times, that would certainly challenge the validity of my measure (even with my caveats). Is it possible you learned of jobs elsewhere even though they weren't posted to the JB until September? I have a favor to ask: if you take another look at the September postings and list a dozen or so that seem like repeats, I'll do a check to see if they actually appeared in earlier JB archives.
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Post by yeah on Oct 4, 2011 11:50:44 GMT -5
Like junior, I've noticed several re-posts. IU Southeast is one, and I'm pretty sure some of the UMass ads are, too.
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Post by junior on Oct 4, 2011 12:54:37 GMT -5
Yep on IU Southeast and the UMass jobs. Also, check on: UC Berkeley, Wesleyan, and Western Kentucky U.
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Post by timeline on Oct 4, 2011 13:34:27 GMT -5
Just to chime with some thoughts in other threads about postings, etc, keep in mind that many LACs are just now getting approvals for hires. My LAC isn't hiring in soc (unless I get a better job in the next few months ) but proposals for hires are do to the VPAA this Friday. Then he has to approve them and the ads have to be crafted and and and. Likely, those ads won't go out for several weeks if not a month. Moral: Don't lose hope.
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Post by crossdisciplinary on Oct 4, 2011 14:42:47 GMT -5
Also, there were many cross-disciplinary positions in ASA in Sept (that is, with a home outside of soc departments or recruiting across multiple disciplines). Of course, it could be that these always appear in the listings, but according to friends in the humanities, it's a growing trend to list specialized but cross-disciplinary searches. Sociologists may qualify, but these positions are not targeted for sociologists.
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Post by slowed on Oct 14, 2011 13:45:46 GMT -5
It really seems to have slowed now. I count about 30 new assistant professor positions in the ASA Job Bank in October. Plus, some are cross-disciplinary and some might be re-posts. This is contrast to the last two years, in which there were over 100 new listings in October. Am I missing something?
Anyway, this is all making me a bit nervous. I have a list of about 40 places I'm applying to so far, and I feel like most of them are highly unlikely to begin with. I'd been hoping that I could add a whole crap load of new jobs to my list.
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Post by Updated Table on Nov 1, 2011 0:02:49 GMT -5
Now that October is over, I was wondering if anyone would be interested in updating that nifty table for job postings by month over the past few years. I'm sure it's not that hard to figure out... but I'm not curious enough to do it myself yet... maybe someone out there would like to take 15 minutes away from applying for jobs to figure it out...
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