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Post by conference on Jan 3, 2012 4:48:27 GMT -5
To search committees: How important is presenting at ASA as a job candidate?
I might be on the market again next year and will be presenting at conferences (regional soc and two other professional meetings). Since ASA meeting is in August and might not have money for the meeting, I am thinking of not going. Will this matter at all? (I presented at ASA meetings before.)
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Post by myopinion on Jan 3, 2012 8:15:45 GMT -5
Presenting at ASA is not as helpful or important as the employment service/setting up meetings with schools who have jobs listed. However, it doesn't hurt to be able to say you are presenting in a regular session and network that way too... I know I got my job and MANY interviews bc of impressions first made at asa...
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Post by well on Jan 3, 2012 8:26:35 GMT -5
My impression from most people in the past is that the employment service doesn't really do much for you either.
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anon
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Post by anon on Jan 3, 2012 8:56:02 GMT -5
The employment service is being used less and less as the years go by--there are many fewer schools interviewing there (and participants being interviewed) than in the past. That said, I actually think it's not a bad idea. The ASA interviews give you practice talking about your work and gauging the response from departments. It can also guide you in terms of where you choose to apply. I did about 6 or 7 employment service interviews at ASA. I crossed a couple places off my list based on the interviews, and I got in-person interviews at two places that I talked to at ASA. I can't say for sure whether I wouldn't have gotten the fly-outs without the ASA interviews, but I don't think it hurt. It did clue me into some of the things they were looking for, and therefore what to talk about in the in-person interviews.
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Post by huh on Jan 3, 2012 9:42:11 GMT -5
Wow, anon, that's a lot of interviews out of just a few dozen or so schools that interviewing at ASA this year! Why do so few schools interview out of what, 500+ job openings?
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Post by me on Jan 3, 2012 10:02:30 GMT -5
huh -- this year there were about 30 schools (and a few non-academic places) that used the Employment Service. And their strategies vary widely. Some (like Luther College) interviewed just about everybody who requested, and others are much more selective.
As to why schools, don't use it, I think it's just so early. I know in many other disciplines there are winter meetings at which meaningful interviews take place. I have a friend in math that has some interviews soon, and isn't the MLA meeting important for interviews?
security check: drink me
WTF???
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Post by conference on Jan 4, 2012 7:42:04 GMT -5
Thanks, everyone, for your responses. The deadline for presentation submission is coming up soon so I have to decide soon. I was not really thinking of the employment service when I posted my question so thanks for that.
Happy new year to all!
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Post by SC member on Jan 4, 2012 14:47:47 GMT -5
Coming from a research university, we don't give a crap if you present at ASA. Many of our applicants do not even list presentations on their CV, and we don't really care...
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Post by R1 faculty member on Jan 4, 2012 23:07:50 GMT -5
Coming from a research university, we don't give a crap if you present at ASA. Many of our applicants do not even list presentations on their CV, and we don't really care... Which R1 is this that doesn't care if candidates ever present at conferences? ASA is a very expensive venture for most grad students, and there really is not a greatly higher standard for presenting there than elsewhere, but we want our candidates to show evidence of academic activity, and this includes conference presentations at even just the regional level. When we evaluate tenure cases, we want to know about dissemination of research by way of moving manuscripts through the publication pipeline (what has been sent out for review, what has been published, where articles have landed), but we also expect our faculty members to present at conferences. Given that this is an expectation, I don't know why it would be deemed irrelevant that candidates have experience doing this. |
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rrr
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Post by rrr on Jan 5, 2012 9:23:33 GMT -5
Following on from above, conference presentations are also evidence that a paper is in progress. Although ASA does not require quite the standard of journal submissions, they do at least require a full draft that makes a reasonable amount of sense, indicating that a working draft is of sufficient quality to be understood by people outside the PhD department.
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Post by AnotherR1prof on Jan 5, 2012 10:03:39 GMT -5
Coming from a research university, we don't give a crap if you present at ASA. Many of our applicants do not even list presentations on their CV, and we don't really care... Which R1 is this that doesn't care if candidates ever present at conferences? ASA is a very expensive venture for most grad students, and there really is not a greatly higher standard for presenting there than elsewhere, but we want our candidates to show evidence of academic activity, and this includes conference presentations at even just the regional level. When we evaluate tenure cases, we want to know about dissemination of research by way of moving manuscripts through the publication pipeline (what has been sent out for review, what has been published, where articles have landed), but we also expect our faculty members to present at conferences. Given that this is an expectation, I don't know why it would be deemed irrelevant that candidates have experience doing this. Another R1 prof here. We just completed a couple searches in different fields, and I can guarantee that conference presentations amounted to approximately zero percent of the hiring decision other than glancing at that section and saying "yep, they've presented something somewhere". If you have NO pubs, then a presentation or two might show you're doing something, but frankly if you're banking on conference presentations to boost your candidacy, you're not going to get the job. It comes down to cold hard pubs. |
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Post by yetanotherR1prof on Jan 5, 2012 10:59:34 GMT -5
Another R1 prof here. We just completed a couple searches in different fields, and I can guarantee that conference presentations amounted to approximately zero percent of the hiring decision other than glancing at that section and saying "yep, they've presented something somewhere". If you have NO pubs, then a presentation or two might show you're doing something, but frankly if you're banking on conference presentations to boost your candidacy, you're not going to get the job. It comes down to cold hard pubs. +1 The value of doing conference presentations has almost nothing to do with adding a line to your CV under "conference presentations." It's in meeting people at other universities who are doing similar research, have similar interests, etc. Also the practice you get talking about your research, putting together a brief presentation, and fielding questions. All this means much more for getting a job than whether, for example, you have a regular session or a roundtable at the ASA. |
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rrr
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Post by rrr on Jan 5, 2012 11:22:02 GMT -5
But for these comments, what about book people? Aren't conference papers a better indication in that case, or are we moving as a field to mostly journal publications?
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Post by AnotherR1prof on Jan 5, 2012 11:50:12 GMT -5
But for these comments, what about book people? Aren't conference papers a better indication in that case, or are we moving as a field to mostly journal publications? Unless you have a book *ready* to publish when you apply, not just as something you can give a 15 minute presentation at ASA about, then you're likely going to be SOL compared to someone with already accepted journal publications (presented or not). And yes, I believe the field in general is moving towards journal pubs over books. |
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rrr
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Post by rrr on Jan 5, 2012 12:02:05 GMT -5
While I somewhat agree, this is an important question, and I for one am interested in seeing some actual evidence. For convenience, I made a poll as a new thread. Please feel free to comment anecdotally also. socjobs.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=misc&action=display&thread=1080Certainly departments should pass this knowledge along to students if this is indeed the case. |
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