2014 ASA Employment Service Listings

[notmyfirstrodeo]

I've done the employment service twice, once from each side. It did lead directly to a job for me although I'm the only one I know for whom that is true (my ES interview led to three flyouts, and an offer).

If you're only interested in R1 positions then yes, ES may not be useful for you. If you're interested in SLACs, however, I think it's useful because you meet a significant proportion of your future colleagues. Even if it doesn't lead to a fly-out, they are good practice and there's little cost other than time and stress (which are, IMO, worth way more than $50).

I hope that's helpful.

[pranked]

Jul 22, 2014 18:26:25 GMT -5 notmyfirstrodeo said:

If you're only interested in R1 positions then yes, ES may not be useful for you. 

Agreed -- or at least this always used to be the case. So I was really surprised to see Emory listed. Also, I can't find the job announcement anywhere else -- does anyone know anything about this? Maybe they're just pranking us.

[EmoryInfo]

The Emory listing on the ASA employment service website is legit. You'll notice on the listing that it says it isn't approved by the college yet. They still need the higher ups to sign off on the wording before the job will be posted on the ASA job bank, but they wanted to get the post up on the employment service page ASAP so that they could schedule interviews.

[Questioning]

Can someone give me a good idea of what happens during the ES at ASA. This may sound naive, but I'm not sure if schools contact prospects beforehand to set up interviews or if you sign up at ASA in the ES area. If schools contact you pre-ASA, do you have to be at the conference the entire time? Or do schools tend to work with you on the days that you are there? Can prospects contact employers pre-ASA? And what do the actual interviews entail?

Sorry if these questions seem obvious. This is my first round out on the market and with the ES.

[sign-up in advance]

In general, you want to sign-up early and post your CV. You will set your availability (you do not have to be there the entire time), and most people make first contact with the potential employer. You want to send a *brief* message stating that you're interested in the position and would like the opportunity to learn more. Based on your availability, the employer will set-up a time and you can accept it. (This is based on my experiences last year and two years prior. I'm assuming the technology is the same, but someone else can chime in.)

In some cases, the potential employer will reach out to you without your prodding, but as I understand it this is rare.

The earlier you sign-up and set your availability the better. I would not wait until you get to ASA.

The meetings are 20 minutes in length. You are typically asked about your research and teaching interests (this is very good practice for telephone interviews and one-on-ones during campus interviews). It's like speed dating (with a chime and everything). Once your 20 minutes is up, you have to leave and make room for the next person. These meetings tend to be more about the employers selling their school versus you selling yourself. That's not the case every time, but it seems to be a common sentiment.

I tend to think of the whole thing as good experience. It is unlikely it will parlay into a campus interview, but you will get to learn more about the position (which you then can use that information in your cover letter) and ascertain if that position is a good fit for you.

[Soc-cer]

How does the ASA Employment Services work? After job seekers post their resumes, do they wait until the universities contact them to schedule an interview at the ASA? Or do they email individual schools that posted ads? Thanks!

[Anony]

Soc-cer, see sign-up in advance's post above for a good explanation

[Soc-cer ball]

Jul 25, 2014 10:51:58 GMT -5 Soc-cer said:

How does the ASA Employment Services work? After job seekers post their resumes, do they wait until the universities contact them to schedule an interview at the ASA? Or do they email individual schools that posted ads? Thanks!

It's this kind of post that makes me a confident job-seeker vs. other sociologists.  

[bramlet]

Question: do you need to have all of your job materials ready? Like a cover letter, research and teaching statement, etc? Or just a CV? I'm thinking of testing my toes in the SLAC market this year and wondered how much I need to prepare.

[Williams curious?]

Has anyone heard back from Williams yet about preliminary interviews at ASA?

[anotherguest]

Williams is only doing informal interviews at ASA (not job bank).

[Williams cont.]

Thanks anotherguest. Have they started scheduling these informal interviews?

[Tennis Ball]

Anyone know what the total number of postings was for jobs at the Employment Service last year?

As of today (July 28th) there are 33 jobs (with 30 employers). I find that number pretty low, but what do I know?

[sleuth]

I tried to do some sleuthing, and, according to last year's board, the numbers were in the mid to low 50s.

Also, @bramlet, you really only need to have your CV at the conference, but you should already have a draft of your other materials. Drafting your other materials will force you to think about your research agenda and teaching philosophy, which will help you during the ASA ES interviews. Honestly, you want to have multiple people look over your materials, so at this point in the job market, you should be sending copies to advisors to look over. Many applications have August/early September deadlines.

[current list]

a few more, including some of the "missing" numbers.

E004 - 01
University of Alabama-Birmingham
Assistant Professor - Online Program Director, Department of Sociology

E022 - 01
University of Massachusetts Lowell
Assistant Professor of Sociology, Sociology

E028 - 01
California State Univ-Sacramento
Tenure-track Faculty, Sociology

E029 - 01
Saint Olaf College
Assistant Professor of Sociology, Sociology/Anthropology

E029 - 02
Saint Olaf College
Assistant Professor of Sociology, Sociology/Anthropology

E030 - 01
California State University, Channel Islands
Assistant Professor: Social Theory, Sociology Program

E031 - 01
Ithaca College
Critical Criminal and Juvenile Justice Studies, Ass't Prof, tenure-eligible, Sociology