Job Market Resources

Disclaimer

My job market materials and experiences are primarily applicable to those who are applying for research-intensive positions in psychology departments in the U.S. and the U.K. None of this is meant to be prescriptive advice; YMMV!! Rather, because I benefited a lot from other people sharing their materials and experiences with me, I wanted to make my materials available as further examples that might be helpful, and to share my subjective impressions about the process.

Job Market Materials

Please visit this OSF repository to download:

• The materials that got me the WashU job (including my research, teaching, and diversity statements and job talk slides)
• Other materials that are sometimes requested (evidence of teaching effectiveness, response to selection criteria for UK jobs, teaching demo)
• Interview prep documents (questions to ask and be prepared to answer)

For those who make it to the offer stage, I am also happy to share my startup request and negotiation experiences upon request.

Reflections and Lessons Learned

On the role of luck:

I am overjoyed to share that I will be an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis (@WUSTL) starting in Fall 2022!!! A🧵 on gratitude, luck, and excitement for what lies ahead... 1/n pic.twitter.com/cHZB1mkZqH

— Dr. Jessie Sun (@JessieSunPsych) September 17, 2021

Miscellaneous lessons (including how much effort it takes to get a job talk down):

Thought I'd share some miscellaneous thoughts/lessons from two rounds on the job market: 🧵 1/n

— Dr. Jessie Sun (@JessieSunPsych) October 10, 2021

I think this is important to clarify. I don't think the take-away should be "everyone needs to spend 200+ hours to get their job talk down." I completely agree that this is an *absurdly inefficient* use of one's time... 1/n https://t.co/gbV14wHKDh

— Dr. Jessie Sun (@JessieSunPsych) October 12, 2021

On keeping perspective:

One of the mindset shifts that has helped me the most is just realising that I can't let my happiness hinge on whether I ever land a TT job (given how many random factors are at play). As amazing as it would be, I also realise that I could be happy in many other kinds of jobs...

— Dr. Jessie Sun (@JessieSunPsych) July 16, 2021

Initial reflections after year 1 on the market:

After a long job market season, I’m thrilled to finally know that I’ll start a dream postdoc fellowship with @PennMindCORE this summer. In these unsettling times, I’m grateful to return to a community where I know I’ll thrive. A few thoughts on my job market experience...1/10

— Dr. Jessie Sun (@JessieSunPsych) April 13, 2020

Other Resources

• Jon Jachimowicz’s Q&A advice
• Slides from Jay Van Bavel and Neil Lewis Jr’s 2019 SISPP workshop, Demystifying the academic job market
• Laurel Gabard-Durnam’s many helpful resources