USA Africa Dialogue Series - How do professors get hired? The academic job search, explained.

"The academic job market works on a fixed cycle, and according to a set of conventions so rigid that you'd think these people were applying for top-secret security clearances, not to teach Physics 101 to some pimply bros in Sheboygan. For my examples, I will use the cycle of humanities hiring because I know it all too well; the cycles for the social (and anti-social) sciences vary somewhat but are similarly inflexible, with complex requirements and geographical limitations all their own.

In the humanities, the carnage begins right now, in September and October. It is now that the vast majority of advertisements for open positions in colleges or universities appear inspecialized publications. Although a smattering of ads will sputter in through the winter, the primary "market" appears now—for jobs that begin a yearfrom now, in the fall of 2015. That's why your cousin doesn't know where he'll be next Christmas. That's why asking an academic where she wants to live is akin to asking, "What kind of island do youwant to buy?" Academics lucky enough to be on the tenure track rarely—let's just round down to never—have a choice about where they live. Their home for the rest of their lives is dependent entirely on which departments can hire in which specialties in a given year. No family, friends, or support system in the area? No job for your spouse? Tough testes."

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/education/2014/09/how_do_professors_get_hired_the_academic_job_search_explained.html?wpsrc=sh_all_mob_tw_bot

- Ikhide