Considerations when Seeking Faculty Teaching Positions in Economics

1
Considerations when Seeking Faculty Teaching
Positionsin Economics

• AAEA Annual Meetings
• August 3, 2004
• Eric E. Houk
• California State University-Stanislaus,
  Department of Economics

2
My Experiences

• Completed my PhD, Summer 03.
  (CSU, Dept. Agricultural Resource Economics)
• Was looking for an academic job that would start
  in the Fall of 2003.
• Went to the AAEA meetings in 02 and began to
  look at the job market.
• During 02/03 year I began applying for teaching
  positions and attended the Allied Social Science
  Association (ASSA) Meetings.
• In Spring 2003 I accepted a tenure track teaching
  position in an Economics department.

3
AAEA Annual Meetings(Employment Center)

• Occur at the end of July/beginning of August.
• For many academic positions, it is too early for
  next years positions and too late for positions
  starting that Fall.

• According to Carson and Navarro (1988), the
  .primary market for academic jobs in
  .Economics occurs as follows

4
AAEA Employment Center 04

• As of July 23, 2004 there where a total of 44
  jobs listed in the Employment Center.
• Only 8 of these positions had any teaching
  component. (18)
• Some used the term anticipate position.
• It is not only an issue of timing

There are more teaching positions within general
economics programs than in agricultural economics
programs
5
Ag. Economics vs General Economics Departments

• If you search four year U.S. colleges by major at
  www.petersons.com you get

Almost 15 times as many colleges are found with
general economics programs. If you want to teach,
you will probably need to consider the general
economics job market.
6
General Economics Job Market

• Job Openings for Economists (JOE, www.aeaweb.org)
  was found to be the most effective job search
  method for Economists (Siegfried and Stock 2000).
  
• October and November have the most academic job
  announcements each year in JOE, averaging 457 and
  311 respectively (Cawley 2003)
• This is consistent with Carson and Navarro
  (1988), who indicate October-December as the
  primary time period for submitting applications.
• Many of these announcements indicate that
  preliminary interviews will be conducted in
  January at the ASSA Meetings.

7
Applying for Positions in JOE

• Economics job candidates sent out an average of
  76 applications in 1995-96 (Stock et al. 2000).
• Indicate any teaching experiences you may have.
  If you havent taught any courses, see if someone
  would let you be a guest lecturer. (try and get
  evaluation or feedback that you can use in
  application)
• Most PhD students in general economics programs
  have taught courses.
• Make sure you indicate that you are available to
  meet with the employer at the ASSA meetings.

8
Allied Social Science Association (ASSA) Meetings
(Jan. 7-9, 2005 Philadelphia, PA)

• Job seekers at the 1997 ASSA meetings had an
  average of 5.99 academic interviews (List 2000).
• If you are asked for an interview make sure you
  clearly get the day, time, location, and length
  of the interview. (You may need a disclosure code
  in order to get their room number from the hotel)
• Few interviews are scheduled last minute at the
  meetings, however you may want to look at the job
  announcement boards and give it a try.

9
Allied Social Science Association (ASSA) Meetings
(Jan. 7-9, 2005 Philadelphia, PA)

• Interviews are typically held in either a hotel
  suite or at a table in a crowded ballroom.
• Have a well rehearsed 5-10 minute description of
  your research prepared.
• Be prepared for questions about the courses that
  you would be expected to teach.
• I do not recommend discussing compensation unless
  they bring it up.

10
Campus Visits

• You may be asked for a campus visit within days
  of the meetings or not until the end of February.
• Approx. 68 of those who had interviews at the
  ASSA meetings received campus visits (Stock et
  al. 2000).
• In addition to your research presentation, be
  prepared to give a lecture to a real class or to
  the search committee as if they were students.
• I do not recommend discussing compensation at
  this point unless they bring it up.

11
Job Offers

• You may receive an offer immediately following a
  campus visit or it may take awhile.
• This is the time to discuss compensation.
• Compensation may include your salary, start up
  funds, summer funds, course reductions, travel
  expenses, etc.
• Many of these may be negotiable, dont be afraid
  to try and negotiate. (Try and be polite and
  educated about it, you do not want to insult
  anyone)
• Once an offer has been made, try and get it in
  writing as soon as possible. (mail or fax)

12
Thank You Good Luck
Recent surveys indicate that only 3 of new
PhDs in Economics were unemployed shortly after
the job search season. (Siegfried Stock 1999,
Stock et al. 2000)

• References
• Carson Navarro. 1988. A Sellers ( Buyers)
  Guide to the Job Market for Beginning Academic
  Economists. Journal of Economic Perspectives. 2
  2, pp. 137-148.
• Siegfried Stock. 1999. The Labor Market for
  New Ph.D. Economists. Journal of Economic
  Perspectives. 133, pp. 115-134.
• Cawley. 2003. A Guide (and Advice) for
  Economists on the U.S. Junior Academic Job
  Market. Job Openings for Economists.
  www.aeaweb.org.
• Stock, Alston, Milkman. 2000. The Academic Labor
  Market for Economists 1995-96. Atlantic
  Economic Journal, 28, pp. 164-185.
• List, John A. 2000. Interview Scheduling
  Strategies of New Ph.D. Economists. Journal of
  Economic Education. 312, pp. 191-201.