I’ve just completed my PhD and have been asked by my department to return next year in a sort of visiting faculty capacity to help shore up the dept. due to unforeseen teaching capacity issues. I also know that they are going to put out a call for a jr/mid TT position next year.
Given the state of the academy I am obviously very interested in trying to land that job. I’m looking for tips or advice anyone has for potentially navigating this situation. I presume that being an “inside candidate” has both benefits and pitfalls and I want to try to not fuck this up.
Comments
Be a good colleague & make sure they know other places are trying to recruit you (assuming it is true).
Is it a teaching or research-focused place? Either way, in addition to being pleasant to be around, and showing your contributions to the mission, it would also be useful to show interest in you from outside institutions.
Part of it has already been covered: be a good colleague and demonstrate that you are sought after
But the other part of it: don’t be weird about it and be a professional. We once had a search where the lecturer at our department applied for it. He kept trying to pump us for insider information, guilt tripping us about how much he needed the job, etc. He didn’t get the job (for other reasons) but this also ruined his relationship with the rest of the department.
My PhD department won’t hire their own grads in a TT position until they’ve been TT faculty elsewhere for 5+ years. This is pretty standard. They do, however, employ one PhD grad in a lecturer position. But they were unwilling to consider that person for any of the TT positions that came up, even though they were in their subfield
You say the visiting position is primarily teaching-focused while the TT position is research-focused at an R1. The responsibilities and expectations, and the qualifications for those two types of positions are wildly different. For a TT at an R1, they are going to want someone with a proven track record of running their own projects, at least as a postdoc, not “just working as someone else’s student.” Having no postdoc experience and having taken a year off of most research will definitely hurt your chances. My advisor once told me that “Once you leave the academic research world, you’re pretty much out and it is very hard to come back. If you take this job (*a visiting professor in a teaching role), you’re ‘a teacher’ now.”
It’s also generally better for your career to “move on” after graduating. Since that’s “the expectation,” when someone just keeps working at the same place they graduated from, it often “raises questions.”
I would be applying for other jobs, while not mentioning that to your current department. Being at an R1 they may want you to stay on as a lecturer and not necessarily for the TT job. If a lecturer position is what you’re looking for, then offer to help out as much as possible and make sure your reviews are good.
Speaking from experience, I would encourage you not to get your hopes up. From what I’ve seen across all disciplines very few contingent people get rolled over into TT positions. Certainly apply and continue to work hard but it’s a mistake in 2020s academia to think that loyalty or dedication will be rewarded.
Is it standard to go straight to TT after a PhD in your field? Or even a year after?