I’m curious about people’s trajectories from finishing their PhD to securing a permanent academic position.
- How many years did it take you?
- How many short-term teaching or postdoc contracts did you have along the way?
- And what’s your discipline?
For context, I finished my PhD in History in early 2019. I didn’t find anything for about a year, then did a half-year stint in the private sector after COVID started. I got my first postdoc (1 year) in early 2021, then another funded postdoc for two and a half years from 2022, and finally landed my first permanent job in late 2024. Took about five and a half years in total.
Comments
~6 years
2 postdocs, each 3 years
1 part time lecturer during second postdoc for 6 months
Cognitive psych
History also. Three years.
One year. No short-term teaching / post-doc contracts. I’m a “late-bloomer” as far as acadamia is concerned. I am a registered healthcare professional, so returned to work as a clinician until I got an academic role. As it turns out, people in my profession with PhDs are rare, so it didn’t take long to find a teaching role. I teach on a paper associated with my clinical practice and continue my research which is not directly related to my clinical practice. (Being deliberately vague due to niche areas)
Directly after my PhD I taught part time for a semester, paid by the module. After that I got a full time year long contract. That was renewed twice and because of it I was able to apply to be made permanent and I am now a permanent member of staff. Overall it took over three years.
I feel like it takes longer in the biomedical sciences. I took 10 years, which I think is slightly slower than average, but only by about 3 years. I did two postdocs (5+3 years; the second, I was the PI/grant holder), took one 6 month break and had one stint in the commercial sector.
Ph.D. 2020
Post doc 2 years at NIH while simultaneously adjuncting at Columbia.
TT position 2022
I had about 10 semesters of temporary teaching positions as a grad student. At my school, at other local schools, as both an TA, adjunct and visiting professor. I also was an RA and lab manager.
I’m a social psychologist.
Straight into R1 tenure-track, H-10 at the end of phd (5 years). Medicine.
2 years (in English Literature). One year post-phd searching for jobs, one one-year contract, then a permanent job.
Philosophy, 5 years, 2/3 short term gigs depending on whether you count my grad university hiring me on right after I finished to teach a couple sections of intro.
English, 0 but was lucky
History, 0 years. I published a great deal as a PhD student, which I think helped a lot, but “luck” or “fit” or “having exactly what that department wants right then and there” is more important. I was offered two jobs, it’s true, which is great, but I was rejected by nearly 100. You can in some ways control your publishing output, your teaching record, etc, but those other things are far outside your control.
Two years. Economics. Adjunct to NTT to TT. All at the same place.
Got a lot of advice that I was applying too early. Glad I ignored it. Was very unexpectedly popular on the job market. In fact, wish I’d tried a year earlier, as nothing fundamentally changed from 1.5 years post PhD to 2.5 years post PhD…
~ 3 years. One short postdoc, one long one. Mathematics. I’ll note that this is shorter than average, most people get their permanent job anywhere between 3-7 years after their PhD. I think 5 is pretty much the norm.
11 years and counting…. I finished in 2014, did two postdocs (2+2) then got a large grant as a PI, then another large grant in a multi-country project. But I’ve come to the end of the road so if I don’t get another large grant in the current round I’m going to be laid off. I work in public health (so, that’s going great right now …)
Biology.
0 years. I wanted a full time teaching position at a community college. I had made sure to really boost my teaching experience during my PhD. Started a tenure track community college position right after submitting my dissertation.