Reflections on applying for jobs as a PhD Student, Part I
Navigating the academic job market as a finishing PhD student can be a daunting experience. It is a delicate balance of reflection, writing compelling applications, and uncertainty, all while trying to stay on top of your research agenda and teaching responsibilities. Now nearly two years removed from my first time on this roller coaster, and with a year of gainful employment under my belt, I have been reflecting on the experience. What would I do differently? What went well? What advice can I pass on to my friends and colleagues who will be finishing their own PhDs soon?
I'm not going to share a step-by-step schedule for what you should be doing and when, or delve into the nitty gritty details of how I drafted my teaching statement. There's surely superior resources out there already for that, and you will likely get more out of talking to trusted mentors directly. Still, there are a few lessons I learned that I intend to keep in mind the next time around, and I hope they might help you, too, to get the best out of the process - and stay sane while doing it!
Disclaimer
I primarily focused my efforts on applying to research-focused postdoc positions at universities. While I don't think any of the points I make here are necessarily restricted to those looking for similar positions, it certainly informs my experience.
What do you want?
When I started actively searching for post-PhD jobs, I was surprised by the volume and diversity of positions advertised to mathematicians with graduate degrees. It's not that I wasn't aware that there were career paths outside of universities, but I don't know that I had meaningfully given them much thought. After all, most of the people I interacted with were fellow students, postdocs, lecturers, and professors. That was my environment, and where I envisioned myself as I took the next step. But these were not the only opportunities I found as I went through MathJobs - there were plenty of employers in government, finance, publishing, policy, and much more. Even within the university positions, there was more variety than I anticipated, in terms of the breakdown between research, teaching, and service expectations.
Even more surprising was that so many of these sounded great! It was fun to imagine what each of these different jobs might look like, and I could see myself thriving in several different settings. While not a bad thing in itself, this was a bit overwhelming, as it rather enlarged the pool of positions I applied to and made it very difficult to prioritize which I wanted most, and which were worth taking the time to apply. Looking back, I wish I spent more time reflecting on what I really wanted from my next job - and my career - before going into the experience. To that end, here's a few questions I will be asking myself before I go through the experience again, to help me stay excited about all the options, rather than overwhelmed.
What parts of being a PhD student do you like? What parts don't you like?
You have spent several years learning specialized mathematics, writing papers, teaching students, and all the other little things PhD students do. Can you see yourself doing one or more of these things as your profession? Is there one (or more) that you're not interested in? Are there new skills you like to learn, or old ones you want to improve upon?
What features are important to you in a job?
While it is a privilege to be paid to learn and think about math, it is still a job - there are expectations, coworkers, hours, and pay, just like any other. These can vary considerably among the many different paths available to you, and what you value may not be the same as your advisor or fellow students. Do you value the flexible (some might say erratic) nature of your graduate student schedule, or would you prefer something more consistent? Other features that might be relevant include the amount of independence you'll have, or mentorship opportunities. If you strip away the "prestige" factor of having a particular job or working at a certain place, what do you actually want your work life to look like?
What are your constraints?
These could be geographic - maybe you want to be close to friends or family, or you simply can't stomach the idea of living in [city redacted]. Are you willing to move countries, or do you prefer to stay where you are? They could be about the job itself - I didn't want a one-year contract, then have to move again after a year, but I was okay with moving internationally for a multi-year position. Be honest with yourself here, because it's not worth applying to a job that you know you're never going to take.
Once you know what you like, what you want, and what you're (un)willing to do, look around with an open mind! If you have some idea of what you think you want to do next, try to figure out if the realities of the job align with what you want for yourself, and consider what alternatives might be a good match. Even if you enjoy your research and choose to pursue a "typical" academic career, it's worth seeing what's out there (if for no other reason than to better advise your future students).
Next, it’s time to focus your energy on taking the steps to actually land that job you want! Look out for part II of this post later this week, where I’ll share a few specific, practical bits of advice I received that I found to be impactful.
Chris Keyes is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at King’s College London, studying number theory. He received his PhD in 2023 from Emory University.