Timeline for Cover letters for tenure-track jobs on mathjobs
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
8 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Nov 4, 2023 at 17:49 | comment | added | Piotr Hajlasz | @DavidWhite "The two types of jobs are selecting for different criteria". Exactly. My answer was only from the persoective of my school and schools similar to mine. I agree that many of the liberal art colleges are excellent both for faculty and students. However, I was writing from my perspective pointing out to what is important in scholls like mine. | |
| Nov 4, 2023 at 13:25 | comment | added | David White | @YemenChoi Yes. I was on the job market way back in 2014, but got multiple postdoc offers at R1 universities. Also, I'm a member of a research group at Ohio State that frequently hires postdocs, so I've seen the process there as well (though, I'm not involved in hiring the postdocs). | |
| Nov 4, 2023 at 13:19 | comment | added | Yemon Choi | Is "It seems to me that even for a postdoc at an R1 university in the US, having a good cover letter helps" based on your own observations or experience, e.g. from positions where you interviewed but chose to go elsewhere? I also note that the original question asked about "a cover letter for a generic tenure-track job", so while your answer is a valuable counterpart to @PiotrHajlasz's answer I am not convinced your LAC experience will carry over to the R1s (I agree that there is no total order) | |
| Nov 4, 2023 at 4:49 | comment | added | David White | As well, plenty of professors at R1 universities could not have gotten a job at a good liberal arts college. The two types of jobs are selecting for different criteria. There are lots of ways to conceive what makes a 'good job' or a 'good university.' Most strong liberal arts colleges have much better undergraduate students than R1 universities (e.g., better average SAT scores), bigger endowment per student, and arguably better working conditions for faculty. The US is lucky to have liberal arts colleges, as it means more jobs for mathematicians (vs R1 only), hence more overall research. | |
| Nov 4, 2023 at 4:11 | comment | added | David White | @PiotrHajlasz I'm going to have to disagree with 'scholls like mine or better.' I don't think it's productive to pretend that the collection of universities is totally ordered. Instead, I think of it as being a collection of incomparable tracks. Many professors at good liberal arts colleges could have had jobs at R1 universities, but preferred to be at a place that cared about teaching, interdisciplinarity, and the life of the college (and, perhaps, had a better sabbatical policy and faculty happiness). If I had kids, I'd want them to go to a liberal arts college, not an R1 university. | |
| Nov 4, 2023 at 0:17 | comment | added | Alexander Woo | @PiotrHajlasz: I would suggest that you edit your comment. (Though perhaps you can only delete it and write a new one.) | |
| Nov 3, 2023 at 23:43 | comment | added | Piotr Hajlasz | You are right and I was wrong. I was writing froom the perspective of scholls like mine or better. I modified my answer. | |
| Nov 3, 2023 at 20:30 | history | answered | David White | CC BY-SA 4.0 |