Did you know? Advising Appointments are available year-round and throughout the summer!

Preparing for an Academic Job Search in the Social Sciences

An academic job search can be complicated and time-consuming, particularly as you juggle your research, teaching, and other responsibilities. Adequate planning and careful preparation of application materials are keys to success, so be sure to leverage the many tools and resources at your disposal.

Your department, faculty mentors, and the academic network that you have cultivated while at Yale will be a primary source for information about the relevant academic job markets in your discipline. In addition, your discipline’s scholarly association typically has valuable resources including a jobs board, tips on preparing application materials, sample interview questions, and information on diverse career paths both within and beyond academia.

As you navigate your academic job search, take advantage of additional support available to you across campus.

The Office of Career Strategy can  help you clarify your goals; establish timelines; ensure that your job application materials have a consistent and clear narrative; and prepare for interviews, negotiation, and decision-making.  Make an appointment to meet one-on-one with an adviser via the Yale Career Link.

The GSAS Professional Development Office supports you in your path through the PhD, providing workshops, internships, and one-on-one consultations to help you develop key skills during the PhD and prepare for the job search, inside or outside of the academy. Contact Suzanne Young at suzanne.young@yale.edu.

The Graduate Writing Lab offers writing consultations and workshops on producing clear and compelling job application materials, including research and diversity statements, cover letters and CVs.

The Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning offers online resources and one-on-one consultations on teaching statements as well coaching for job talks.

The Office for Postdoctoral Affairs provides online career planning tools and other resources for job-seeking postdocs, as well as workshops on the academic job search throughout the year.

 

 

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Plant Based Treaty will be running a summer outreach program in the city of New Haven, and we are seeking volunteers who are passionate about public outreach and addressing the global crises of the following:  

If you are interested in …

By Jacob Gonzalez (he/him)
Jacob Gonzalez (he/him) Senior Associate Director, Graduate and Postdoctoral Career Services
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Career Strategy Essentials with the Office of Career Strategy (GSAS and Postdocs, Spring 2024)

Join OCS this spring for a series of career strategy workshops designed to help you navigate your career journey! We will introduce the many OCS resources at your disposal and cover essential skills like crafting a resume, building your professional …

By Jacob Gonzalez (he/him)
Jacob Gonzalez (he/him) Senior Associate Director, Graduate and Postdoctoral Career Services
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Register Now – The Academic Job Search Series (2023-24)

Are you a doctoral student or postdoctoral scholar planning to apply to tenure-track faculty positions? Join Yale staff for the Academic Job Search Series to learn about the fundamentals for preparing and conducting a successful job search, especially in a …

By Jacob Gonzalez (he/him)
Jacob Gonzalez (he/him) Senior Associate Director, Graduate and Postdoctoral Career Services
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Sidebar

Scholarly Associations

Scholarly and professional associations can be excellent sources of information for students and postdocs seeking a faculty position. Use these resources to read career and job search advice, learn about employment trends, and view discipline-specific jobs boards.

 

Career Exploration Resources

Preparing Job Applications, Interviewing and Negotiation

Jobs Boards

Employment Data and Trends

Explore Job Market InsightsIn partnership withLightcast logo

Search continually updated U.S. market trends to learn about job types (job functions), growth trends, and desired skills. The results will include general information about each job (functional area), employment trends from the past two years and projections for the next 10 years, employers that have that role, desired education level, skills for the position, and more!

TWO WAYS TO SEARCH:

  1. Find Career Data by Selecting Keywords: Enter keywords of various job titles and choose a state or search nationwide to learn more about that job.
  2. Filter by Industry and Occupation: Search by industry and choose among popular occupations/job titles within that industry.

First, choose an industry of interest, then filter for occupation. (If you'd like to see data for a specific location only, filter by state.)

Type in a keyword to select a relevant occupation. (If you'd like to see data for a specific location only, filter by state.)

CONTACT & LOCATION

Phone
(203) 432-0803
Address

55 Whitney Avenue, 3rd Fl.
New Haven, CT 06510

SERVICE HOURS

Day of the week
Academic Year Summer Hours
Monday 8:30am - 5pm 8:30am - 4:30pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 5pm 8:30am - 4:30pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 5pm 8:30am - 4:30pm
Thursday 8:30am - 5pm 8:30am - 4:30pm
Friday 8:30am - 5pm 8:30am - 4:30pm

The office is closed weekends, holidays, and recess days.