Finding a job

From GSLISWiki

The market: When you’re immersed in the subleties of research it's upleasant to realize that your future job prospects will depend little on the clever taxonomic scheme you've just devised for organizing your field notes, and instead on the brute realities of supply and demand. It's almost a tautology to say that the people who find jobs first are those whose profiles match what employers are seeking. You may have done outstanding work and still not get interviews, if you don't fit the specific needs.

What can you do? It won't work to reinvent yourself to follow the perceived fashion. But you can highlight those aspects of your work that people are interested in. You can also seek out a wider range of opportunites by participating in conferences, exploring the web (see Jobs, reading the The Chronicle of Higher Education, and taking advantage of the informal networks of professors and other students. You can also broaden the scope of locations and types of institutions you'll consider. And of course, be patient; many of the best opportunites arise at the last minute, when the employer may be even more desperate than you are.