Karen Kelsky, an academic-career adviser, is founder and president of The Professor Is In, which offers advice and consulting services on the academic job search. She is a former tenured professor at two universities. Browse an archive of her previous Chronicle column here.
Stories by This Author
Advice
What to expect if you’re fortunate enough to get a faculty job offer this spring.
Advice
How should candidates prepare for a faculty-job market that looks to be even more contracted than usual?
Advice
A look at what the Covid-19 crisis might mean for untenured faculty members on and off the tenure track, and for new and returning doctoral students.
Advice
A common question from job candidates is how to cope with a major disconnect between the place where they earned a Ph.D. and the campuses that are hiring.
Advice
In applying to small liberal-arts colleges, your local ties may be worth bringing up in your application.
Advice
With the cold and flu season comes the pressure on faculty members, especially the many untenured ones, to teach through an illness because canceling class would “look bad.”
Advice
You may lose a year or two in moving to a new doctoral program, but sometimes that is the best call.
Advice
Few benchmarks for tenure are more important than getting that first book contract if you are in a book field at a research-focused institution.
Advice
Sometimes the financial health of your institution can matter more than whether your position allows you to seek tenure.
Advice
What to say (and not say) when asked about your professional plans during a job interview at a teaching-focused college.