The faculty and staff of LPS will do all they can to ensure that students are well represented as potential employees when they go on the job market. (Recent placement information is available on the Graduate Alumni page.)  Students are advised to join the APA, so as to use their placement services and to receive the all-important Jobs for Philosophers (also available on-line to APA members).

During the spring or early summer, the LPS Placement Director will call a meeting to discuss job placement planning and procedures for the following year.  All students who plan to be on the market in the fall should attend this meeting and start assembling their dossiers over the summer months.  A complete dossier will include:  

(1)  Curriculum Vitae

There are no set rules on how these are prepared; the Placement Director will have some samples.  Roughly speaking, Areas of Specialization (AOS) are those in which one expects to do research and feels qualified to teach a graduate seminar.  Areas of Competence (AOC) are those in which one could teach an upper division undergraduate course (perhaps with the help of a free summer beforehand).

(2) Dissertation Abstract

It should be less than a page in length; and it  should be readable and accessible.  (A common mistake is to include too much sophisticated detail and not enough motivation for readers outside of one's AOS.) 

(3) Letters of Recommendation

There should be at least three letters of recommendation, including at least one that directly addresses teaching. Students should consult with their advisors and the Placement Director when deciding on potential letter writers, but it is standard practice to begin with members of one's Doctoral Committee (as they will be best acquainted with one's dissertation).

Obviously, students need to get their latest dissertation material to letter writers in time for them to read it, think it over, and write a proper letter.  September 1 is a good target date.  It is important to remember that letters writers are expected to predict, with conviction, that the students for whom they are writing will have a PhD in hand by the time the position is to begin.  So students will need to have drafted a substantial portion of their dissertation by this date.

(4) Teaching Data

Job applicants should include on their CV a list of all the courses they have TAed for or taught. They may want to submit syllabi, student evaluation data, and/or a Teaching Statement, depending on the institution to which they are applying. Another option is to request a confidential letter of recommendation from a  student or TA and include it in one's dossier.

(5) Writing Sample

A paper of around 25 pages is recommended.  This can be a dissertation chapter if it can stand fairly well alone.  As a rule, the writing sample should be the best philosophical writing one has. Some applicants choose to submit more than one paper, or use different papers for different institutions. Some also submit a Research Statement that describes the work they have done in the past and their plans for the future.  All this should be discussed with one's advisor.

(6) Cover Letter

This can be a generic letter that one simply photocopies, or a customized letter in which one explains why one wants the position in question and why one is particularly well suited for it. The latter option, of course, involves a good deal of extra work. Students should discuss with their advisors and the Placement Director whether, or in what cases, the extra effort is justified.


Job applicants should review Jobs for Philosophers  when it first appears in mid-October and, in consultation with their advisor,   draw up a list of institutions to which they intend to apply.  (Copies of the list should go to members of their Doctoral Committee and any one else who might be willing and able to act on their behalf.) Deadlines will come soon thereafter. 

Job applicants should make arrangements to attend the Eastern APA meeting in late December.  Many schools interview candidates there. (Just how many candidates they interview varies -- from just a few to more than twenty.)  Applicants can expect to receive invitations for interviews,  by phone or e-mail, anytime from early December to the beginning of the meetings. (It is important to include contact information for this time period on one's CV, and give it to the LPS staff as well, for backup.)

Interviews generally run from half an hour to an hour.  The interviewers will be faculty members (and sometimes graduate students) with a wide range of expertise, often enough including no one in a given candidate's AOS. Candidates are usually asked for a brief (about ten minute) synopsis of their dissertation, and for descriptions of courses they might teach.  (Some people like to have prepared sample syllabi ready to hand out.) One should expect challenging questions, about one's thesis, about when one will be done, about one's way of teaching course X, and so on.  During the fall, all job candidates should contact the Placement Director to arrange a mock interview.

They should also contact the LPS Colloquium Director well in advance (preferably the previous spring) to arrange a colloquium talk.  The topic will typically be related to one's dissertation.  If one receives an invitation for a campus visit,  this colloquium talk can become one's ‘job talk’. 

During the job search process, students should be sure to keep their advisor and the Placement Director informed of all developments.