Many of us received the following email from the AAS, containing a letter from David Helfand (AAS president) about hiring practices. I thought I'd repost it here, to provide a space for discussion about this topic.
What do you think?
- Should we revamp our letter of recommendation system?
- Should we set a deadline for faculty positions as we do for postdocs (Feb 15)?
- Should departments cut down on the number of in-person campus interviews?
- How can we create a more sustainable relationship between the number of PhDs and the job opportunities available?
- What support should we be providing to better prepare our PhDs for the full range of interesting careers?
Letter from Dr. Helfand:
For a significant fraction of our membership, February is probably not their favorite month. Despite being the calendrical midget with the smallest number of days, for those on the job market it probably produces the largest amount of anxiety. Indeed, the entire job search process seems to consume a larger number of months, a larger expenditure of resources, a larger amount of time, and a larger quantity of emotional energy than it did the last time I applied for a job 36 years ago. Should we reduce this burden? And, if so, how do we go about doing that? I certainly don't know the answer(s), but I think it is time to start asking the question(s).
