My name is Michael Quinn. This is a collection of things that I have learned from being on the job market (Fall 2001-Spring 2002) and from others who came before me (especially Erdal Tekin and Luis Sosa). I recently accepted a tenure-track position at Bentley College in Waltham, MA. Erdal is at Georgia State University and Luis is at the Colorado School of Mines. This list is in no particular order.

1.) Get a cell phone. It makes it much easier to contact people and for them to contact you. Get one of those nationwide long distance plans like Sprint's free and clear. That way you can take the phone to the AEA meeting too. At the meetings people may need to reschedule interview times or places. If you have a cell phone then they can call you and talk to you or leave you a voicemail. Do not rely exclusively on the message board that they have at the conference. You will not have time to run to the message board all the time. I have seen people miss interviews because the location was changed and they did not get the message in time. When you initially schedule the interview you can let the employer know which hotel you will be staying in, that way they can always leave you a voicemail at your hotel. The ASSA has started using a disclosure code system. The employer gives you a disclosure code before the conference. Then, on the first day of the conference you can go to the ASSA registration area and they have posted the disclosure codes and accompanying hotel room information. It is important to know where the interviews are.

2.) Participate in conferences. The Southern, Midwest, Eastern, and Western Economic Associations all have conferences each year. They are always looking for discussants and presenters. Go to the economics department's website at Elon College and sign onto the tch-elon listserve. People sometimes post messages that they are looking for presenters and discussants on that listserve.

3.) Submit papers to journals. Get your work out there. It is a positive signal to potential employers that you have articles submitted to journals. Do not worry that they are not going to be accepted. Even if the journal is not interested at all you will likely get at least a couple of good comments. Also, if they are still at journals while you are interviewing then they are still under consideration and are not rejected articles yet.

4.) If possible, defend your dissertation in the fall of your job market year. If you defend in the fall then you do not have to convince your potential employer that you really will be done before you take the job. This is one obstacle that you can avoid yourself.

5.) Print up business cards. Go to Staples or similar store and by a package of business card paper. Using an inkjet or laser printer you can print out your own cards. They come out looking good, too. You can use either Word or WordPerfect. I have had good success with Avery business cards in Microsoft Word. I know that Saundra has had good success with WordPerfect. Cards are useful to have on you to hand out to people at conferences and other events. You never know when you will need a card. It also helps you look like a professional. You can even include a card in your job market packet, paper clip it to your cover letter if you like.

6.) Get some nice suits and ties. Nice dark blue, navy, black or gray pinstripe suits. Get some nice silk ties, not cheap looking ones. Nothing weird looking either, think corporate. You are trying to impress your potential employer, you must look like a professional. I apologize for my lack of advice on women's clothing.

7.) Try to do all of your job market copying at once. Go to a copy place like C/O copies on Franklin Street and they will do your copying for you. I personally found that they had the best prices and service around. Of course this could change by the time you are reading this. There are definite quantity discounts so it is good to try to do it all at once. Just tell them how many of each you need and they will do all of the copying for you at no extra charge. They are also cheaper than Kinko's. Note: make sure to tell them that you want things stapled or they will not staple them.

8.) Once you have all of your job market items copied you can lay them out and put your applications together like an assembly line. Make up a few different form cover letters and then just change the addresses and such for each application. Make a list (using Word or WordPerfect) of all of the addresses that need letters of recommendation. Give the list to the job market secretary and she will send the letters to the schools/institutions directly. Make sure that your recommenders get their letters in to her.

9.) Print out return address and shipping labels. Buy some labels and use Word to print out labels. Do not write them out by hand, it will take you forever. Sometimes, the job market secretary can print out return address labels for you. She may also print out shipping labels for the addresses that you give her for letters.

10.) The post office will require that you put stamps on the applications. They will not process more than ten things at a time so if you have a whole bunch of applications you will have to buy stamps. The post office on Estes Road has a postal scale that is in the lobby (open 24 hours) which you can use to weigh each application. The scale tells you how much postage is due. What I did was to put each package on the scale to see the postage. I then wrote the postage due on the corner of each application. Afterwards, I figured out how many applications I had at each postage price. I then figured out how many of each type of stamp I needed. I bought the stamps, put them on and then dropped off the applications at the postal counter. They make stamps in all denominations: 1 dollar, 80 cents, 57 cents, 55 cents, 40 cents, 34 cents, 20 cents, 10 cents, 5 cents, 3 cents, and 1 cents. I think that they even make a couple more that I do not know about. Most of these are self-stick so they are not hard to put on. I used self-sticking 10x13 envelopes for my applications. Definitely go for the self-stick. If you send out your applications a few at a time then you do not need to use stamps. However, see #12.

11.) Send away the applications early. Definitely before Thanksgiving. Earlier if possible. Try to send them out in the first and second week of November.

12.) Apply to a lot of places. Do not apply for only 40-50 jobs. If nothing else you can use the interviewing practice. Depending on your preferences, plan on applying for 180-250 jobs. It is common to get interviews at 10-15% of the places that you apply to. It good to shoot for getting 15-20 interviews, which would require 150-200 applications. If you want 25-30 interviews then apply to at least 200 places. If your interview schedule gets full and someone good wants to interview with you, then you can always drop someone who is not good and substitute in the better person.

13.) Make sure that your shoes are well-polished. Buy new shoes if necessary. You do not want to be wearing shoes that are scuffed (on the tops or the bottoms).

14.) If you are going to have completed your final defense before the conference, then do not register as a student for the conference. If you register as a student then your nametag will say "student" on it. You are trying to sell yourself as a professional, not as a grad student.

15.) Do not carry a backpack around with you at the conference. Use either a nice briefcase or similarly professional bag. A backpack cries out "I am a student, not a professional".

16.) Get a nice pen. No cheap bic pens, get a nice looking Cross pen (or other equivalent brand). You can pick one up at Staples for not much money.

17.) Use a nice leather interview folder/case. The case contains space for a legal pad, pens, business cards, and papers. Among these papers you should have a few copies of your resume. You should also put a copy of your itinerary and "cheat sheets" for the current day's interviews in this folder. See #18.

18.) Cheat Sheets - Print up a one page document for each employer. One this sheet you can write what they are looking for, who will be interviewing you, important notes about the employer, classes that you can teach there, new classes that you could add to the curriculum, and potential research collaborators in the department. This one page sheet is a nice way to keep straight the different people that you will be interviewing with during the day. It also helps you say smart things at the interview that show you are interested and have done research. Being able to refer to their classes by their own class numbering system shows that you have done your homework.

19.) Try to cluster interviews by hotel proximity. Make sure that you know where the hotels are before interview calls start. Then when people call and want to schedule interviews try to arrange consecutive interviews in either the same hotel or hotels that are nearby. When you do have to go far between hotels take taxis. There is usually a line of taxis outside of the hotels. They will save you time and energy. Don't be cheap and then show up late and out of breath to interviews.

20.) Go to the Southern Economic Association meetings. Join the SEA in the summer. Put your resume in their job book in September/early October. This resume book goes out to all employers at the Southerns who will be hiring. Some will schedule interviews in advance and others will schedule interviews while you are there. Also, make sure that any JOE listings that say they will be interviewing at the Southerns you send out early so they can have your application in hand before you go. The Southerns are good practice and sometimes they can land you an interview that eventually leads to a position. The Southerns are usually in mid-November. Stay at the convention hotel. Book early.

21.) Get to the ASSA meetings early. Arrive the afternoon before interviews start. This gives you time to scout out the area and take account of any travel delays. Walk the hotel route the day before interviews start and it will save you time the next few days.

22.) Get a good night's sleep while at the ASSAs. Personally, when I was not out at a reception or dinner with people, I ordered room service and went to bed early. You need to be bright and chipper for your 8am interviews. If you are tired, it will show by your 9th or 10th interview of the day. Personally, I took a couple of those Tylenol PM tablets to make sure that I would get a good night's sleep. Make sure to take them early, so you do not sleep late. Do not trust the hotel alarm clock as your only means of waking up. I used the hotel alarm clock, my own travel alarm clock and the hotel wake-up calls. I never overslept or missed an interview.

23.) When scheduling campus visits, try to schedule your top choices early. If you get an offer you will have only a week or two to respond. Therefore, you want to know if your first choice people work out before you are confronted with second choice people. If you get second choice offers first then you may have to accept or reject the offer before interviewing with better people. You could end up unemployed in the end, or employed with someone worse then you could have done.

24.) If you get a campus visit close to another employer that you like, call the other employer and let them know when you will be in their geographic area to see if they want to talk to you. From their perspective, it will not cost them the airfare so they may be more willing to talk to you. If you really want to talk to someone and they do not call you during the normal timeframe then you can tell them that you will be in their area (during some spot that you have free) and ask them if they want to talk to you. They will not know that you are not really going to be up there to talk to someone else. This is a last resort as it means that you are paying your own airfare.

25.) Try to get experience teaching some different courses. Many schools (especially smaller ones) value flexibility. For instance, if you can offer them the ability to teach both intermediate micro and macro then that helps.

26.) It is good to do things that set you apart. Teaching awards are good for that. If you are interested in academia, this is especially useful. Besides teaching awards, it is good to get involved advising undergraduate student organizations such as the economics club and economics honor society (Omicron Delta Epsilon). This helps to show your potential for service to the university. Colleges hire and promote based on teaching, research and service.

27.) Apply for one of the IBM/UNC educational technology grants. They are easy to get and look good on your record. They also give you another thing to talk about during an interview.

28.) Have research in progress other than your dissertation. Universities want to hear about your dissertation first and your research agenda second. You need to be able to convince them that you did not use your entire creative potential on your dissertation.

29.) It is good to ask about potential interdisciplinary research and teaching possibilities at the university. Make sure that you can back up your interest if you ask this question. For instance, if some of your research interdisciplinary in nature then this helps. Also, they will ask you for ideas that you might have for interdisciplinary courses. Have some ideas. Interdisciplinary ideas are currently a hot topic on college campuses. However, this idea may not be trendy when you are on the market, so it is good to check for trendy ideas with UNC faculty.

30.) People may ask you about innovative teaching techniques you have used in your classes. Think about any sorts of exercises or games you might have used in your courses.

31.) People will ask you what your course preferences are. This is another good reason to have a cheat sheet with you that lists what courses they want the person they are hiring to teach.

32.) Do not disclose the other people who you are interviewing with, even if you are asked directly. It is always good to avoid this question. It is good for the person to know that you have a lot of interviews (i.e. you are in demand) but avoid disclosing the identities. Of course, never sound cocky or brag about having a lot of interviews. They will think you are a jerk.

33.) Do not talk salary until you are made an offer. If people ask you what you think a fair salary is or if a specific number is good then avoid the question. Either you will come off as being too expensive for them or they will think they can lowball you. Nothing good can come out of answering this question. After you are made an offer, then negotiate.

34.) After you are made an offer, negotiate. Negotiate on salary, courseload, research/teaching support if applicable, and moving expenses. Check on retirement plans so you know, but they are usually not negotiable. Never just accept the first offer they make you. It is possible that they may give you their best offer first but it does not hurt to try to get more. Make sure not to be offensive when negotiating. Let them know that you are just trying to decide between different offers and you are just looking to get as full information as possible before you make your decision.

35.) Be prompt sending your thank you letters after the initial interviews and campus visits.

36.) Always have a few copies of your resume on you while at conferences. While at the ASSAs, it is a good idea to carry a bottle of water and some powerbars (or equivalent) with you since you will not have time to have lunch. These will help you to keep your strength up throughout the day.

37.) Avoid wearing cologne or perfume (you do not know if the person you are talking to will like the scent) - a general interviewing rule.

38.) Make sure that your black socks (I am personally a fan of the gold toe brand) are pulled all the way up to your calf. When you cross your legs during the interview, skin should never show.

39.) If you have to go from one hotel to one that is far away take a taxi. Hotels usually have a line of taxis waiting in front. It will save you both time and energy.

40.) Use the prearranged room service breakfast at the ASSAs. Hang your order on your door the night before and it will save you the time the next day of picking up breakfast. All of the coffee stands and breakfast places are really busy at the ASSAs. Do not waste time waiting in line. If the hotel has a breakfast buffet then that is also ok because it will be quick.

41.) Practice your job market presentation. Doing it once at a fall workshop is not nearly enough. You should do your presentation in front of your advisor, other graduate students, and by yourself. Try to do the presentation at least 10 times before you present it on a campus visit. Use PowerPoint.

42.) Use a travel agent to arrange your campus visits (if the school does not do the arrangements). It is much easier to use an agent than to do it yourself, especially if you have to change plans or cancel the visit. I used Cole Travel in Glen Lennox shopping plaza and found them to be good.

43.) Get a laser pointer for the presentation. However, make sure to avoid excessive use of the pointer.

44.) When going to a campus visit, bring extra copies of your job presentation on disc. You can also transfer the presentation file to your public html directory on the mainframe. That way in case your discs do not work (i.e. catastrophe occurs) you can download your presentation file from the internet. I also brought transparencies just in case the computers did not work. For some places I used my own laptop and for other places I used their computers. Either way, I always brought my laptop with me so I could check my e-mail at night from the hotel. I got the local access numbers for AOL so it would be a local call. Then after I connected to AOL, I used Mulberry to access my UNC e-mail account. You could also use Webmail instead of Mulberry.

45.) Save all receipts related to campus visits, you will need them to get reimbursement from the school/institution you are visiting.

46.) Do your research on salaries. The University of Arkansas does a study of the economics PhD market every year. This is accessible online through the Center for Business and Economic Research of the Walton School of Business at the University of Arkansas.

47.) When choosing between different offers, be sure to research cost of living information. Remember we talk in real wages, not nominal.

48.) After you accept an offer you will be sent a contract. Be sure that the contracts specifies salary, moving expenses, starting date and other important information.

49.) Post your job market information on your website (except your paper). At the very least put your cv on your website. Personally, I put all pieces of my job packet except my job paper on my website. This allowed individuals who did not request some pieces of my packet to look at them on my website (and a few actually did). Make sure that your website is listed in your address information on your business card and cv. It does no good to post materials to a website if people do not have the address. You should definitely have a website.

50.) Have your advisor or other committee member(s) look at your job packet before you send it out. I received useful advice on every piece of my job packet from my advisor, Dr. Field. I also received great cover letter advice from Dr. Akin who was on my committee.

51.) Do mock interviews. They are useful. It is important both to answer questions well and to ask the right questions.

52.) If you can afford it, spend the entire summer before the job market working on your dissertation (and especially your job market paper).

53.) Never forget that you will succeed and get a good job. Confidence breeds success. Being self-confident will make you more relaxed and help you think more clearly. Remember, no one wants to be around a nervous, stressed out person. Work hard, be smart and you will succeed. The job process is a meat market and it can drain your self-confidence (assuming that graduate school has not done that yet). Never lose faith in yourself and in your success. Be relaxed (but not asleep). Smile and be upbeat (but not so much that they give you a drug test). Be energetic (but not caffeine high jittery). Be self-confident (but not cocky).

That is all that I have learned. I hope that as you and others go through the job market process you will add your wisdom, experience and job materials to the departmental files. Remember that if you use any of these pointers, I get a percentage of your first year's salary. Best of luck!

Mike