I’m new to Premieres on KZfaq and fear my livechat comments got deleted somehow. Was just saying: If you have questions about writing academic cover letters, leave a comment!
@superluminalmarmot4 жыл бұрын
Thanks for this series! It's been a huge help through this bizarre job market, which has only just begun.
@Wozzeck02114 жыл бұрын
I like how you describe the past research, "evocative and intellectually disturbing"!
@zuotingwen96954 жыл бұрын
Many thanks for showing us how to write a winning cover letter, I will start thinking about the dust jacket of my book!
@weilai.linguistics Жыл бұрын
I really enjoyed the part about "exaggerated coherence and continuity". So well reflected and spelled out!
@wenxie85104 жыл бұрын
Thank you for sharing this, Tom! This is super helpful. Looking forward to more videos from you.
@zenithzzj0014 жыл бұрын
Great video. I hope I watched this two years ago when I first got onto the market. Even if you don't apply for jobs any more, many of the ideas still hold when you communicate with scholars/people from other fields or areas. Think about the cover letter as an elevator pitch - what's the best you can do to grab others' attention in 3mins!
@thomasvanhoey4 жыл бұрын
This is a good one! I love how you're sharing all of experience with the world.
@tengkuanng91214 жыл бұрын
Thank you so much for this video and your Stanford cover letter, Prof. Mullaney! As a first-gen college graduate myself, I've envied colleagues who grew up in academic households (书香门第, as the Chinese phrase goes!), but your channel helps even the cultural capital playing field in many ways.
@jingyu39954 жыл бұрын
Great video! I was told by some of the career advisors at the Uni that you need to address every single criteria listed on the personal specification of the job requirement, including personal ability such as good at communication, good at team work, etc. Do we really need to do that in an academic cover letter? How do you address personal abilities in cover letters? Many thanks!
@MyColcana3 жыл бұрын
Ok, all these ideas are fantastic when applying for a tenure position. It is sure that you need to put your future projects on the CL. However, what universities are doing now is offering only visiting or adjunct positions, let's say, one year, or a limited term position for 3 years in the best case. And also take into account that you have been doing this adjunct or visiting positions since you got your PhD. In these real world cases, how do you draft a new cover letter for another visiting or adjunct lecturer?
@kausourayon4 жыл бұрын
Very helpful as always. I'd like to learn about the next step as well - job interviews and talks. Thanks for this incredibly informative (and reassuring) series of videos!
@tsmullaney4 жыл бұрын
Great idea, Rakesh. I'll get to work on it! I have one video in the works about "What the first round interview feels like for the *interviewers*" (as a way to help interviewees understand the room they're walking into better)
@thetokyodrafts8134 ай бұрын
This is fantastic! Thank you so much 🙏🏻
@jancreutzenberg38894 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the video (& sample letters)! Includes great tipps for writing short research/teaching statements etc. that are also helpful in other situations ~~~
@jancreutzenberg38894 жыл бұрын
And a quick question: Is it common practice to use one's (current) institution's letter head when applying elsewhere? Never thought about that, just used a "private" letterhead for applications. Is it a matter of choice or just common practice?
@tsmullaney4 жыл бұрын
@@jancreutzenberg3889 I think using one's grad institution letterhead is advisable, personally. It carries more gravitas, and it's completely true (given that you are "affiliated" with it, so you're not stretching the truth). Anything to give even the slightest edge, without transgressing any ethical lines.
@RafaelBittencourt14 жыл бұрын
This video is really amazing! Thank you so much!
@Indian_Ray3 жыл бұрын
Thank You Sir, It will be very helpful if you show us life demo of how to put them all together in a single email like Cove letter, LOR & Thesis paper etc.
@bradleyalex97684 жыл бұрын
Thanks a lot! It is very helpful.
@melissabrzycki80684 жыл бұрын
Thank you for these videos! This is very helpful information.
@howardliu42893 жыл бұрын
Great video and thank you. But I don't find the download link at the end. Is it removed?
@mariodegrandis60364 жыл бұрын
Thank you for sharing your advice and the 'magical' letter that got you from PhD candidate to tenure track. This generosity is remarkable. I would like to share my experience related to how to use model materials for the purpose of academic job search. Another resource, I think all the subscribers to this channel are familiar with it, is Karen Kelsky's _The_ _Professor_ _is_ _In_. I have read the book and prepared for tenure track interviews (i.e., got the interviews, not any offer). I wonder wether the way I used her book (let's say religiously) penalized me. In fact, I prepared all my responses to interviews following Kelsky's examples. Here, with some degree of speculation, I assume I was not the only one following her models. In this way I and some of the other applicants did not stand out because we appeared to be putting ourself in a given mold. For the next season, I have decided to prepare for interviews without over relying external clutches. In short my advise is that external resources should be used for inspiration (for example I like the comment about how and where to name drop in the cover letter) but not as a model to be schematically followed. Don't make my mistake.
@tsmullaney4 жыл бұрын
Fantastic point. I agree completely.
@MsVvaall10 ай бұрын
Great video Tom, I was wandering is it possible to share your cover letter link as I could not find it in the sharing area. Thank you very much in advance.
@Gen72314 жыл бұрын
Many thanks for sharing these tips with us, this was very generous of you!
@shashaliu19024 жыл бұрын
Thanks a lot for sharing! Much appreciated
@cassiezhang55104 жыл бұрын
Thanks for sharing this!
@davidchengchang90004 жыл бұрын
Great tutorial! I wish you made this ten years ago. You use Premiere to create the video?
@tsmullaney4 жыл бұрын
Many thanks! Yes, I use Premiere to edit, along with other parts of the Adobe suite (esp. Illustrator, After Effects, and Adobe Audition).
@Indian_Ray3 жыл бұрын
At 7:00 the best thing is that I do not even have to lie but the problem is that IELTS is too costly for me 😭
@guopengchen4134 жыл бұрын
Thanks for this informative video!
@LIRONG87494 жыл бұрын
Thank you Tom, this video is super helpful. Will it be a good idea or necessary for a cover letter to include a tailored paragraph explaining why an applicants wants to work at a university? Will you consider making a follow-up video about cover letter (and other job application materials) from the perspective of someone who has served in a recruiting committee? Thanks!
@tsmullaney4 жыл бұрын
Thanks for your message. Just to clarify, so I make sure to answer usefully: Do you mean a paragraph to explain why one wants to work at a university in general (as in: at a university as opposed to an entirely different line of work)? Or do you mean as opposed to a liberal art college? Or something else? Just let me know and I'll share any advice I have!
@LIRONG87494 жыл бұрын
@@tsmullaney Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. Sorry for the confusion. I mean a tailored a paragraph explaining why one wants to work at the university that he or she is applying for. For example, if one is applying for university A, will it be a good idea or necessary to include a paragraph explaining why he or she applies for university A?
@tsmullaney4 жыл бұрын
@@LIRONG8749 I have definitely seen this done--and when it's done well, it can be very effective. By "done well," I mean: (a) it's based on sound research, which demos that the applicant truly understands/has done their due diligence learning about the institution (i.e., it isn't based on a cursory search of the uni home page!); (b) concise (since space is very precious in the cover letter); and (c) comes across as genuine/sincere (which ties back to point (a) above). On the flip side, though, when such a paragraph is attempted, but which fails to achieve these things, it can have the opposite effect, I think: it can end up wasting precious space *and* coming across as wooden or boilerplate.
@RuslanYusupov4 жыл бұрын
Thanks, this is useful, so where to write about publications, if any?
@tsmullaney4 жыл бұрын
At the time of this app, I had one pub under my belt, paired with a "Guest Editor" spot. I opted not to include it in my cover letter, but to emphasize it in the CV. However, I think that the best place I could have put it would have been in the paragraph on the dissertation *or* as a kind of "segue" in my paragraph on my second project. For Assistant Profs and beyond, though, direct mention of pubs is *definitely* something one wants to include, no doubt.
@layer910104 жыл бұрын
Hi Tom, thank you for your generosity sharing your thoughts and advice on writing cover letters. I am considering applying for a PhD program and just have a question regarding the opening paragraph. What is your thought on writing an unorthodox eye-catching opening paragraph vis-a-vis a more formal one that gets straight to the point? For example, is it a good idea to share a personal anecdote, if it is related to my motivation of pursuing a PhD degree or is related to my general personality or aptitude in the academic profession?
@jessicayeung47464 жыл бұрын
Thanks for this, Tom! I think adding possible collaborators in the department in the "Service" paragraph would improve it. If the candidate can do a bit of research and say what kind of service she/he can contribute to the department/faculty/university level, that'd also be helpful. Most PhD students are beginning to publish, teach, and gain administrative experiences. But what if they lack one (or more) of those? And nowadays, the openings may not always fit the candidates' PhD areas. Do you encourage us to stretch a bit and apply to openings a bit outside of our "comfort zone" (areas)? Thank you Tom!
@tsmullaney4 жыл бұрын
I entirely agree with regards to the Service paragraph. Great point. And the more customization, the better, in terms of learning about each institution you're applying to. It's a bit of "max-min" problem: how much customization is "too little" (but has the benefit of saving you time, since often there are 20+ apps to deal with), and how much customization is "too much" (i.e., where the applicant is burning just too much precious daylight on each app packet, which necessarily means diverting attention from other things).
@jessicayeung47464 жыл бұрын
@@tsmullaney Thank you for your reply, Tom. My comment is a bit long and I ain't sure if your reply has already addressed my questions? They are "Most PhD students are beginning to publish, teach, and gain administrative experiences. But what if they lack one (or more) of those? And nowadays, the openings may not always fit the candidates' PhD areas. Do you encourage us to stretch a bit and apply to openings a bit outside of our "comfort zone" (areas)?" Thanks again!
@tsmullaney4 жыл бұрын
@@jessicayeung4746 Thank you for this question. I would say that, in the event that an applicant does not have experience in an area, that they should avoid exaggerating/lying/suggesting that they do. For example: Sometimes I've seen applicants who, because they don't yet have peer-reviewed articles to their name, go on and on about the book reviews they've written. While writing book reviews is good, it is no replacement for peer-reviewed publications (and thus, if the applicants dedicates a good chunk of their cover letter to this, it will both waste precious space, and come across as somewhat naive, at least in my view).
@tsmullaney4 жыл бұрын
@@jessicayeung4746 As for the "comfort zone" question, I would say: definitely. While there's no point in applying for something that is far, far from your field or area of expertise, I would say that "marginal" possibilities are always worth serious exploring, and perhaps applying to. Yes, putting together an app takes a lot of time, but each successive application becomes a bit easier than the last. And the only sure way *not* to land a position, is by *not* applying for it!
@jessicayeung47464 жыл бұрын
@@tsmullaney Thank you for the sensible and helpful replies, Tom. The book reviews that go "on and on and on" cracked me up lol And I do agree with you about applying to some marginally suitable positions. I think most applicants just need a bit more confidence to send in one more application.
@madarevital4 жыл бұрын
Thank you for this video. I wonder what's the difference between a career statement and a cover letter, and also, if there are different expectations between the American Academy and the European Academy?
@tsmullaney4 жыл бұрын
Can you send me/share a sample (by which I mean: a job ad or a fellowship ad that mentions Career Statements in a European institutional context?) I’m happy to find out more. Btw your research looks fascinating
@madarevital4 жыл бұрын
@@tsmullaney Thank you for your quick reply. I am currently working on the Max Weber Fellowship application. I copy-paste their explanation regarding the career statment: "Prepare an ‘Academic career statement’ (2 pages) as a PDF. The purpose of this statement is for you to indicate why you think the MW Programme, particularly the Academic Practice Activities, will benefit you. It should indicate your research and teaching interests and experience, and career plans."
@ling-weikung47844 жыл бұрын
Thank you. This video is truly helpful. I have two quick questions. First, if I would like to emphasize my funding application experiences, should I put them in the paragraph of service or dissertation research? Also, would it be better to list the name of the search committee chair as the recipient of my cover letter than "Dear Members of the Search Committee"? Thank you for your generosity!
@zawilwilliam-thephddiaries49662 жыл бұрын
Thank you so much for this amazing video. I've heard that for cover letters, we should write around 400-500 words, is it ok if it's more than 1000 words? because on the ads they don't mention the limit for it as well. Thank you so much in advance and I really appreciate your answer.
@laureneglimois15914 жыл бұрын
Great video! This is probably beyond the scope of this channel but I would be interested in knowing if these rules apply also for academic markets outside of the US (especially Europe, New Zealand and Australia)
@tsmullaney4 жыл бұрын
My experience is shaped by the U.S. academy, and so I would certainly make sure to get further advice when it comes to Europe/New Zealand/Australia. Based on my own experience, though, I think it's essential to disaggregate Europe. For example, applying to Italian and French institutions (for e.g.,) is very different than applying to German and U.K. institutions, at least in my experience. Australian institutions, by comparison, feel far more familiar to me as an American, and I know a great many people who have received their PhDs in the U.S., who then go on to work in Australia.
@GardensOfChina3 жыл бұрын
@@tsmullaney I agree when it comes to France, we have a whole different way to do things. I think this video is helpful for UK to a certain extent.
@timucinguner46873 жыл бұрын
wow man.. next time make sure that to extract the link is more difficult than this
@no-de3lg2 жыл бұрын
Could you offer to help im applying to a research position and i need help in emailing professor I would pay you for your time
@davidli77844 жыл бұрын
Thank you so much Professor Mullaney for sharing your experience! Just wondering, is institutional letterhead required for academic cover letters, or is it optional? I found many contradictory information online about this.
@koreanarthistory4 жыл бұрын
Thanks so much Tom for this video. I really appreciate your straightforward and honest advice. I will definitely recommend your channel to my graduate students ^-^ One question: at what point in your career can you present yourself as someone with many interests?
@tsmullaney4 жыл бұрын
This is a really tough question. I don't want to sound discouraging in any way, and just know that this is based on my own hang-ups and experience, but I would say: Among people you trust, you can start right now; but among people who aren't trustworthy (by which I mean: they are petty or punitive) then one is always at risk, at all stages of the career. Petty scholars are threatened when they meet people with varied interests. I'm not sure why, but I see it over and over. So the key here is: find your fellow travelers, and your soul mates. It can takes many years, but never give up, because once you find them, academia becomes home. For each of my soul mates in academia, I will *never* forget the day I met them.
@koreanarthistory4 жыл бұрын
@@tsmullaney thanks so much. Indeed, one needs to be really careful around those petty scholars...
@maddalenapoli57044 жыл бұрын
very helpful. yet, if I may, listening to professors and others explain this kind of material (cover letters and statements) always make me feel a bit sick in trying to enter academia. If everybody knows that nobody comes up from a PhD with a second project, and what we all do is lie, why having that paragraph at all? it feels a bit playing a game whose rules should be changed and everybody acknowledges that, but nobody does it.
@tsmullaney4 жыл бұрын
I completely understand where you're coming from, and the sentiment. I agree entirely, with one proviso. (What follows is meant as part of a conversation, and so please do follow-up if any further thoughts, questions, or disagreements emerge. I hope you will.) First off, to confirm what you're saying, I've witnessed many instances in which candidates (at *all* levels, not just ABD) have been held to absurdly high standards. A senior hire with an unbelievable track record? What about their fifth book? An Assistant Prof.-level hire with a published book and a full second ms to their name? What about the 3rd book? Sometimes I wonder if, when confronted with a candidate who is obviously marvelous--just one of a kind--scholars worry that, if they don't raise *some* issue, then they are not doing their job. That is to say: even when people's hearts are in the right place (it's *good* to be critical), this kind of absurdity can take place. HOWEVER, I will say: the logic behind the "2nd project paragraph" makes a lot of sense, at least in my opinion. Imagine an architecture candidate, with one brilliant and breathtaking design to their name. An artist with one painting to their name. A pop artist with one unreal song to their name. Any architecture firm, gallery, label, or otherwise *has* to ask the question: is this part of a pattern, or is this everything? If it's everything, then, of course it needs to be praised and admired, and yet the label who signs this musician will forever be waiting for the next song--which might never come. Perhaps I can put it this way: When people on a hiring committee or in a department *don't* care about the candidate's second project, or their future trajectory, this often means that such people have little concern with (or simply hasn't put any thought into the idea of) hiring that person as potentially a life-long colleague. As far they're concerned, the person might be "good enough for the time being," or that "later on, if they failed to deliver something else, we can just hire again." So, counterintuitively, it's the people who care about 2nd projects who are the ones, in my experience, who *do* believe that the point of hiring a tenure-track candidate is, and has to be, to hire them with the full intention of supporting them, and doing everything possible to ensure that they thrive and get tenure. And since a key element of tenure is the second project, it's important to start thinking of that early on, even when everyone knows that plans change, and that the "2nd project paragraph" is written in chalk, not ink, so to speak. Now, I'm fully aware that this idea of academia is about as far away from the present-day truth as one can imagine, particularly when considering the exploitation of Adjunct labor, among other issues. But to the extent that one believes in what academia should and could be--and here, I'm referring to two pillars in particular, peer-review and tenure--then one also needs to believe in the kind of due diligence that is represented by the "2nd project paragraph." One important final point, and this pertains to my note about "lying." Just to clarify: the thing that is being "lied" about is *not* that the candidate has a second project. Rather, what they are lying about is that they only have *one* second project, and that both their clarity about, and commitment to, that project is rock solid. I would say that every serious candidate I've ever met in my life, as well as everyone I've ever met who is at the same career level as me, always has "future ideas" in mind--that they're always curious and thinking about something that jumped out at that. The same for songwriters. I've never met a serious songwriter who doesn't have at least 1 (and maybe 100) song stems in development. After all, wanting to write songs is the first requirement of being a songwriter. The "lying" part comes, not in faking that one has things in mind which might form the basis of future research, rather that their idea is more fully formed than it might actually be (or that, alongside this idea, there are 2 others that command equal attention in the scholar's mind). So why so we need to lie? you might ask. Why can't be list 3 or 4 or 5 ideas we're having? Well, this come back to the "trajectory" question. The point of the "2nd project paragraph" is, at the end of the day, less about the project itself, rather than the demonstration that one has the ability to craft a "scale model" of a second idea. A metaphor here might be architectural blueprints. There's no guarantee that the building will actually be realized. But just the fact that the candidate is *able* to conceptualize, develop, and stress-test a 2nd set of blueprints, beyond the 1 building that they've already built, greatly increases the odds that they will be fully able to build a 2nd building when the time comes. And a 3rd, and a 4th. That is to say, that they have the makings of someone who could have a career in scholarship, beyond the already profoundly difficult stage of completing a PhD.
@maddalenapoli57044 жыл бұрын
@@tsmullaney clearly, I do not mean that there should be no hint of future projects. But building meaningful projects takes time, especially when it comes to thinking about sources, digging into archives, having to travel maybe, and so on. It is not very comparable with someone writing a song or deigning a building, in my opinion. And even then, there are plenty of examples of people who were given a chance based on their prior performances, and that took their good time to deliver the future one. Plenty of examples of failures, too, from people who seemed to have a brilliant future (aren't governments filled with those people?). Several professors who openly talked about the hiring processes in academia were honest enough to say that if they had to assess how many times they got it right, it could not be more than 50%. Half of the times they bet on someone, it was a wrong bet. Others have told me in private that they don't eve read students' statements, precisely bc of the "lies." Does it say something about the process? Maybe. And I do not claim that I have the solution, but maybe squeezing students out of programs after 4 years for all fields, regardless what kind of material one works with (is it all online or in the library? or does the PhD need to spend 6 months on the filed digging it out of libraries? etc.) needs some rethinking. The grant books that change the filed are not written when we are 30, after all.
@ycartxxx Жыл бұрын
@@tsmullaney hey I really appreciate your thorough answers. Thanks for posting!
@avivderri83004 жыл бұрын
Thanks so much for this super helpful video! Would you say these tips/advice apply to post-doc applications as well where no cover letter is needed, but rather a research proposal?
@tsmullaney4 жыл бұрын
Aviv Derri This is a good idea. What about a video just on research proposals?
@avivderri83004 жыл бұрын
@@tsmullaney sounds perfect! Although I was going to ask for a video on CVs :-) especially for ABDs and recent graduates. One is overwhelmed by the amounts of confusing and often contradicting information online..
@aureliadiwu_cotofan4 жыл бұрын
Thank you so much this is really helpful! May I ask where can we download the Cover letter you mentioned in the video?
@tsmullaney4 жыл бұрын
Sure thing! The link is in the video itself, I think towards the middle/2nd half
@aureliadiwu_cotofan4 жыл бұрын
Tom Mullaney ah I see thank you ! I was listening to your video, so I didn’t see the picture and thought the link was in the description . Sorry to bother you ! Thanks again ☺️