Nick Malone
Were there any particular personal or professional attributes that you think made you stand out from other job applicants, such as professional affiliations, language skills, leadership experience, lecturing/tutoring experience, number of papers published, and hobbies?
For me I suspect it was a balance of lecturing experience combined with a modest track record of research activity (including obtaining funding and organising symposia at international conferences). The job is teaching, research and service and often, the search committee is looking for a well-rounded colleague.
Did you experience rejection letters/phone calls after job applications, if so how did you deal with that? Did you have to apply for many jobs before you were successful? What channels did you use to apply for jobs?
Yes, rejection is very much a part of the academic process, be it for a job, a grant or in the publication realm. Rejection on the job market is somewhat different because so much is out of your control. Often times the internal workings of the search committee, and the broader dynamics of the hiring institution, lead to the inevitable rejection of very qualified applicants. It is a matter of being in the right search at the right time. All you can do is develop your record and produce application materials that genuinely indicate where you are going as a scholar. Then it becomes a matter of fit between the applicant the the hiring department. You wouldn’t want to get an offer and subsequently a job in a place that is a poor fit. The process is very difficult and demoralising for most. Unfortunately, the policies of human resources mean that receiving feedback on your application or interview is constrained, and you can be left guessing. The pathway to landing an academic job is generally uncomfortable for many, but the resulting career is very fulfilling so it is worth sticking it out.
Do you maintain a social media presence? How important are sites such as Linked-in, Facebook, Twitter etc. to networking and maintaining a presence in the academic/research world?
I maintain only a minimum social media presence, although I realise that this is becoming increasingly important. I began on Facebook primarily as a means to communicate reliably with my friends and colleagues in Indonesia, especially in the build up to a new fieldwork season. I do benefit from those academics that provide links to, and commentary/critique of, emerging research. I have been slow to transition from that of a social media consumer to a social media contributor.
Tell us a little about your current work, for instance what has been the most rewarding/surprising thing that you have experienced so far, and is the job what you had expected?
Currently I am trying to balance teaching and family life with the realities of fieldwork in primatology – which is best done over long stretches of time in (often) remote places. It is difficult to reconcile those factors. However, expanding the spectrum of sites where primate research carried out, such as perceiving more managed settings (e.g., rehabilitation centres) as relevant to understanding behavioural flexibility, has helped in this regard. Mentoring promising students and seeing them develop into colleagues is easily the most rewarding part of the job thus far.
For me I suspect it was a balance of lecturing experience combined with a modest track record of research activity (including obtaining funding and organising symposia at international conferences). The job is teaching, research and service and often, the search committee is looking for a well-rounded colleague.
Did you experience rejection letters/phone calls after job applications, if so how did you deal with that? Did you have to apply for many jobs before you were successful? What channels did you use to apply for jobs?
Yes, rejection is very much a part of the academic process, be it for a job, a grant or in the publication realm. Rejection on the job market is somewhat different because so much is out of your control. Often times the internal workings of the search committee, and the broader dynamics of the hiring institution, lead to the inevitable rejection of very qualified applicants. It is a matter of being in the right search at the right time. All you can do is develop your record and produce application materials that genuinely indicate where you are going as a scholar. Then it becomes a matter of fit between the applicant the the hiring department. You wouldn’t want to get an offer and subsequently a job in a place that is a poor fit. The process is very difficult and demoralising for most. Unfortunately, the policies of human resources mean that receiving feedback on your application or interview is constrained, and you can be left guessing. The pathway to landing an academic job is generally uncomfortable for many, but the resulting career is very fulfilling so it is worth sticking it out.
Do you maintain a social media presence? How important are sites such as Linked-in, Facebook, Twitter etc. to networking and maintaining a presence in the academic/research world?
I maintain only a minimum social media presence, although I realise that this is becoming increasingly important. I began on Facebook primarily as a means to communicate reliably with my friends and colleagues in Indonesia, especially in the build up to a new fieldwork season. I do benefit from those academics that provide links to, and commentary/critique of, emerging research. I have been slow to transition from that of a social media consumer to a social media contributor.
Tell us a little about your current work, for instance what has been the most rewarding/surprising thing that you have experienced so far, and is the job what you had expected?
Currently I am trying to balance teaching and family life with the realities of fieldwork in primatology – which is best done over long stretches of time in (often) remote places. It is difficult to reconcile those factors. However, expanding the spectrum of sites where primate research carried out, such as perceiving more managed settings (e.g., rehabilitation centres) as relevant to understanding behavioural flexibility, has helped in this regard. Mentoring promising students and seeing them develop into colleagues is easily the most rewarding part of the job thus far.