Faculty panel explains hiring at different institutions.
Preparing for a Faculty Career means understanding yourself and the higher education landscape, building skills, and conducting a job search. It's never too early — or too late — to begin.
Being a faculty member is a rewarding career path chosen by many doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars. We encourage you to consider this option. As you prepare, there are many Stanford resources available to help you:
- Understand the range of roles and responsibilities expected of faculty members
- Build your skills to be ready to work effectively
- Understand how faculty work differs at different institutional types
- Make your career choices based on your values and skills; the faculty path should be a deliberate choice, not what you do because others expect it
- Be competitive on the job market, with strong materials and the ability to excel in all aspects of a job search
The local knowledge in your department and program — from your advisors, faculty, staff, and advanced students — is invaluable. Their expertise is supplemented by many extra-departmental campus resources to help you succeed in your faculty job search and career.
To help you navigate, we have categorized campus resources into three sections outlined below.
NEW COURSE!
Consider taking the VPGE's new Spring course, CTL 231. Preparing for Faculty Careers, co-sponsored by the Center for Teaching and Learning. Graduate students who are TGR and postdoctoral scholars may audit with permission of the instructor (contact Robin Sugiura, rsugiura@stanford.edu).
Understanding Roles and Fit
What do faculty members do? How is faculty life different at different kinds of colleges and universities? What do I value? Where will I fit best? Understanding the answers to these questions will help you find where you will thrive, focus on building necessary skills, and apply strategically.
Read more about Understanding Roles and Fit
Building Necessary Skills
Faculty work involves teaching, research and scholarship, and service. Much of what you do in grad school helps prepare you for your future career. You can build skills in each of these areas while at Stanford.
Read more about Building Skills
Conducting a Faculty Job Search
The faculty job search is typically conducted in the last year of graduate school, and takes an entire year or more. Preparing for the job search, and putting together all of the materials, takes time. Start early!
General Resources
These resources are useful for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars who are considering and preparing for faculty careers. Even if you plan to pursue a postdoc before applying for faculty jobs, take advantage of these opportunities while you are at Stanford.
- Academic Chats (structured lunch time conversations for graduate students)
- Academic Chats (structured lunch time conversations for postdocs)
- PhD & Postdoc Career Guide (handbook about the faculty job search, from the Career Development Center)
- Tomorrow’s Professor (electronic newsletter of faculty development readings)
- National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (Stanford supports membership for all grad students and postdocs)
- Future Faculty Resources (PDF annotated bibliography)
