For nearly all students in the Department, a graduate education is also pre-professional training for employment in an institution of higher learning as a scholar and teacher. Although the job search is several years away for incoming graduate students, they should begin taking preparatory steps for it. Graduate students at all stages of the program should:

• maintain contacts at their undergraduate institutions;


• establish a new network of contacts from readings, conferences, and lectures;


• submit papers to conferences and for publication;


• periodically consult the MLA Job Information List and The Chronicle of Higher Education to keep abreast of the kinds of positions available, trends in the profession, type and number of hiring institutions, and so on;


• try to obtain a broad range of teaching experience;


• create a strong cluster of supporting Departmental faculty (candidates need four, even five strong letters of recommendation);


• sit in on the meeting(s) the Department Placement Committee holds for graduate students going on the market;


• and, finally, start reserving funds for the job search.

Students who have gone through the process report that the job search is expensive. The Career Center’s Placement Office charges $20 to set up a file; the first ten requests for dossiers are free, but from then on the charge is $3 for each dossier you request to be sent.

Students who are on the job market may apply to the Graduate School, through its conference travel funding, for financial support to attend MLA for interviews.

The Department’s Placement Officer advises job candidates, keeps files of sample dossier material and applications, checks job listings, and generally provides as much assistance as possible to help graduate students find jobs.

The candidate must establish a dossier with the Emory Career Center. Typically, the dossier includes a detailed form with information much like that on a curriculum vitae, a list of courses taken, and four to six letters of recommendation--which hiring institutions seem to emphasize most. Veterans of job searches encourage candidates to work on their dossiers the summer before the fall in which they wish to apply for jobs. The letter of application takes a long time to write and should be prepared weeks before deadlines. Since students are encouraged to apply for as many jobs as possible, they need to set aside a great deal of time for assembling materials to send off to each school. Furthermore, faculty members usually need several weeks to write letters of recommendation because of their own busy schedules.

Note: during application season students should regularly check with the Career Center to make certain materials are mailed off on time.

The English Department subscribes to the MLA Job List in both its print (available in the lounge) and electronic forms. Please see Jacque Aly for the password to the electronic Job List.

N-302 Callaway Center, Atlanta, Georgia 30322 • 404-727-6420 • FAX: 404-727-2605 • english@emory.edu

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