An academic career in the biological sciences typically demands well over a decade of technical training. So it's ironic that when a scholar reaches one of the most critical stages in that career - the search for a job following graduate work - he or she receives little or no formal preparation. Instead, students are thrown into the job market with only cursory guidance on how to search for and land a position. Now there's help. Carefully, clearly, and with a welcome sense of humor, "The Chicago Guide to Landing a Job in Academic Biology" leads graduate students and postdoctoral fellows through the perils and rewards of their first job search. The authors - who collectively have mentored students and served on hiring committees for decades - have honed their advice in workshops delivered to anxious audiences at biology meetings across the country. The resulting volume covers everything from how to pack an overnight bag without wrinkling a suit to the decision-making processes of hiring committees to selecting the right job to apply for in the first place.
The authors have taken care to make their advice useful to all areas of academic biology, including genetics, organismal biology, and evolutionary biology, and they give tips on how applicants can tailor their approaches to institutions ranging from major research universities to small private colleges. Written in a lively, positive style, "The Chicago Guide to Landing a Job in Academic Biology" will be indispensable to graduate students and postdocs as they enter that domain red in tooth and claw: the job market.