Is it really hard to get a job as a Professor?

Question

I was thinkin of this kind of career but I am picky about where I want to live-either in NYC or in California. How hard is it to get a teaching job at a university in those states? And how long after getting a PhD can you expect to being working? AND any tips?
Thanks!

Answer 1

Hi!

It is absolutely NOT easy to get a job as a professor. It is very hard, actually. Many PhDs have been trying for years, and simply have not yet been hired. Many never will be. This is not because there's something wrong with them. There are just many more PhDs than there are professorial positions.

It usually takes a year or so to find a job -- if you are one of the lucky ones who does so.

Here's another really important point. You REALLY CANNOT choose where you live. You apply where there are openings. There will be a few hundred applicants for each position. If you are lucky, you will be one of the twenty or so given preliminary interviews. If you are luckier, you will be one of the three invited to campus to give a presentation, and undergo a grueling two-day interview process. If you are luckiest, you'll get the offer.

If you are really blessed, it will be a tenure-track, rather than a visiting position. If it's tenure-track, that means you've got six years to convince them to keep you, and award you tenure. (Publish, publish, publish. Get decent teaching evaluations. Serve on one million committees. Publish more.) If it's visiting, then you're there from anywhere from one to three years, and then you have to find another job.

That's it in a nutshell. Mostly, you MUST love your research, otherwise you'll be miserable. If you cannot imagine another job, then go for it. If you can imagine yourself doing something else, by all means do it. There are no guarantees in this profession. And the pay sucks, unless you are in business or engineering, or some of the hard sciences. :)

Answer 2

It's easy to get a job as a professor, but it isn't easy to be a good professor. If you are choosing your career on the basis of where you want to live, it doesn't sound as though you have much interest in teaching. Best advice? Try another field.....

Answer 3

It's definitely NOT easy to get a job as a professor! It varies depending on exactly what field you're in, but no, not easy, especially if you're limiting things by where you are willing to live.