Stanford
Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education

SGSI 2026: Jumpstart Your Academic Job Search

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  • Course will take place on Tuesday - Friday, September 8-11 from 9AM-5PM, and Saturday, September 12 from 9AM-3PM
  • Full attendance is expected.
  • We will have an optional reception one night, which will go until 6PM.

Brief Course Overview

Are you about to enter the job market for a faculty position? Get a jumpstart on preparing yourself and your application materials. This course is practical and experiential, involving practicing and editing. We will work on both written and oral parts of your job search preparation, including CVs, cover letters, the job talk and, research, diversity, and teaching statements. Experts from across Stanford will present. An interdisciplinary class of peers will support you.

Course Format

The course is a mix of content modules, open work time, two panels, and a reception. We use a flipped classroom style and ask participants to watch some videos and complete some pre-work before the sessions. We divide participants into small groups, by discipline, for community building and small group work. NOTE THAT BECAUSE OF LABOR DAY, WE WILL MEET ON SATURDAY.

Intensity Level 🔥🔥🔥

Numerous advanced topics are covered at a rapid pace, with immersive in-class activities that require significant out-of-class preparation and active in-class engagement. 

Audience 

Open to advanced doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars entering the faculty job market during 2026-27. Postdoctoral scholars will be invited to apply during the final/postdoc application period starting July 6th.

*MSx Class of 2027 and first year MBA students are ineligible to participate due to mandatory program requirements.

Detailed Course Description

This course is a systematic preview of all aspects of the faculty job search so that you will be well prepared to embark immediately. Participation is limited to those doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars planning to enter the job market (even in a limited way) during the 2026-27 academic year. Please indicate your plans in your application. 

The schedule includes these topics: 

  • An overview of the job search process
  • The landscape of higher education in the US, including different types of colleges and universities, and how faculty work varies among them
  • Identifying job listings and assessing values and fit
  • Written parts of an application, including CVs, cover letters, teaching statements, and research statements
  • Verbal parts of an application including job talks, teaching demonstrations, interviewing, and negotiating the terms of a job offer.  There will be opportunities to practice
  • Tools for managing stress
  • Managing the logistics of the application process
  • Panel of faculty who have served on hiring committees
  • Panel of recent job seekers
  • Dedicated time for working on materials with coaching available 

Objectives

By participating in this course, you will:

  • Understand the academic hiring and job search process
  • Start drafting your job application materials
  • Read job announcements and assess their fit with your values, skills, and career goals
  • Identify the steps you need to take after the class to enter the current academic job search cycle
  • Know Stanford’s resources to help you during your job search

Instructors

  • Chris Golde, PhD, assistant director of Career Communities–PhDs & Postdocs, Stanford Career Education
  • Arne Bakker, PhD, senior director of events and engagement, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

Testimonials

Past participants who took this course said the following about their experience: 

"A must take course if you are applying for an academic job. Will help you get insights about the job search process, writing the materials and will help in brainstorming ideas for those materials. With the help of peers, you will get different perspectives and feedback too." -SGSI 2023 Participant 

"Best workshop of this kind I've ever attended, enormously helpful, changed the way I look at and prepare applications completely (in 5 days!)" -SGSI 2025 Participant 

"It's everything you wish your advisors told you in grad school/postdoc about applying to academic jobs." -SGSI 2023 Participant 

"You get all the tools you need + personal advice + community." -SGSI 2022 Participant 

"It's great! It shed light on all of the hidden curriculum around applying for academic jobs. The instructors are warm, direct, and super knowledgeable about the whole process. It is designed to help you feel more confident as you prepare and workshop your materials, prep for interviews, and think about negotiation. They teach the hard and soft skills -- everything from content and structure of written materials to the body language and intonation needed to exude confidence as you speak to hiring committees. -SGSI 2022 Participant"

"This program is simply excellent. During my time at Stanford, I always encountered good courses that never fully took the condition of an international student into consideration. Jumpstart was the exact opposite: every session was helpful in terms of content, inclusive to various backgrounds, and had a lot of "practice as you learn" instances which made the knowledge we were learning look even more useful. I strongly recommend this to anyone.' - SGSI 202 Participant