Hello everyone! 🙂
This summer, I am taking two courses from my advisor, Dr. Michael Palenchar, and I have really enjoyed them. One class is Crisis Communications, and the other is a doctoral seminar on job searching. Even though I’m only starting my second 
year in the Ph.D. program at the University of Tennessee, I think that it is never too early to start thinking about getting into the job market.
It has been very interesting and insightful to find out what goes on in the background on the hiring process for an assistant professor or recent Ph.D. student. In my last class, we were talking about the interview process and what questions to ask and what usually happens on the interview trip. I was thinking– this all sounds so familiar– and why is that? Well– because the interview process for applying for a professor position is basically the exact same thing as the recruiting process in track and field! 🙂
When I was in the recruiting process in high school, I wrote several diary journals about the whole process on Dyestat. From the phone calls to the recruiting trips to suggestions on what you need to do and ask– it is all there!
Here are four suggestions that can be used in both athletics and academic in terms of the recruiting process:
1) Do your research: Whether you are applying for a PR position or looking at a university and their track program, you want to make sure that you know the key players in both fields, what they do in terms of research (academics), and what their program history is in the conference as well as the NCAAs (track).
2) You are always “on”: Even if you are at social occasions (dinners, gatherings with the team, etc)– the interview process doesn’t stop. You have to make sure that you are aware that you are being watched and judged by coaches, athletes, other professors, and your future potential bosses. You want to make the best impression possible, and as Dr. Palenchar tells us in class— be consistent with everyone you talk to.
3) Ask the question– what is it like being at this university: It is important to find out what it will be like to be at this university– whether you are teaching or competing at it. Plus, it is key to find out their expectations for you– do they expect you to teach three classes per semester plus doing research, and do they expect you to win every meet in the shot put and throw 55 feet? These are all things that you want to find out before you decide on coming to the university.
4) Make sure that everything is down on paper: I remember when I was in track and field– I was getting offered full scholarships by many coaches– but I didn’t believe it until I saw the letter from the university that said that I had one. This is for you for documentation, and it is definitely a must have.
There are many differences between going from track to being a Ph.D. student— but as you can see– the recruiting process is all the same! 🙂
Hope you all are having a great day! 🙂
Best Wishes,
Karen 🙂
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