Organization: University of Illinois at Chicago
Date: Tuesday, 21 Jul 1992 00:51:15 CDT
From: <U53644@uicvm.uic.edu>
Newsgroups: sci.research.careers
Subject: Another totally gratuitous plug and an answer

Someone sent me a note asking me where I got the 343 figure (admittedly low).
I saw it in Focus, the newsletter of the Mathematical Association of America,
an organization that seems more focused on the teaching of Mathematics than
Math research (the main area of interest of the American Mathematical
Association). They are also the group for you if you have any interest in the
recreational aspects of the field (hey, I never said I didn't enjoy the field,
just that it was hard to make a living at it). BTW, I'm well aware that there
are other publications to look into for job ads, (SIAM News, Amstat News, and
the journals), but I repeat - no way are there 500 different ads (and if
the places aren't advertising positions, certain civil rights agencies will be
highly interested - informal hiring of unannounced positions happens, of course
, bit it is highly, highly illegal. As in, a school can lose its' eligibility
for federal funding for doing so - it creates the supposition of discriminatory
hiring practices. Nasty business, I can't believe that any school would want to
risk having to go through that sort of process - clearing your name is hard to
do. You know - the old "guilty even when proven innocent" business.

Now, I got these questions before I posted the comment about going on to other
things, and indeed, I'm not interstd in pursuing the "job situation in academia
" argument any further, but if any one is looking for jobs in Math, in addition
to the Chronicle of Education, SIAM news (from the Society of Industrial and
Applied Mathematics, their e-mail address, if I recall correctly is
siam@siam.org, and I think that they are based in Philadelphia. If I see
otherwise when I get home and check my journals, I'll print a correction.
Meetings listed in the news, and via meetings@siam.org. I don't think I need to
mention what a great organization it is for Math and CS types to join), the
Amstat News (American Statistical Association. What is nice about this one is
that the specialised placement firms for Statistical Professions advertise
here.). Of course, it goes without saying that one should go to the reference
section of one's library for a listing of 4-year colleges and universities
(generally prepared for those choosing colleges to attend - but usable for
finding ones to applt to). Oh, I think that I mistakenly posted Focus as a
source of listings (no, just ads for Books). Basically, the "core publications"
(those you are offered as part of your basic membership package) of the main
organizations in Mathematics :

               The American Mathematical Society
               The Mathematical Association of America
               The American Statistical Association
               The Institute of Mathematical Statistics
               The Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics

As I've already mentioned, the AMS puts out a publication called "Employment
in the Mathematical Sciences" (for god's sake, don't subscribe, it costs a lot
, but look it up - most large university math libraries get a copy). As I
recall, it comes out once every few months, with the December issue consisting
of ads placed by people seeking work (and they get to post their resumes for
free !).

Aside from that, remember to get to the organizational meetings if you at all
can (most hiring occurs there - yes, it would be woth carpooling crosscountry
for). If you have a quality talk prepared, giving it wouldn't be a bad idea -
it gives you a chance to show a lot of potential employers how good you are at
delivering a lecture, but remember that the schedules for these things are
often (if not usually) set a year in advance (so people can decide whether they
want to go sooner, I guess - easier on schedules, more time for travel vouchers
to clear).

Please Don't : Post your resume to any of the sci.math groups (can you imagine
what that group would look like if everyone did that ?), e-mail it around (same
problem - picture the poor department head's reader. 343 ltrs... yeesh !).

Please do : Ask your thesis advisor for help. False pride is silly here - he
            surely asked for help from his advisor.

Just be sure that you go in with the realistic idea that the odds aren't
favoring you. Maybe you'll be one of the lucky few - but a "determined" "I've
got to do it" attitude will wipe you out if you're not, you'll just be crushed.

There are also ads in the other professional publications, but they are fewer
in number, and more directed toward experienced faculty (full professorships,
department head positions, positions as dean, things the new PhD isn't ready
for, comments about the former Dean Hutchins of U. Chicago notwithstanding
(yeah, I know he was 27. It still doesn't seem like a good idea, even if it did
work out). If you think about it, you'll see why - if you want to reach those
people, the best place to advertise is in the more specialized journals. If
one already has tenure, one can be pretty mellow about seeking other employment
(usually) and Employment in the Mathematical Sciences just isn't very
interesting reading (especially since there are more AP than FP positngs, and
why would a senior researcher want to sift through those ?). At any rate, few
if any of those notices are applicable to us.

                                                     Joseph B. Dunphy

Newsgroups: sci.research.careers