But the academic market is fuzzier, and generally takes much longer to succeed in than the law or business markets. Budding Ph.D.'s often go out two times or more to land the jobs they want. Having been through this myself not long ago, I offer some hard-won advice. First, I'll lay out five reasons to go on the job market this year. Then, I'll lay out five reasons to wait one more.
Some people enjoy their graduate-student lives a lot and are in no hurry to leave.
Many others can't wait to go. Spouse or partner factors prompt some candidates to move along, but cause an equal number to want to stay. Other factors include economic obligations, an intellectual sense of readiness or incompletion, parallel nondissertation projects, and more. People usually think about the academic market for the first time while working on their dissertations. Of course, if you haven't started writing, you certainly shouldn't go.