So my tweet announcing new job has totally blown up (2.6K likes) which is super nice. I've gotten so many congratulations & well wishes. And I know I have worked v hard to get where I am. BUT. It's made me also think a lot about the academic job market. 1/

The market is not a meritocracy; it's a v small pool of jobs for an increasingly larger pool of candidates. So many deserving, smart, well-published, and well-prepared teacher-scholars are not getting jobs...and many of them never will. At least not in academia. 2/

I have always been aware of this. The wife & I have spent many a night discussing what our alt-ac jobs would be if necessary. Having a spouse w/ her own career (academic or not) is its own challenge; every decision I make is a decision for both of us & vice versa 3/

We lived apart for 1 year so we could both pursue job opportunities & it nearly bankrupted us, in addition to being just really awful emotionally, & yet so many couples do just that, sometimes years, so as not to sacrifice their careers. I honestly don't know how they do it 4/

Regardless of whether you are doing the market alone or as a couple, the fact remains that not everyone with a PhD in English will end up with a job. And it saddens me immensely because we need those voices and expertise among us. So even as I celebrate my success... 5/

...I am keenly aware that many of my fellow wonderful peers in the field and the ones just finishing their PhDs now & those enrolled in programs across the country might never have these same wonderful opportunities. What I can do, though, is help however I can. 6/

Getting to mentor grad students in whatever small way that I can at conferences or electronically or even just w/ my presence on Twitter is a small start. I hope I can do more as my career progresses. Here's to that! 7/7