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I must have seen more than 40 tenure-track "job talks" by now. Here are some general reflections on what works and what doesn't work. (1/7)
The best job talks start by giving an overview of your emerging research programme, then "zoom in" to an example of your best recent work, then "zoom out" at the end to lay out future directions. Start and end by generating excitement around your long-term trajectory. (2/7)
The work in the middle should be an example of your BEST work, not some half-baked, unfinished new thing. Save the unfinished new thing for informal chat. (3/7)
The point is to establish that your wider research programme is not bluster - you're already doing excellent work, so the exciting future directions are also credible. (4/7)
For the same reason, it's better if the work in the middle is developing a positive idea, not just saying "Big shot X says this, but they're wrong because…". Present YOUR ideas. Be the Big Shot X of the future. (5/7)
People in the hiring dept will be thinking: Why is this work important for the discipline? What is its significance beyond the discipline? What is excellent about it? What is original about it? A great job talk will answer these questions so that no one needs to ask them. (6/7)
It is hard to get all this right, of course, but that's mainly because it's hard to develop an exciting and credible research programme. The tragic thing is when candidates *have* done this but don't *explain* it. You've done the hard bit, now do the easy bit! (7/7)
