Expanding academic job search to EU
November 19, 2018 7:47 PM Subscribe
I'm applying for jobs teaching CS, want to broaden my search to include EU countries, not sure if I'm going about it right.
So. I have a PhD in a non-cs field from $elite_american_university and am finishing an MS in computer science from $elite_american_university_known_for_cs. My main plan upon graduation from the MS program was to look for lecturer positions in CS at colleges in the United States -- turns out that that sort of thing is in high demand, and lecturer gigs in CS pay better than tenure-track jobs in the humanities. However, enough of my acquaintances have recently moved to Europe that I want to broaden my search to include European universities.
Here's the deal: I'm not sure if I'm looking in the right places, and I'm not sure if I'm going about the search right in general. My chief constraint (and it's a big one) is that I don't know any language other than English well enough to teach in it; fortunately, it seems that outside France and Germany, universities don't expect their CS lecturers to teach in anything but English.
I've been checking a couple of job clearinghouse sites that regularly post EU jobs: academicpositions.eu and the Times Higher Education jobs list. However, the former doesn't seem to be getting quite as much traffic as I'd expect, and the latter gives me many, many more results for English-speaking countries than for the places I want to be. And both lists give more tenure-track research professor jobs than jobs at the level I'm looking for. Don't get me wrong, I'm interested in tenure-track jobs, but am maybe not competitive for them — my research publications are all in non-CS fields, and on the whole I'm more interested in teaching than in CS research.
Beyond the job list sites, I've been gradually sending cold emails to schools that offer bachelors in English… despite how this goes against my every instinct from my previous career in the humanities. My advisor at $elite_school_known_for_cs insists that it's a good strategy, since universities are so hard-up for cs instructors right now.
Here's my questions. Apologies for how scattershot they are; I figure it's better, at this stage, to be open about my relative disorganization rather than fronting like I know what I'm doing:
So. I have a PhD in a non-cs field from $elite_american_university and am finishing an MS in computer science from $elite_american_university_known_for_cs. My main plan upon graduation from the MS program was to look for lecturer positions in CS at colleges in the United States -- turns out that that sort of thing is in high demand, and lecturer gigs in CS pay better than tenure-track jobs in the humanities. However, enough of my acquaintances have recently moved to Europe that I want to broaden my search to include European universities.
Here's the deal: I'm not sure if I'm looking in the right places, and I'm not sure if I'm going about the search right in general. My chief constraint (and it's a big one) is that I don't know any language other than English well enough to teach in it; fortunately, it seems that outside France and Germany, universities don't expect their CS lecturers to teach in anything but English.
I've been checking a couple of job clearinghouse sites that regularly post EU jobs: academicpositions.eu and the Times Higher Education jobs list. However, the former doesn't seem to be getting quite as much traffic as I'd expect, and the latter gives me many, many more results for English-speaking countries than for the places I want to be. And both lists give more tenure-track research professor jobs than jobs at the level I'm looking for. Don't get me wrong, I'm interested in tenure-track jobs, but am maybe not competitive for them — my research publications are all in non-CS fields, and on the whole I'm more interested in teaching than in CS research.
Beyond the job list sites, I've been gradually sending cold emails to schools that offer bachelors in English… despite how this goes against my every instinct from my previous career in the humanities. My advisor at $elite_school_known_for_cs insists that it's a good strategy, since universities are so hard-up for cs instructors right now.
Here's my questions. Apologies for how scattershot they are; I figure it's better, at this stage, to be open about my relative disorganization rather than fronting like I know what I'm doing:
- Are there other university job listing sites I should be checking?
- I've been leaning very heavily on [a somewhat less blunt version of] "I have two advanced degrees from elite schools" in my cold emails. But, well, this is the first time in my life I've ever marketed myself in this context, and any tips on how to make myself seem attractive to employers (even quite basic stuff) are useful.
- I'm conceptualizing this stage of my career as "get to live somewhere interesting for a little while and maybe move back to the states in a few years." Moreover, I've become somewhat disillusioned with academia, especially elite academia. As a result, for the first time in my life I'm considering things like teaching at a code bootcamp, provided it's located somewhere interesting. So talk me out of applying for a job teaching at a code bootcamp in Berlin. Alternately, tell me why I should be thinking about applying for jobs at code bootcamps in Berlin.
- What are the questions I should be asking but haven't thought to ask? I have quite a bit of experience (and have had quite a bit of success) finding graduate school positions, fellowships, and postdocs, but I'm starting to realize that I've got nil experience at looking for conventional jobs — and less than nil experience at looking for academic jobs in Europe.
Response by poster: w/r/t language, I’m finding job postings — though mostly at the tenure-track level — where the teaching work is in English but I’m required to pick up the national language within n years.
From the cursory searching I’ve already done, it seems that sort of arrangement is more common in CS than in other disciplines.
France and Germany are definitely the places that most insist on instructors who actually know the language, and where schools tend to not put up english-language job postings at all. which, well, isn’t terribly surprising.
re: visa research, just getting started on it: I’m sort of hoping that the impressive collection of letters after my name will make that process easier.
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 8:59 PM on November 19, 2018
From the cursory searching I’ve already done, it seems that sort of arrangement is more common in CS than in other disciplines.
France and Germany are definitely the places that most insist on instructors who actually know the language, and where schools tend to not put up english-language job postings at all. which, well, isn’t terribly surprising.
re: visa research, just getting started on it: I’m sort of hoping that the impressive collection of letters after my name will make that process easier.
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 8:59 PM on November 19, 2018
re: visa research, just getting started on it: I’m sort of hoping that the impressive collection of letters after my name will make that process easier.
For Visas to EU memberstates letters after your name make no difference, only your nationality does.
Some memberstates do have programs for academics, but in general it is safer to assume that obtaining a visa can indeed be a big hurdle.
I work at an academic institution in an EU memberstate, and observe those difficulties daily.
I think you need to research visa along with job openings.
posted by 15L06 at 11:13 PM on November 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
For Visas to EU memberstates letters after your name make no difference, only your nationality does.
Some memberstates do have programs for academics, but in general it is safer to assume that obtaining a visa can indeed be a big hurdle.
I work at an academic institution in an EU memberstate, and observe those difficulties daily.
I think you need to research visa along with job openings.
posted by 15L06 at 11:13 PM on November 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
We import 3rd level teaching and research academics into Ireland all the time. I'd contact the heads of the relevant departments at UCC, UCC, TCD and I guess Galway, Maynooth, and Waterford for guidance. Queens in Belfast but I wound't move to NI right now, personally, due to Brexit uncertainty.
posted by DarlingBri at 3:45 AM on November 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by DarlingBri at 3:45 AM on November 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Best answer: You might consider visiting professor/instructor positions. I know CS departments in the US hire people with Masters in CS into visiting positions -- not sure about Europe. Especially if you're interested in being in Europe for a few years and moving back, that might be ideal. You could put your openness to that in the cold emails as well. A department that is looking for a sabbatical replacement or who has approval for a short-term position might jump at that.
Also, as someone who has run several searches for CS instructors at a teaching-focused institution, I always look for evidence of teaching skill and evidence of caring about teaching. Pedigree isn't very important. What you've learned at fancy school is probably the same stuff someone else learned at plain school. Attending fancy school means you're probably pretty smart, but being really smart is just a nice thing to have -- it isn't required for being a good teacher. Knowing something about teaching and caring about doing it well are required for being a good teacher. (This is all just my opinion, of course.)
So even in the cold email, perhaps try to include a bit about your teaching philosophy (unless it's just vague bullshit anyone might say) and/or provide evidence of teaching quality (feedback you've received, perhaps) and/or say a little about something you think makes you a good teacher (unless it's just vague bullshit anyone might say) and/or say a little about something you do as a teacher you think is effective. Write something that might make the email-reader think, "Hey, this person might do a really good job teaching here!"
FWIW, I agree that cold emails to departments that teach CS in English is a somewhat awkward but not terrible idea at the moment, given the current difficulty in finding CS instructors (caveat: I don't know if that job market is the same in Europe as it is in the US). It certainly can't hurt, and it seems there's a good chance it could lead to an opportunity you wouldn't find otherwise.
posted by whatnotever at 9:12 PM on November 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Also, as someone who has run several searches for CS instructors at a teaching-focused institution, I always look for evidence of teaching skill and evidence of caring about teaching. Pedigree isn't very important. What you've learned at fancy school is probably the same stuff someone else learned at plain school. Attending fancy school means you're probably pretty smart, but being really smart is just a nice thing to have -- it isn't required for being a good teacher. Knowing something about teaching and caring about doing it well are required for being a good teacher. (This is all just my opinion, of course.)
So even in the cold email, perhaps try to include a bit about your teaching philosophy (unless it's just vague bullshit anyone might say) and/or provide evidence of teaching quality (feedback you've received, perhaps) and/or say a little about something you think makes you a good teacher (unless it's just vague bullshit anyone might say) and/or say a little about something you do as a teacher you think is effective. Write something that might make the email-reader think, "Hey, this person might do a really good job teaching here!"
FWIW, I agree that cold emails to departments that teach CS in English is a somewhat awkward but not terrible idea at the moment, given the current difficulty in finding CS instructors (caveat: I don't know if that job market is the same in Europe as it is in the US). It certainly can't hurt, and it seems there's a good chance it could lead to an opportunity you wouldn't find otherwise.
posted by whatnotever at 9:12 PM on November 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
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Have you researched what type of visas you could get and are you letting them know if you have any kind of eligibility?
posted by fshgrl at 8:42 PM on November 19, 2018 [1 favorite]