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Job Placement

The Graduate Program in English and Comparative Literature at UNC-Chapel Hill offers a rigorous placement program, providing coaching to graduate students entering the job market, academic or otherwise. On yearly appointment, the department designates a faculty member to work closely with job seekers. Review and polishing of job materials, workshops regarding current job market trends, and panels with alumni are among the resources offered to those on the job market. Placement assistance takes place over a cycle of three semesters and begins in January of the spring term every year.

When students decide in consultation with their advisors that they are ready to apply for jobs, they attend placement programming organized by the Placement Director. In spring, students attend workshops on how to develop job materials including CV, cover letter, teaching statement, and research statement. The Placement Director describes how to compose those documents, provides examples, and answers questions. Over the course of the semester, students draft their materials, and the Placement Director provides personalized feedback so that by the end of the semester students have revised templates of all the required materials. This way students have the materials ready before going on the market in fall. In the fall students start applying for jobs and attend workshops on how to do zoom interviews and campus visits. They also have the chance to practice mock interviews, job talks, and teaching demos. Students who simply wish to learn more about the process even if they are not planning to apply for jobs that year are welcome to attend. The Placement Director is available throughout the year for consultation on job materials at any stage of the application process and also to help with negotiations on job offers.

Placement Calendar

Spring

  • Workshop on how to write your CV and cover letter
  • Workshop on how to write your research statement
  • Workshop on how to write your teaching statement
  • Workshops on alt-ac career paths (academic presses, centers for teaching and learning, etc.)

Summer

  • Request faculty recommendation letters; sign up for MLA job list; sign up for interfolio

Fall

  • Workshop on how to read a job ad
  • Workshop on how to do zoom interviews
  • Workshop on how to apply for jobs at liberal arts colleges
  • Workshop on how to do campus visits
  • Mock job interviews

January-April — mock job talks; job offers and negotiations

Throughout the year, students can also expect a series of workshops, held in collaboration with the Director of Graduate Studies. These cover topics such as how to craft a winning cv, alt-ac career options, academic publishing strategies, writing excellent conference papers, and creating effective abstracts.

UNC-Chapel Hill, Placement Record:

This rigorous training pays off. Our department places at a rate well above the national average, and our graduate students have been hired into excellent tenure-track positions, postdoctoral fellowships, lectureships and visiting assistantships, and careers outside of academia.

Click here to view our full placement record for Ph.D. alumni since 2006.