Curriculum Vitae Review
Is your Resume/Curriculum Vitae providing the proper level of information in a manner that makes it easy for search committee members to review and interpret? Most competitive searches will have a pool of between 50 and 200 candidates. It’s too easy for your CV to become buried in the pile. Let us help you make it ‘pop’ to the top.
Position Acceptance
Most candidates are much too eager to accept the position when that highly anticipated phone call offer finally arrives. In actuality, there is a brief period of time when the dynamics of the search allow the successful candidate the opportunity to negotiate salary, total compensation package, budgetary allowances, and other terms and conditions routinely associated with the hire. Don’t miss this fleeting opportunity when it comes along; you will never again have the ability to engage in this level of contractual negotiation.
Position and Institution Research
There is a great deal of information regarding position openings and the institutions offering them. Some candidates are more adept than others about how to obtain such information and especially how to parse and evaluate it. We have a large network of professional connections at institutions of Higher Education across the US. Also, based on researching hundreds of job opportunities, we have learned how to evaluate the various aspects of a position that have a direct bearing on the search process, the components of the opportunity, and the comparative desirability of the position. Let us help you gain a greater comfort level regarding the information that you will need in order to present the most powerful candidate profile and understand the larger context of the position.
Learning from Prior Interviews
Searches are complicated and each search is unique. We can help you evaluate your performance in prior searches and derive the maximum benefit from these past experiences to go forward.
Cover Letter Preparation
A simple fact of academic searches is that candidate cover letters are routinely boring and often fail to achieve the primary goal: catching the attention of the members of the search committee. Learn the techniques and strategies that can transform your cover letter from forgettable to remarkable. How you present yourself on paper has a direct impact on whether you make that critical ‘first cut’ and continue to the interview stage. Don’t be left behind while others advance.
Phone-A-Friend
This unparalled feature provides the opportunity for you to seek continued mentorship during the actual interview process. Concerned about a situation you have been warned to anticipate for the second day of the interview? Did you say something early on that you feel was potentially misinterpreted or that you would like to ‘walk back’, but don’t know how to approach it? Need a quick pep talk? Our Phone-A-Friend service allows you to have telephone access to a mentor during the course of a multiday on-campus interview.
Considerations of ‘Goodness of Fit’
What is the best job position for YOU? The best position is often seen as the best ‘fit’ between the candidate and the hiring institution. Unlike the search firm that is employed by, and works solely for the hiring institution, as your private consultant, we can help you assess the relative ‘goodness of fit’ of various potential positions.
Value Added
Our clients find our suite of services to be of enormous value and reasonably priced. While we can never guarantee that at the conclusion of the search process a particular position will be yours, our clients have been highly successful and note that they now look at searches differently and are more confident, self-assured, and much better prepared for any future position openings that they may pursue. Furthermore, many of our clients have been overjoyed to find that the ‘value proposition’ provided to them by their association with Academic Search Interview Prep was borne out in final salary/total compensation offers that exceeded the initial institutional offers as well as their expectations. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to have our support; it could literally pay for itself, many times over.
Real-Time Mock Interviews
For most candidates, the interview phase of the search is the most stressful aspect of the process; however, it is also the most significant in terms of making a lasting positive impression separating your from the other interviewees. When candidates reach this level of a search, it is essential that they display more than what was presented on their written materials. Our signature client service is our extensive, real-time, one-to-one, mock interviews that place the candidate in the role of facing search committees, hiring officials and other constituent groups.
In these mock interviews, your answers to a full spectrum of authentic questions are immediately critiqued in a supportive and constructive manner. With our assistance, you will learn how to transform good answers into great answers and avoid costly mistakes that can eliminate you from further consideration.
We are Totally on Your Side, and Your Side ONLY!
Let’s call it as it truly is. The hiring institution utilizes its policies, procedures, employees, support groups/organizations and professional search firms (aka headhunters) to support them in finding the right candidate. That is as it should be. But, it also means that throughout the entire search process there is no person, entity, or organization that has as its sole motivation and responsibility assisting you, the candidate, to perform at your peak. Don’t go at it alone. We can help.
Searches are ‘Messy’
Ask anyone who has been through a search, on either side of the process. Searches are ‘messy‘. Searches are rarely, if ever, linear processes that commence at a clearly defined starting point and move directly toward the final destination - a successful conclusion to the search. Searches involve people and groups of people. And people are complex and complicated. You need someone on your side to help you navigate the complex terrain of the search. We can you help sort it all.