2017 – Academic Job Boot Camp (IHR)

History UK, History Lab Plus and the Institute of Historical Research

Academic Job Boot Camp

Institute of Historical Research, Senate House, London

20 May 2016: 12.30-17.00

We are pleased to be running the Academic Job Boot Camp this year. It follows the success of last year’s event. All early career historians are encouraged to apply, with preference being given to those who have completed their PhDs.

  • Are you starting to think about applying for your first lectureship in history?
  • Submitting applications and never hearing back?

The Academic Job Boot Camp is a free half-day event for early career historians sponsored by History UK, History Lab Plus and the Institute of Historical Research. It will help you to structure your academic CV, hone your cover letter, rehearse your job presentation and undergo a mock interview, as well as demystifying some of the processes around academic recruitment. The experience, feedback and advice you receive at the event is designed to improve your chances the next time you apply for an academic job.

How will the boot camp work? Participants will take part in a simulation of all stages of the job application process up to and including being interviewed as a shortlisted candidate. Twenty-five applicants will be invited to be interviewed at a half-day boot camp on 20 May 2017 at the Institute of Historical Research in London. There they will be interviewed by pairs of experienced academics drawn from a dozen universities nationwide. They will also deliver job presentations to other early career historians. All participants will receive feedback on their interview and presentation and will have the opportunity to observe how others fare. The event will end with a roundtable on how to make your job application succeed, after which there will be drinks and a dinner(*) at a nearby pub and restaurant.

Itinerary (all locations at Institute of Historical Research):

12:45-13:30 Lunch and Welcome (Wolfson I)

13:30-16:00 Mock Interviews (incl. feedback, conducted by pairs of academics)

13:30-16:00 Job presentations (Lead by an experience academic and in front of other early career historians who provide written feedback)

16:00-17:00 Dr. Sara Wolfson to lead a session on ‘Top Ten Tips for Securing an Academic Job’ (Wolfson I)

17.00-19.30 Networking event in a nearby pub and dinner(*)

This event is free and sponsored by History UK, History Lab Plus and the Institute of Historical Research.

* Please note that dinner will need to be covered by participants.

To participate, you will need to apply for an imaginary lectureship in a real history programme. Please read the job advert for the Imaginary Lectureship in History here and the further particulars for the job http://bit.ly/2o696yy, then submit a letter of application and CV to l.m.matthew-jones@ljmu.ac.uk.

The deadline is noon on Monday 1 May and applicants will be contacted by the end of that week to let them know if they have been successful.