Job app advice: Applying to undergrad institution

[coendou]

It's job app season! Woohoo! So much fun! Yay

Comments

[tx_cronopio]

I think it's weird not to mention it in your cover letter, since there is a 0% chance they are not going to notice it on your CV.

It seems like the fact that I know this dept better than someone who just browsed the web page is a good thing, right? With all respect to your husband, yes, I think so.

[dreadpirateange]

Agreed. Mention your connection in the way that best showcases your interests and your ability to contribute to the department. Leaving it off is going to come across as very weird.

[coendou]

That's kind of what I thought, that it would be weird to avoid it.

[max_ambiguity]

I agree. They will notice it, and while you don't want to go crazy talking about it, it sounds like you might be well served to note how you see they have changed their focus since you were an undergrad in [year], and here's how you think you would be well suited to serve them now. yadda yadda

[beccastareyes]

I'm pretty early in my career and in the physical sciences*, but I know the department I got my PhD from had several professors who had been undergraduates or grad students there. I think the unspoken rule was that you had to have done something else (a postdoc, for instance) between your attendance and your hire. (I presume to show that you have done new things that are different from what the professors there do and met new potential-collaborators and so on, which would imply that 'undergrad here' wouldn't be that much of a strike, since undergrads aren't expected to do much independent scholarly work.)

(Also, I know at least a few of my professors from my undergrad institution still remember me, but we didn't have all that many majors in my field. So even if I didn't mention that I'd attended there in my cover letter, they probably wouldn't need to check my CV except to confirm that there wasn't another person with my name in the field.)

* I know there are plenty of culture gaps in between fields, so this is my disclaimer.

[coendou]

I am not aware of anyone who has been hired by this dept who was trained there, either undergrad or graduate. I haven't been able to find all the professors' CVs, but AFAIK they do not hire their own grad students. They only rarely admit their own undergrads to their graduate program. So I'm also thinking that the fact that when I left, I got a very different perspective, might help? But it also might make them think I don't fit the dept at all. Who knows, job apps feel like such a roll of the dice anyhow.

The really annoying thing is that the one professor who might remember me, who was my advisor and whose lab I worked in, moved to another school shortly after I graduated. :^/ The other person whose lab I worked in I barely met, even though I took a class from him, so I doubt he remembers me.

[antepacem]

I'm currently TT at the institution where I got my undergrad. It might be a little different than your situation, since it's a small liberal arts university and the chair of the department was still the same (i.e. duh, we know you went here), but it was definitely a positive thing. As for students, they think it's super cool that I went here, went off to do a PhD in an R1, and came back to these idyllic shores. My cred is higher, not lower. It obviously depends on the institution, but in my case, it worked out AND I had a much less steep learning curve in terms of departmental and university/administration politics.

[coendou]

It's an R1, but a rather unique school and culture. I hadn't even thought of that, but understanding the student culture might actually be something worth mentioning in my teaching statement, if I'm not shying away from the subject.

[biascut]

This is general advice as a careers adviser, rather than specific advice from someone who knows the US academic jobs market, but my instinct is to mention it if it's part of a strong argument for "why you should hire me". That is, there are no points for "and I went to your institution as an undergrad!" but there are also no points for missing out "here is an argument for hiring me which builds on the knowledge I have of the institution, which I attended as an undergraduate."

This is going to sound terribly naive to some, but basically, I think applications are strongest when you're telling the truth. If you try to second-guess what the committee is looking for and miss out parts of your experience that you think are relevant and are part of the argument you have in your head for why you would fit in at this institution, it's incredibly difficult to craft a strong, coherent case for your application. If they are prejudiced against hiring former undergraduates, well, that's too bad and it sucks, but I don't think you can get

[statistical]

this!

[knut_hamson]

If you follow your husband's reasoning, you shouldn't bother applying. But if you do apply, then yes, mention it. If it's there and you don't, that's a red flag. Why would you not show your familiarity with the department and it's mission?

Also, hoping they ignore it on your CV is a bad idea. I don't know why you would want to work for a department that can't be bothered to read your application.