Next phase? New wave? Dance craze? Anyways...

[BillyJoel]

I've heard from vets of the soc market that in years prior a new wave of job ads hit the market around this time. This is my first year on the market. Does anyone else have a sense of whether there will be a new wave of jobs this spring? Or can we expect a slow trickle until the end of the market year? Any thoughts or insight would be much appreciated

[anon52]

There's a bit of a "dead cat bounce," but that's about it.

[hrm]

I can't speak to the pattern prior and YMMV for a variety of reasons (areas of interest, types of jobs you are interested in, etc), but I was on the market last year and I didn't notice any such thing then. I can't recall ad posting times but in terms of due dates (at least for my areas of interest): there were a handful in September, it peaked in October, there was about half the peak amount for November, there was basically nothing for December, then January had about as many as November, and it trickled off to basically nothing by March.

This year compared to last there were again a somewhat smaller handful in September, a peak again in October, almost as many as in October for November, almost as many as in November for December, a second peak in January, and they appear to be slowly trickling off again. I don't see any signs of another bounce. Although I do see the potential for more announcements with due dates in April and after - but still at a trickle.

On the other hand, I have seen something of a bounce in terms of interview activity, and last year I had 2 interviews in April, so don't give up yet.

PS - If you're interested in non-academic jobs I understand many of them are posted in the spring, maybe that's what they were referring to?

[BillyJoel]

Thanks, Hrm and Anon52. I think the wave referred to by the vets I've spoken with was a Jan or Feb academic wave. Perhaps you are right and the eight job ads that have come out over the last few weeks are as close to a wave as we'll see. Hrm-I have sent out a few apps this year, and so who knows...come April, I may just have a job waiting for me

[anonymass]

I've seen a bit of an interview bounce personally..after absolutely no bites last semester (other than one long list), I had an on campus interview last week and was called this week for another one that is taking place in a few more weeks. The first place had a really early deadline (late september) and the second had a january deadline. I've also been contacted by another job and a postdoc in the last week, both asking if I'm still interested in the position.

so people saying the job market is over for this year are wrong. But as for new jobs being posted..that i have no idea.

[anon52]

Feb 12, 2010 10:25:37 GMT -5 @BillyJoel said:

Thanks, Hrm and Anon52. I think the wave referred to by the vets I've spoken with was a Jan or Feb academic wave. Perhaps you are right and the eight job ads that have come out over the last few weeks are as close to a wave as we'll see. Hrm-I have sent out a few apps this year, and so who knows...come April, I may just have a job waiting for me

I think there's also an "oh, nuts!" bounce in April/May. Those tend to be VAP positions for schools that need to fill out their fall schedule. I've seen a lot of news on budget cuts threatening overall course offerings which would reduce the panic hiring sessions in the Spring. So it may not happen this year.

[anon52]

I did *not* use the word "nuts," by the way.

[new wave dance machine]

I've seen a small flurry of CJ positions with March deadlines...

[slacvap]

Here's some actual data based on my personal collections of ASA job postings saved as monthly .pdf files*:

Hiring Season        2007/08     2008/09     2009/10

June                    35          35          29
July                   110          78          30
August                  96          90          50
September               35          41          70
October                 94          94         101
November                53          29          58
December                25          41          36
January                 29          29          34
February                **          32          
March                   **          25          
April                   **          16          
May                      7           4

July-Dec Total ***     413         373         345


Year        2007        2008        2009        2010

January     **          29          29          34
February    **          **          32          
March       **          **          25          
April       **          **          16          
May         **           7           4           
June        35          35          29          
July       110          78          30          
August      96          90          50          
September   35          41          70          
October     94          94         101         
November    53          29          58          
December    25          41          36          

* Counts based on number of pages in .pdf file of all listings posted for given month. Some listings extend to a second page, but not very many. Note that these include all listings posted in the ASA job bank; the majority are for academic positions.

** missing data -- I must have either secured a job for these months or have been too depressed to save the listings.

*** June listings seem to be evenly divided between "desperation hires" for the upcoming fall term and early listings for the following academic year.