Resources for Navigating the Job Market
**Last updated in 2016. All edits and additions are welcome.
Author: Hannah Adamy (University of California, Davis)
Introduction
*The following resource list appears, in its original form, in SEM Student News, Volume 12: Finding Paths on the Job Market. We welcome comments on, and suggested additions to, this version of the resource list. As such, please do not hesitate to contact us by sending an email to risingvoicesjournal@gmail.com with the subject line “Job Market Resource List”).
I compiled this list of employment resources to target a variety of anxieties about looking for work outside of academia. Though some of these sources are from the 1990s, I believe much of their information remains relevant. That said, I mostly suggest sources published within the last fifteen years. Let this list give you a starting point for thinking about employment at any point in your graduate work.
I divided the list into four parts based on the themes I noticed in the ever-profitable field of doling out job advice. The first section includes resources for developing and marketing such intangible assets as critical thinking, superb communication skills, time management, and attention to detail. The second section offers services and survival skills for tackling the job market inside or outside academia: turning a CV into a resume, dealing with rejection, and locating where employers post jobs. In addition to the sites listed, I also recommend reaching out to museums, endowments, and foundations. The third section focuses more specifically on jobs in ethnomusicology outside academia. I hope these texts aid your reflection process after you think: “Maybe I do not really want an academic position.” Finally, the fourth section provides a look at the fluctuating field of ethnomusicology. When the job search gets you down, remember that we have committed ourselves to a field of study that is inherently interdisciplinary. Use that to your advantage!
Creating and Communicating Transferable Skills
Assiter, Allison, ed. 1995. Transferable Skills in Higher Education. London: Taylor and Francis Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Series.
Basalla, Susan, and Maggie Debelius. 2014. "So What Are You Going to Do with That?” In Finding Careers Outside Academia. 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Columbia University Center for Career Education. 2016. “Non-Academic Career Options for PhDs in the Humanities and Social Sciences.” Last modified 17 May 2016. http://www.careereducation.columbia.edu/resources/tipsheets/ non-academic-career-options-phds-and-mas.
Fallows, Stephen, and Christine Steven, eds. 2000. Integrating Key Skills in Higher Education: Employability, Transferable Skills, and Learning for Life. London: Kogan Page Limited.
Keenan, Elizabeth. 10 August 2015. “Ph.Ds. Do Have Transferable Skills, Parts 1-3.” Vitae. Part 1: https://chroniclevitae.com/news/1068-ph-d-s-do-have-transferable-skills-part-1.
McLaren, Rachel. 2016. “Core Curriculum: How to Thrive in the Academy.” National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity. Last modified 16 May 2016. http://www.facultydiversity.org/? page=CoreCurriculum#Curriculum.
Newhouse, Margaret. 1993. Outside the Ivory Tower: A Guide for Academics Considering Alternative Careers. Cambridge, MA: Office of Career Services, Harvard University.
Pellegrino, James W., and Margaret L. Hilton, eds. 2012. Education for Life and Work: Developing Transferable Knowledge and Skills in the 21st Century. Washington D.C.: The National Academies Press.
Secrist, Jan, and Jacqueline Fitzpatrick. 2000. What Else You Can Do With a Ph.D.: A Career Guide for Scholars. London: SAGE Publications.
Yale Office of Career Strategy. 2016. CV to Resume Conversion Guide. http://ocs.yale.edu/sites/default/files/CV %20to%20ResumeWorkshopfinal.pdf.
Job Market and Job Search
Beeyond. 2016. http://www.beeyond.io/. (Chat service. Sign in through Facebook).
Chronicle of Higher Education. “Vitae.” Last modified 17 May 2016. https://chroniclevitae.com/job_search/new? cid=UCHENAV2.
Inside Higher Ed. “Jobs.” Last modified 18 May 2016. https://careers.insidehighered.com/? utm_source=ihe&utm_medium=editorial-site&utm_content=header-link&utm_campaign=jobs.
Interfolio. Last modified 17 May 2016. https://www.interfolio.com/.
Kreuter, Nate. 29 October 2014. “Don’t React Personally: Dealing with Rejection.” Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2014/10/29/essay-dealing-rejection-academic-career.
Life After the Ph.D.: Career Advice and Hope for Graduate Students. “Career Resources.” Last modified 11 May 2016. https://lifeafterthephd.com/career-resources/.
“Musicology/Ethnomusicology 2015-2016.” Academic Jobs Wiki. Last modified 16 May 2016. http://academicjobs.wikia.com/wiki/Musicology/Ethnomusicology_2015-16.
The Versatile PhD. Last modified 17 May 2016. https://versatilephd.com/.
Yousef, Sahar M. 17 March 2016. “How to Network in 7 Steps: Networking, Beyond Academia” (Blog). http://www.saharyousef.com/blog/2016/3/16/how.
Thinking Beyond Academia
Alviso, Ric. 2010. “Community Service-Learning in World Music Courses.” SEM Newsletter 44 (2): 1, 6.
———. 2003. “Applied Ethnomusicology and the Impulse to Make a Difference.” Folklore Forum 34 (1/2): 89–96.
Averill, Gage. 2010. “Weapons of Mass Instruction: Engaged Ethnomusicology, Service Learning, and Global Citizenship.” SEM Newsletter 44 (2): 1, 8, 12.
———. 2003. “Ethnomusicologists as Public Intellectuals: Engaged Ethnomusicology in the University.” Folklore Forum 34 (1/2): 49–59.
Brown University Library Center for Digital Scholarship. 2003. The First Conference on Applied Ethnomusicology, Invested in Community: Ethnomusicology and Musical Advocacy. Last modified 28 April 2016. http://library.brown.edu/cds/ invested_in_community/index.html.
Dirksen, Rebecca. 2012. “Reconsidering Theory and Practice in Ethnomusicology: Applying, Advocating, and Engaging Beyond Academia.” Ethnomusicology Review 17. http://ethnomusicologyreview.ucla.edu/journal/ volume/17/piece/602.
Titon, Jeff Todd. 14 March 2014. “Applied vs. Academic Ethnomusicology: A Persistent Error.” Sustainable Music: A Research Blog on the Subject of Sustainability and Music. http://sustainablemusic.blogspot.com/2014/03/applied-vsacademic-ethnomusicology.html.
Wiens, Kathleen. 3 March 2014. “Professional Growth in a Challenging Job Market: An Interview with Katherine Palmer, Applied Ethnomusicologist and Performer.” Ethnomusicology Review. http:// ethnomusicologyreview.ucla.edu/content/professional-growth-challenging-job-market-interview-katherinepalmer-applied.
Ethnomusicology Profession in Transition
Araújo, Samuel. 2008. “From Neutrality to Praxis: The Shifting Politics of Ethnomusicology in the Contemporary World.” Muzikoloski zbornik 44 (1): 13–30.
Diamond, Beverley. 2014. “President’s Column: Job Talk.” SEM Newsletter 48 (1): 1, 4–5.
Ramnarine, Tina K. 2008. “Beyond the Academy.” In The New (Ethno)musicologies, edited by Henry Stobart, 83–94. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow.
Titon, Jeff Todd, ed. 1992. “Special Issue: Music and the Public Sector.” Ethnomusicology 36 (3).
———. 2015. “Going to Graduate School in Ethnomusicology?” Sustainable Music: A Research Blog on the Subject of Sustainability and Music. http://sustainablemusic.blogspot.com/2015/05/going-to-graduate-school-in.html.