Placement Information for Graduate Students

Placement Services in GVPT

The Department of Government and Politics is eager to assist students looking for employment.  Previous students have successfully obtained positions at top level academic institutions, in government, the private sector and the non-profit world.  The Director of Placement Services provides personal guidance to all students.

Academic Placement

Unlike most jobs in the public and private sectors, the academic placement process in political science is extremely long-drawn out and requires individuals to collect and organize many documents. This is a brief overview of the main steps:

1. Start this process a full year before the job itself would begin, i.e. if you want a job in September 2009 you will start looking in July 2008.
   
2. Join the American Political Science Association for their eJobs listings service—just about every political science job in the U.S. is posted here.
   
3. Register for an account with Interfolio and put together your placement file.
   
4. The Placement Director will post your c.v. to the department website for potential employers to review, along with a link to your own website if you have one.
   
5. Use Interfolio to send out your file to job openings—and be sure to take due dates seriously!
   
6. Get invited for interviews that typically last two days and include a presentation of your research and/ or a sample lecture to undergraduate students.
   
7. Get a job offer! 

Additional Resources

• Getting Started with Interfolio  
• The Four Ps of Placement
• The Academic Placement Process
• What Goes in the Placement File
• Tips for the Job Talk by Robert Axelrod
• Tips on Interviewing at Liberal Arts Institutions
• C.V. Template