Public Service: It’s AALS Time (Yes, Already)
posted by Deven Desai
So it’s July. Summertime. I hear the livin’ is easy, fish are jumpin’, and the cotton is high. The different pace of summer allows me to reflect and write. Not exactly easy livin’ but I like it quite a bit. Still, this time of year slips away all too easily. August looms with syllabi to plan and lectures to prepare. For those interested in applying to become a professor the game, I am afraid to say, is on.
That odd rite the AALS Faculty Recruitment Conference (sorry the page is not built for some reason) is really around the corner. Now some may know that the conference itself is in October. But the key for you all is that the Faculty Appointments Register has deadlines next month. August 8 to be precise. These dates matter. Being in that first group is fairly important.
Today is July 7. That means about one month until the FAR information is due. TAKE A LOOK NOW. For trying to squash all you have done into a few small fields AND having a polished resume requires much more time than one might think.
One more tip: create a check list of each bit of information you want to have on the FAR form and no matter what make sure that whatever publications you have are on that FAR. The education, employment, and interests are more familiar so you may not miss those fields (although they should be on your list). The other fields, especially publications, do not always show up on a resume so pay attention for items that schools want but that you may not have encountered before. Again starting now will allow you to have that moment of “Oh God, I have not thought about that area.” From there you can often find you have experience or ask folks about what is appropriate rather than filling in the form with place holders that say little.
As always good luck to all.
July 7, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Posted in: Law School (Hiring & Laterals)
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Responses (9)
Ubertrout - July 7, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Is a certain distribution preferable? Should candidates try to get their resume into the first distribution if they can?
Ben Barros - July 7, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Yes, it is very important to get into the first distribution.
Deven - July 7, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Hmm, so I seem to have underplayed the significance of the first distribution when I said “Being in that first group is fairly important.”
As noted by Ben, it is important. I do not think it is fatal to miss it, but for some schools it may be close to fatal. The wave of resumes in the first distribution and limited time may mean that committees will mainly look at only those in the first one. In addition, there may be a sense that those who know the game are in in that first wave. And that is part of why I wanted to alert people to the deadlines.
anon - July 7, 2008 at 8:14 pm
With respect to the first distribution, does it matter when one submits the FAR form. Is the sooner the better, or does it make no difference, provided one makes the deadline? Thanks.
Deven - July 7, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Good question. As far as I know (no pun intended), one must have the information in by the dealine on the site. Given that the distribution is available to committees at specific times controlled by AALS, I don’t think an early submission gains anything. That being said, AALS is an independent group that does as it pleases. I suggest going to their site and seeing what formalities they have in play this year. If the site is not so helpful, try contacting them. Not necessarily easy to do but again early planning can help account for lag times.
Anon - July 8, 2008 at 3:23 pm
I will be submitting my article to law reviews late July/early Aug. Unfortunately the FAR form states that only those publications an candidate indicates as accepted for publication are viewable to recruiters. Would it be OK if I check the “accepted for publication” box and then indicate in a parenthetical the date my article was submitted to law reviews? I would think it’s important to indicate to law schools that I have completed a manuscript.
Deven - July 8, 2008 at 5:12 pm
More hmm. As I do not have access to the latest FAR process I am not sure what to tell you. It seems odd that the form would not allow one to indicate that you have a submitted draft. In addition, I have no idea what to make of “only those publications an candidate indicates as accepted for publication are viewable to recruiters.” What is viewable? And how can they even enforce this idea?
I would follow the rules of AALS and the FAR process. Contact AALS to get a solid answer about this oddity. If they really do not allow you to list that work under publications, there might be a comments section where you can alert folks to the works in progress you have and that you have submitted it.
In general, your idea that being able to communicate you have publications and especially in that part of the form is on target. Whether FAR allows one to do that with a work in progress is harder to sort it seems.
Sorry I don’t have more but honestly going to the source is your best bet for this sort of question.
I Regret Nothing - July 8, 2008 at 11:51 pm
I foolishly put on the form that I’d only take a job in DC, Boston, or NYC. Apparently that’s a real faux pas. Even if you only want a job in a big city, you’re supposed to string along schools in other places, and then parley their offers into an offer from one of the places you really want. No cheers for law prof hiring norms that discourage honesty and devotion to a place.
anon - July 10, 2008 at 9:30 pm
“Now some may know that the conference itself is in October.”
Actually, it appears to be November 6-8, according to the brochure: http://www.aals.org/documents/frcbrochure.pdf
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