Jobs etc.

The academic job market for this year is still a bit off on the horizon. Still some degree of preparation is beginning to slowly commence. Technically speaking this isn’t my first rodeo. Last year I applied to 25-30 positions before landing a very reasonable post doc. Thus, I have pulled together all my application materials before; the research & teaching statements, the letters of rec, etc. I even had a small pile of rejection letters that eventually arrived. Word on the street is that last years market was the worst in decades. Predictions about this year’s range from

a) Back to "normal" (ok)

b) Same as last year (bad)

c) Even worse than last year (very bad)

I have read countless arguments for each option. No one really knows, and either way it's always complicated; different fields of study, different types of institutions. At the risk of sounding selfish, all I really care about is the N on the schools that would even consider hiring me. Eventually that will be revealed. Whether it is 20 or 200, the work to be done remains the same. Thus I am punting on this issue for now, interesting as it may be.