About this session

Friday, 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM

Decoding the Job Market: Insights from Applicants, Mentors, and Search Committees

This session is part of the programming of the Asian Caucus and represents the perspective of the presenters and has not been reviewed or endorsed by the Society for Research in Child Development and/or the Society’s Governing Council.

Hosted by the SRCD Asian Caucus

Many early-career scholars may find it daunting to understand the career paths of academic and non-academic jobs, navigate the job seeking process, identify strategies to enhance their candidacy, discern what hiring committees prioritize, and grasp the differences between the U.S. and Asian markets. This panel discussion session provides an in-depth exploration of the job-seeking process from the perspectives of applicants, mentors, and search committee, with a focus on fields such as psychology, education, human development, and related disciplines. Featured panelists include early-career scholars who have successfully secured faculty or postdoctoral positions in the U.S. or Asia. They will offer insights into the strategies they employed, the challenges they encountered, and the decision-making processes that guided their job market experiences. Complementing these perspectives, the panel also includes faculty members with extensive experience serving on search committees, hiring postdoctoral scholars, or supporting their trainees in securing academic and non-academic positions. They will share what they value in applicants, how hiring decisions are made, and the specific qualities that distinguish outstanding candidates. Attendees are encouraged to bring questions for the Q&A session and engage in an open dialogue with the panelists.