Surviving The College Art Association Conference and Applying for University / College Teaching Positions

Compiled and Contributed by: Professor Patricia Fennell, University of Wisconsin Department of Art, Drawing and Painting Areas

You do not have to attend the College Art Association (CAA) to apply for or get a job. It can increase your chances for one, though.

First, which jobs are you qualified for? When it's borderline, apply, if you have enough application sets put together. If you are clearly not qualified (schools have to adhere legally to their position descriptions), don't waste your time and application materials.

Get the application materials in by the Application Deadline(A/D) - if it arrives after the A/D, it will most likely get sent back to you unopened. Make sure your return address is on the envelope.

Setting up the application production line:

If you get organized now, you can save yourself a lot of time and misery later and you will be less likely to miss an Application Deadline. Do not send in: elaborate folders, big ring binders, CV's in plastic sheets, CV's with your photo on them. It's best to send exactly what the search committee asks for. Be neat, concise, direct, straightforward, and be sure there are no spelling mistakes anywhere in your application materials or in the spelling of the search committee chair's name. Don't be gimmicky with your application materials; your application format should not stand out but your work & qualifications should.

What You'll Need to Apply for Most Positions:

• Two 10"x13" envelopes for each position (Always send a SASE, even if the school does not ask for one, send it anyway.
• A cover letter
• Your CV and a page of 3 to 4 references (usually 3 letters of recommendation are requested.)
• Statement of your work & statement of your teaching philosophy - have these ready to go, but do not send them unless they are requested.
• Copies of your grad & undergrad transcripts (These are not official transcripts, which you must pay for and arrange to be sent directly from the registrar's office - some schools will request "transcripts"; others will specify, "official transcripts.")
• Clear plastic sheet(s) for slides - make sure they are clean, not cloudy, or frosted. Also make sure your slides stay in the sheet and do not easily fall out.
• Prepare labels for your slides or use a permanent marker & red marker or adhesive dot for the lower left hand comer. Adhesive pages with info printed, Dennison removable slide labels, size #43-533 (1/2" x 1 3/4")
• Copies of your letters of recommendation; or have them sent from our office (see Carla) or sent from the Ed. Placement & Career Services office (basement Ed Bldg on Bascom Hill)

SET UP A CHART TO KEEP TRACK OF WHAT YOU HAVE SENT OUT

Include: # place, date sent, cover letter, rec. letter1, rec. letter2, rec. letter3, transcripts, slides sent, slides received, Application Deadline, notes.

COVER LETTER

Try to keep it to 1 page - Proof read it, no misspellings. Be direct.
Your address, phone # (s), e mail address, if you have one.
Date
Addressee & "Dear Prof. so-and-so_____,"; Dear Search Committee, To whom it___, etc.

1st Paragraph - express interest and identify the position you are applying for; ID/ preview what you are sending & that you are attending to all the materials requested.

2nd Paragraph - (this is the paragraph which will be flexible subject to change in line with the different positions you may be applying for, the other parts of the cover letter will usually remain pretty much the same) why you are qualified for this position, sell yourself, don't ramble, be positive, direct & succinct. What is your background, materials you have worked with, special training & experience/ techniques abilities, i.e. can maintain & repair presses/ build kilns/ foundry experience, etc. What makes you the best person for this specific position? Address this part of the letter to the specific position description, i.e. foundations. General approach to teaching (especially if a teaching philosophy is not requested) Gear this part to what they are looking for Give them a sense of how you would fill the bill for what they describe the position to be.

3rd Paragraph - briefly, about your work (especially if they do not ask for an artist statement) -what you would want to say to them as they were viewing your slides, what you would say to help them better understand what you do as an artist.

Closing paragraph - "Thank you for your time and consideration/attention to my application." You want to show good manners here. You could mention here if you plan to attend the CAA and that you would be available for an interview there, happy to meet at their convenience, etc.

The cover letter is your chance to introduce yourself to the committee. It is more intimate than the CV. It should not duplicate information which can be found on the CV. Use the cover letter to give a sense of who you are, a personal voice. Use this space to cover more fully, flesh out, the skeleton of your qualifications (the CV). A committee can get a real feel for the personality through a cover letter.

CV/RESUME

Have your address/ phone # (s)/ e-mail on this.
DON'T PAD IT!
Do not need to list date of birth.
Be consistent in your format. Use a reader friendly style. List most recent first after a heading.
Education - year degree earned expected school/city/ state honors? awards scholarships fellowships.
Teaching experience - it is better to list course titles instead of #'s
Related experience - art supply store/ museum, gallery etc. gallery affiliation(s) - if any
Exhibitions - as you get more exhibitions, you could break them down into categories, i.e. international national regional solo/ group selected etc. You should include: year, title of exhibit (if any), place city/ state award/ (could use an "*" between the year and exhibition title to denote award, a flag .Could include at the end of the listing, "Juried by:" - if it is a prominent, generally recognizable name)
Reference page - names, titles (rank), address/phone #(s)/ e mail; usually 3 to 5 people.

SLIDES

Show a cohesive body of work, evidence of a strong individual vision, not a mish-mash/ hodge-podge. Show your most recent work. Older work will elicit question's. THESE ARE PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR APPLICATION! If you will be needing many sets of slides, check around for the best price breakdown on, i.e. 20 or more copies of one slide - I recommend:

Cameo Color Inc.
1700 W. Diversey Pkwy
Chicago, Illinois 60614
(312)525-5460

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

Ask for these early on, don't assume. Ask all your references if you can use their phone #'s (as many #'s as possible: home, studio, office. If a school wants to talk to someone about you, it's helpful if they can easily reach them.) Also ask your reference if they have an e-mail address you can include as well. For the address, ask if they want you to use the school &/or home address.

THE CAA CONFERENCE

To go or not to go- Should you go if you do not have interviews already lined up? At the CAA you will try to pick-up interviews via phone. You must pick-up the most recent position listings (You MUST have your CAA membership or subscriber card or you will not get into the placement center.)

If you can get a room in the placement hotel that is ideal, room with others to save $. Bring extra application packets with you in case you pick-up interviews. For interviews that you have pre-arranged, bring your application materials along even though you sent them in already.

Packets should have: SASE, slides, & CV, and you could compose a general cover letter to introduce yourself when you cannot predict what positions you will be interviewing for or will pick-up at the CAA. You should have your CAA hotel and room # and phone # on the outside of the envelope.

Try to attend the orientation meeting, usually held on Tuesday evening of the week of the conference. (Placement and talks/panels take place on Wed-Sat.) Also, if you can get there early before it all cranks up on Wednesday morning, you'll have a chance to familiarize yourself with the layout of the conference: where the placement center is, message center, the meeting rooms where some of the interviewing will be taking place, the house phones, etc.

You may want to bring a portfolio of "real" work with you, if possible. If your work is not conductive to this, you could have a portfolio of 8x10, 5x7 glossies of your work to carry with you (not leave) for easy viewing of your work. Bring along appropriate syllabi, maybe extra copies. Bring along other supplemental materials, catalogs, articles, etc., you feel would support your bid for a job.

Interviews are usually held in either the hotel rooms or in the more public hotel meeting/conference rooms.

If you have interviews already set up for the CAA, take the time to find out what you can about the school. Go to the Memorial Library for info; call the school and request their catalog and/or any information they could send to about their program.

What to wear-Dress to show respect for the interview process. Don't wear strong perfume or cologne (if any), don't dress in any way which could be a distraction from the interviewer concentration and listening to YOU and what you are saying.

Be prepared to answer questions about what they are looking for, what they have described in their position listing. Usually they will give you a chance to ask a question at the end of the interview if there is time. Have some questions ready. Also, you might take this time to tell them something important you feel would help your case, which they did not elicit from you through their questions.

Write a thank-you note to the interviewers as soon as you return home.

SYLLABUS FROM SCRATCH

For a 15 week course (1semester), class meets 2 times a week:
List out the 15 weeks and the meeting times (2 for each week.)
List what you want to cover in this semester.
Number of assignments and critique days/intervals (i.e. 1 crit every 3 weeks for 5 outside assignments.) Pencil into the semester structure.
Pencil in Demos/Lectures
Pencil in Slide Lectures
Other plans into the structure
Have a list of out-of-class assignments
Outline of final portfolio
Grading/attendance requirements
Support materials/Resources you would use for this course (slides, museum/gallery trips, sketchbook-journals, etc.) GOOD LUCK!

You can visit the CAA web site at: www.collegeart.org