The Job Market's First Steps: Using Research Tools to Simplify the Process

Abstract

Excitement about the political science job market builds around the time of the Labor Day Annual Meeting of the APSA, when schools start to post their openings for the next year. As we entered the job market, we found ourselves repeatedly collecting information about available positions as we prepared application materials. We monitored APSA's eJobs website, cut and pasted relevant job information into a single spreadsheet, and assembled letters using that information. Here, we introduce free and open-source tools to automate these data collection and letter generation procedures using R and LaTeX. Our system minimizes manual data entry by extracting and creating a spreadsheet from APSA's eJobs information. We walk applicants through the initial job search steps, including using eJobs, compiling position information, and producing attractive letters.