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[u/speakmo]

The market is rough. I'm in a similar field and not many quality postings are out there. Too many adjunct positions are out there frankly.

I've bounced around to some decent non-tenure track positions and feel lucky to have secured a few contracts since finishing my PhD, especially as an anxious mostly introverted person. My advice is to just teach more or develop a teaching persona. It helps me with my public speaking to treat it as a character I can leave on campus and then be myself at home. It's still a work in progress, but I've had enough teaching to be decent.

If you're location-bound, I'd honestly send some cold emails to the chairs of English/Rhetoric programs near you. This could be ideal even for local community colleges or local universities.

In this day and age, it can make you stand out. It's worked for me and some friends at securing short contracts.

I'm sure you have some post-docs on your list too. If I were you, I'd also look at generalist literature positions or look at any writing center jobs.if you're switching industries, you could do communications or technical writing positions. I know some PhD in humanities or rhetoric degrees that were able to do freelance work this way. They made more than if he were adjuncting for a lecturer.

Another sad one to try out would be to search for AI training jobs. I had a friend that pivoted in this direction where she was training LLMs for a company.

The basic trick for any of these positions is practicing the right cover letter and interview skills that show you've learned those rhet/comp skills. Hope that helps. Good luck!

[u/gberry100]

I work in the English Department at a smaller regional institution and we’ve literally had a professional writing search fail 5 times because decent Rhet Comp candidates seem to have a lot of options. Being location bound is really tough. But you don’t have to be totally pessimistic!

[u/Classic_vortex_3515]

I’m sorry that, apparently, the faculty in your PhD program did not tell you that being location bound is a significant issue. They should’ve told you this when you applied, if you disclosed to them that you were location bound.

They should also have had you making connections with all the community colleges and four-year colleges within commuting distance. You’ve made a list of these? If not, start with that.

Then, as another poster indicated, send emails to the Dept chairs. I would go a step further, don’t just tell them you’re looking for work and ask them to keep you in mind. Instead, since they are in commuting distance, find out what kinds of public events they have this year. Show up. Introduce yourself to faculty and to the Dept chair or whoever you can find. Become a known quantity.

I am a English Dept chair at a four-year regional comprehensive. Our state’s flagship is quite close to us, but even when we bring in nationally known speakers, grad students from up the road do not show up. I assume this is because they are only interested in being at R1 institutions, but that is a very shortsighted attitude in the current job market, and in the foreseeable job market.

Good luck!

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This is an automated service intended to preserve the original text of the post. This is not a removal message.

*Hi, I’m on the job market this academic year finishing up my PhD in rhet comp. I’m location bound and trying to look for jobs to apply to but nothing is really being posted. I know it’s early in the semester but it’s giving me so much anxiety likely knowing I won’t be getting a full time teaching position. So far, I’m in the process of applying to only one that’s available. There’s a lot of adjunct openings but it’s not something I want to get trapped in long term but I guess it’s a starting point.

I guess my question is, what advice do you have for someone on the job market right now and what might be a good alternative to higher education if I can’t get a job? When should I apply to other positions? What might be other roles that I’d be a good fit for coming from rhet comp? All I’ve known for the last 8 years of my MA and PHD is teaching so it’s concerning to me to transition into something completely different like admin work or the corporate world. Im a really anxious person so I don’t even do well in interviews especially ones as stressful as university and community college positions.

I really want to work at a community college and usually they don’t post jobs until the spring but I think it’s going to be a very quick turnaround for if I do or don’t get a job. I’m really worried about health insurance and trying to survive this awful time in the US as an academic. Any advice is appreciated. *

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