The Compleat Academic: A Career Guide (Second Edition)

The Compleat Academic, edited by Darley, Zanna, and Roedigger, offers fascinating insights into the formal and informal rules for succeeding as an academic. Written as a compilation of advice by successful psychology faculty, it covers the academic career progression from graduate school, to postdoctoral fellowships, to early and tenured faculty positions. The authors provide a realistic job preview of academic life and offer helpful suggestions for navigating potential pitfalls. Moreover, the book also offers specific advice for special interest groups including women and minorities. As a first year graduate student, I found this book to be an exceptional introduction to the culture of academia as well as setting my expectations for graduate school and a career as a professor. This book clearly articulated steps for academic success that helped focus my efforts. For example, The Compleat Academic brought to my attention the point that a well-developed curriculum vita is more important than a stellar grade point average for career success. This observation has led me to place more emphasis on research pursuits than I would have otherwise. I feel the audience of this book, however, reaches beyond the new graduate student to both individuals more advanced in their academic careers and individuals evaluating the appropriateness of academics as a career choice. Individuals further into their careers will benefit from sage advice for acquiring jobs and balancing the many priorities of academia. Undergraduates evaluating a career in academics will be treated to a representative depiction of life as a professor. Written in a colloquial manner, Academic is neatly organized into six areas including: starting a career, teaching and mentoring, research and writing, diversity in academia, and managing your career over time. The first section, starting a career, covers the unspoken rules of graduate school, weighing the option of a postdoctoral position, the academic hiring process, and a look at jobs outside of academia. The common thread tying these areas together is motivation. The authors point out that motivation is the highest correlate of success. Furthermore, they offer specific ideas of how to take advantage of opportunities that will allow the reader to jump-start his/her academic career. A simple example is frequently updating one's curriculum vitae. When done regularly, it is not time consuming, and encourages consistent improvement and assessment of goals. The second section, teaching and mentoring, discusses tips for effective teaching as well as some thoughts on mentoring students. This …