Reddit reviews Tomorrow's Professor: Preparing for Academic Careers in Science and Engineering

Speaking as a faculty member in an R1 institution, I've had a fair amount of experience on both sides of the desk.

First off, congratulations on landing the interview—that's the toughest part of getting an academic job. Now all you have to do is convince your prospective department that they want to hire you more than the four or five other people they will be interviewing.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that the people who will be interviewing you are your potential future colleagues; focus on what they are looking for in hiring someone who might be working with them for the next thirty or more years. At an R1 university, they are going to want to hire someone who will be (1) an excellent researcher, (2) at least a passable teacher, and (3) a good colleague. If you can satisfy them on all three counts, you will have an excellent chance of landing the job. Fail on one, especially the first, and you'll have basically no chance.

Maybe the best thing I can recommend is that you get a copy of Tomorrow's Professor. It is full of excellent information on the faculty hiring process, and will give you a lot of insight into what things will make you an attractive candidate.

With regard to your specific questions: When speaking with the chair, you should be prepared to talk about your research and teaching interests. Feel free to ask pretty much anything you like that will show you are serious about the opportunity. General questions about the department and university are fine, as well as specific questions about what their expectations are for your visit. Stay away from more sensitive topics like salary, tenure, start-up packages, opportunities for your spouse, etc. There will be plenty of time for those questions later, once they are serious about you as the candidate they want to hire.

About attire: A suit is fine, although it may even be overdoing it a little bit for academia. More important is your demeanor; if you come across as a stuffed shirt, a suit will accentuate that; on the other hand, if you are confident yet relaxed, a suit will be fine. A perfectly acceptable alternative would be a blazer or sport coat, tie, and dress slacks. Whatever you wear, make sure that you and your clothes are well kempt. This is no time for frayed cuffs or badly worn shoes...not that these would necessarily disqualify you, but they go against the image you are trying to portray of a person who has his or her act together.

About knowledge of the faculty: You should absolutely peruse the department website and get at least a passing knowledge of all of the faculty and their general research interests. Pay particular attention to people with interests related to yours, or with whom you could see yourself collaborating, and dig a little deeper on those. (If there are people in related areas in other departments, it would pay to know that, too.) A bonus would be if you can identify particular things (areas of expertise) that you would bring to the department that they are currently lacking. Besides research, you should also think a bit about courses you'd like to teach, and how they would fit into the department's current offerings.

For an R1, the most important thing will be to convince them that you have exciting yet realistic plans for establishing an outstanding research program. Probably the single most common mistake here is to think too small; many candidates have plans for the experiments they want to do over the next couple of years, but many have not thought about the bigger picture of the kind of research program they want to establish that will carry them over the six or seven years to tenure. One of my favorite questions is to ask candidates what they see themselves doing 10-15 hence; you'd be amazed at how many people have not really thought about this at all. A specific answer is, of course, almost impossible, but having a general, big-picture idea is important.

Be sure that you can place your research in the proper context. It may be the neatest thing in the world to you, but you have to be able to give people a reason to care about it (this applies to funding agencies after you are hired, as well). Make sure that whatever you propose is reasonable. It helps to have given thought to how you will fund your program (e.g. be sure you know what an RO1 grant is).

About your talks: I am not sure what the distinction is between a "job talk" and a "chalk talk", but here's some general advice. First, when discussing your own research, be sure to present it at a level that most of the faculty will be able to follow (advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate); most of them will not be experts in your particular area, and they will appreciate not being left behind (it also gives them the idea that you can be a good teacher). On the other hand, you also need to convince them that you really are an expert, and that you have a firm grasp of the details. So at one or two key places you will want to dive down deep for a few minutes, before returning to the surface. Make sure your presentation is polished...it doesn't have to be slick, exactly, but you also don't want to be stumbling through your slides. Even if you don't usually practice your talks, practice this one!

Hope that helps. Feel free to post a follow-up if you have other specific questions. Good luck!

The HHMI Book is good as are the following:

https://www.amazon.com/At-Helm-Leading-Laboratory-Second/dp/0879698667

https://www.amazon.com/Tomorrows-Professor-Preparing-Careers-Engineering/dp/0780311361