A faculty job at a research-intensive university is a rewarding as well as a challenging career. Most of these faculty jobs would require the faculty member to demonstrate distinction in at least two of three mission areas: teaching, research, or extension. While tenure expectations differ from university to university, in general, expectations in terms of referred journal publications, acquisition of external funding, extension and outreach, and teaching and mentoring of graduate and undergraduate students is high. The speaker, Dr. Ajay Sharma, currently a faculty member at University of Florida, served at two land grant public universities, including a minor and a major university and at main as well as satellite campuses. A productive researcher and an award-winning teacher, Dr. Sharma efficiently progressed towards meeting tenure expectations of his major university. He will share his experiences on how he assessed his skillsets, build his resume, networked, interviewed, and secured a faculty position after immigrating to the United States as an international graduate student. He will discuss what aspiring graduate students and postdocs can do to best position themselves for a career in academia. The discussion will also be helpful to new faculty members navigating their tenure track journey and could help graduate students or postdocs evaluate if a job in academia is a right fit to their expectations and aptitudes.
