A Rookie’s Guide to the Academic Job Market in Finance: The Labor Market for Lemons

Abstract

We first wrote and circulated our “Rookie’s Guide” paper about the academic labor market for newly minted finance PhDs twenty years ago. It passed hand-to-hand and via photocopies of photocopies sent using snail mail (or, back then, we just called it ‘mail’). Since then, much has changed in our labor market, and much has not. Logistics are easier now due to technological change. But the basic informational frictions that made it difficult for rookies to learn the ropes 20 years ago are still evident, as are the fundamental market frictions that make the bilateral matching between labor demand (hiring schools) and labor supply (the rookies) awkward and challenging. This manuscript refreshes the advice we have given in the past, adds some more specific suggestions for preparing for the intense interview process at the academic meetings, and offers a brief epilogue discussing what a rookie should do at the successful conclusion of the job market. We incorporate by reference some of the basic advice from previous guides (Butler and Crack, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2012). We begin by offering some truths for the reader to internalize. Then we use an FAQ format to impart additional information. We end with our epilogue and a list of references.