Ever since my undergraduate days, I’d heard the stories of how much harder it is to get a tenure-track job. From hiring freezes to budget cuts to people holding off on retirement to some universities relying more and more on part-time adjunct professors.

Post-doctoral student Jeremy Yoder decided to track the data of two years worth of applying to tenure track jobs. He completed 112 applications, had 17 interviews, 11 campus visits, and 3 offers. This meant applying all over the United States and Canada, and extensive research, all while completing his post-doctoral duties and keeping up his competitiveness in his field through researching and publishing academic articles. I am a huge fan of tracking personal data like this, whether it means keeping your top university choices in a spreadsheet, or calculating the ratio of rejections to acceptances for one’s writing. Yoder’s article is a great public service for anyone considering a career as a professor, providing much-needed perspective on this tough job market.

Read the rest of the story at Chronicle Vitae.