2012/2013 Placement Timeline

Summer:

Keep your advisor informed on your progress.
Form a group of friends and colleagues who are willing to attend your practice talks and read drafts of your job market paper.
Sign up to present your paper in a Fall workshop; you may also want to present over the summer in 708-lite or 709-lite.
If you don't have one already, write a draft of your job market paper! The earlier you have this finished, the more time you'll have to circulate it, get feedback, and make improvements before November.
Be aware of job-market opportunities that have early deadlines (see the list of "Notable Opportunities with Early Deadlines" here). If you want to apply for one of these positions, then you may need to get an early start on lining up your references and/or finish your job market paper ahead of the typical schedule.

Register for the AEA Annual Meeting, arrange your transportation, and book a room. The deadline for this isn't until December, but booking early ensures that you get a room in or near the main conference hotels.
Begin reading Job Openings for Economists and compiling a list of jobs that you're interested in. You may find it helpful to sign up to receive an e-mail notification when new issues are published.

Prepare a CV, carefully following these instructions. E-mail your CV to your advisor for his or her feedback (before September 14, 2012)
Before submitting your CV, you will need to have three or four people (including your advisor) agree to write recommendations on your behalf. Let each of them know in person or by email that the deadline for getting their letter to Kelly Fox is November 9, 2012 (see below).
Incorporate your advisor's comments and send your edited CV to Maureen and Pablo (Deadline: September 21, 2012).
After we get back to you with our comments, send us your final CV incorporating these changes (Deadline: October 1, 2012).
Have your advisor send an e-mail to Maureen, Pablo, and Kelly authorizing you to go on the market (Deadline: September 21, 2012).
Get your web-site up and running (Deadline: September 21, 2012).
Having a CV, the advisor authorization and a website running as specified above are NECESSARY conditions to be included in the official placement list.

Sign up for on-site interviews (we will send an email asking about this).
Generate a list of all the places you wish to apply and discuss with your advisors. Make sure they know your job preferences, and solicit their advice on your suitability for these jobs. All of your letter writers should know where you plan to apply.
Let your advisor/s know if there are a few institutions you are particularly interested in, as they may be willing to contact colleagues at these institutions in support of your application.

Have your job market paper completed by early November.
Give Kelly pre-addressed labels or a file with email/web addresses and instructions for the places you would like your letters of reference to be sent (Deadline: November 9, 2012).
Contact your references to be sure that your letter will be ready before November 9th and give them a copy of the places you are applying to. It is the responsibility of the Faculty member to write and sign the letter and to pass it on to the Main Office.
A few days after the November 9, 2012 deadline, double check that Kelly has received all of your letters of reference.
Generate cover letters, research and teaching statements; have your CV and job market paper photocopied (if necessary).
Send out/Submit/Email your packets.

Throughout December, potential employers may contact you to schedule interviews at AEA. If you must travel, do not go anywhere where you won't be able to respond promptly to email and phone calls.
Practice your mock interview speech and job market seminar until you have them both down cold.
Sign up for a mock interview to help improve your interviewing skills (we will send more information about this in early December).
Keep us posted on how your job market is going (please!).

Interview at the AEA Annual Meeting in in San Diego, CA (January 4-6, 2013). (Note that some employers begin interviewing the day before the conference officially begins).
Following AEA, potential employers will begin to contact candidates to schedule on-site interviews throughout January and February.

If you don't have a job yet, keep sending out applications and don't be discouraged! Also, participate in the Job Market Scramble, which AEA recently established to help facilitate communication between employers and job market candidates at this point in the job market.