An argument for waiting to go on the academic market

Years ago, when I was contemplating going on the academic market, I did what lots of people do: I called my friends, visited with mentors, and consulted the law prof blogs.  If you are new to this world, then you might as well start with Brad Wendel's piece, which includes a number of links to additional articles and blog posts that offer helpful advice for those interested in academic teaching.

Meanwhile, I want to put up some advice for folks who are thinking about filing a FAR form next week, but maybe ought to hold off.  This post is not intended for those of you who are in the second or third year of your designated VAP program or fellowship, who have planned carefully for this moment and have vetted your form with your mentors and friends, and who have a job talk ready to go.  No, this post is mainly for the practitioners out there, many of them less than five years out of law school, who think they might like to be an academic, but have not decided for sure what they should do.  Let me give several examples of what I would call premature market-participation:

1. You just want to see what it will be like.  So maybe you are in your third or fourth year of practice.  Or you are just entering the first year of a multiple year VAP or fellowship program.  You know you will go on the market in a few years, but you kind of want to test it out this year.  You're nervous and you want to see what the Marriott is really like.  After all, this will give you an idea of what to expect when you go on the market "for real" in a few years, right?  Wrong.  Yes, there are many people who successfully enter the academic market more than once, but most of the folks are doing that not out of choice.  If you enter the market prematurely, you may rack up interviews with a number of schools before you have given sufficient thought to your scholarly agenda and academic course package.  Some of those schools have memories, and if you have a lousy interview now, you'll have a more difficult time wowing them later.  Far better to go and put your best foot forward when you have matured as a scholar and as a candidate.

2. You have not written anything yet.  (Notice, I did not say "published" - if you have a paper that is in draft form and has been circulated and/or accepted for publication, you do not fall in this category).  Yes, you were at or toward the top of your law school class.  You were on law review too.  Your professors loved you -- and you clerked for a terrific appellate judge too.  Now, you work for a fabulous law firm/government job.  You don't have a complete manuscript, but you've got a killer outline and you're planning to turn it into an article really soon.  Surely, you will get a job, right?  Well, maybe (probably) not.  I have no doubt that there are a few successful candidates out there who took this route (more likely Supreme Court than appellate clerks), but I would gather that they are shrinking in number with each passing year.  You will be competing with both VAPs and PhD's on the academic market (not to mention a few practitioner types who manage to bust out an article in their free time) and all of those competitors will have writing that demonstrates their scholarly potential.  Even if you have an amazing idea that your mentors have praised, the costs of waiting a year and developing it into an article are relatively slim compared to the costs of going on the market prematurely.

3. You're not sure you want this job.  I'm not sure how much I can stress this last one: if you are at all unsure that you want a tenure-track position at a law school, then wait before you go on the academic market.   Academics want to surround themselves with like-minded people, who feel driven to sit in their offices on a beautiful sunny day and figure out how public choice theory might illuminate the problem of excessive prosecutorial discretion (okay, that last one is just me, but you get the general idea).  If you are at all hesitant about becoming an academic, it will show in your interview.  Your demeanor and the tenor of your questions will all suggest that you view pretenure requirements as onerous obligations rather than career milestones for which you would strive in any event.   If you are unsure whether this is the life for you, talk to some trustworthy friends or mentors, read some scholarship, and go to some of the larger conferences if you can.  But do not use the market as your testing ground. 

These are three reasons I can think of for waiting to go on the market.  I'm sure there are many more that I forgot -- feel free to post them in the comments.