Job talks?

[Adelaide9216]

Hello,

I see on the newsletter of my departement a lot of "job talks". From my understanding, it's potential new professors that could be hired in the faculty, so they give a "talk" so we can get a taste of their research? Is it revelant for me to assist those? It seems like there are many of them in my departement. Should I attend those that are relevant to my research topic?

Thank you,

[fuzzylogician]

Assist how, exactly? 

Job talks are given by finalist candidates for faculty positions, usually TT but occasionally also for temp positions. It's only one part of the interview process, but for you as a student it'll be one of the only ways to see the candidates before there's a hiring decision (there might also be a lunch with students you could attend). If you want to see what job talks look like, or if the topic interests you, go ahead and attend them. Beyond that, they're just like any other talk in your department, as far as you're concerned, so you can make a decision about attending just like you would in any other case. 

[TakeruK]

Maybe by "assist" you meant attend? I think there's a French verb that is like assister that means attend isn't there?

It's a good way to get insight on how to give these job talks one day. And as @fuzzylogician said, it might be the only way you get to interact with prospective faculty hires. And in addition to all this, the presenters have a lot on the line when it comes to job talks, so you can at least expect a very good talk. So it could be a good way to learn about stuff outside of your expertise, because job talk givers are especially careful to ensure non-experts can understand their work and want to hire them

[Adelaide9216]

Oh sorry. Assist which would mean "assister" in French. It means "attending". That's what I actually meant. Sorry for the confusion.