Acing the Job Talk: How to Prepare for STEM Academic Interviews

The academic interview is where offers are won or lost. From the first screening call to the campus visit, the job talk, and the chalk talk, each stage asks something different of you, and knowing what to expect makes all the difference.

In this session, you will hear directly from faculty who have recently navigated the academic job market. They will share practical, candid guidance on presenting your research effectively, communicating with different audiences, handling tough questions, and preparing for each stage of the faculty hiring process.

This seminar is designed for doctoral students, PhDs, and postdocs across all disciplines who are wondering:

• What actually happens at each stage of the academic interview?
• How do I give a job talk (and chalk talk) that lands with a search committee?
• How do I prepare for the interviews, meals, and one-on-one meetings during a campus visit?

The session will feature short conversations with each speaker followed by an open Q&A, so bring your questions!

About the speakers:

Colin Burke is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of North Texas, where he studies supermassive black hole formation, intermediate-mass black holes, and active galactic nuclei. He completed his PhD at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2023 and was recently an NSF Astronomy & Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Astronomy at Yale University. His research has been published in leading journals including Science and Nature Astronomy.

Abhishek Moitra is an Assistant Professor at Washington State University, where his research spans large language model optimization, neuromorphic computing, and hardware-algorithm co-design. He completed his PhD at Yale University in 2025, and his work has been recognized with honors including the IEEE Transactions on CAD Donald O. Pederson Best Paper Award and a Bell Labs Outstanding Innovation Award.