Introduction

What is AcademicJobsOnline?

AcademicJobsOnline is a full service online recruitment and application management system for academic institutions worldwide in all disciplines and areas. We serve all applicants with advanced degrees, and employers (academic or industrial) searching for talents in their respective areas. AcademicProgramsOnline is part of AcademicJobsOnline site specially designed for fellowships, awards, student admissions and programs such as REUs. We offer unique solutions tailored specially for the academic communities' unique needs. Our system was developed by people working directly in higher education and it has been improved by HR professionals, faculty search committee members, job applicants and reference writers for many years. The system lets you post position advertisements, accept/review applications and/or nominations in multiple disciplines directly on our site. You can tailor your application forms with any required documents or additional questions, save search lists, enter ratings/comments, create shortlists, grant unlimited member accesses, actively search for new candidates by using our Wanted/Resume Database and the Minority Registry, generate customized EEO and disposition reports for every hiring stages, etc.. We offer many unique features such as cross-posting to multiple disciplines, anonymous initial reviewing, configurable review dates, interview scheduling, interview signaling, institutional pre-offer misconduct checks, flexible application forms with pre-application screening questions and integrated EEO form tailored for your institution and automated messaging, snapshots, easy full application download as PDF or Zip files, full data exports in standard reusable formats and simple job posting API for automating integration with local or third-party HR systems. We use the latest technology such as AI to help your review process. You can manage your entire hiring process in one place at the institutional level, with access to a global talent pool to find the best candidates for your openings. We offer departmental accounts and institutional memberships with competitive rates, and we strive to be your best one-stop recruiting site for years to come, whether you are a large university or a small research group. Our goal is to make your job easy and fun, and you can hire with the best.

AcademicJobsOnline is an automated job/program application system created and currently operated by the Department of Mathematics of Duke University. AcademicJobsOnline expands the service of the highly successful MathJobs.Org of the American Mathematical Society, making it available to all other employers (academic, industrial or research) searching for job candidates with advanced degrees in other disciplines. (New disciplines will be added as needed whenever new employers sign up for the service. Mathematics related departments must register and post jobs at the MathJobs.Org.) The following online comment by Prof. Frank Thorne says it best:

I am a research mathematician, and we use a centralized repository for job applications, called MathJobs. Virtually all research-oriented departments, and many teaching-oriented departments, are on board. It costs around $400, paid for by the hiring department. Candidates prepare all the files in their dossier once, and usually customize only the cover letters. Recommender letter writers upload a file once, so that if you apply for 100 jobs your letter writers only have to upload their letter ONCE. (Tailored recommendation letters are not expected.) Occasionally individual applications ask for custom materials, but usually not.

The upshot is that the logistics are relatively easy for applicants, and trivially easy for letter writers. This strikes me as obviously optimal. And any hiring department that doesn't get on board earns the scorn of every recommendation writer who has to finagle with whatever other system is in place. In practice, this means that departments are able to persuade their deans to approve this. I find it surprising that this system is not much more widely imitated in other disciplines.

And here is a quote from the CIO of the Institute for Advanced Study on the integration of our services to their local application system:

At IAS, we leverage MathJobs's capability for exporting to regularly download application data, including all attachments and letters of recommendation, to our local application processing system. This hybrid approach, in use here since 2016, offers us the best of both worlds. On one hand, using MathJobs allows for having our application seen by the largest audience, providing applicants the easiest path to applying, and making it easy for recommendation writers. At the same time, by downloading MathJobs data locally, using standard integration tools, we are able to enjoy a highly customized application processing environment that is purpose-driven for the needs of our individual faculty.

Both systems have been created for the same purpose of streamlining the academic hiring process and saving time and resources for both employers and job applicants. Just like MathJobs.Org which has become the single essential posting location for mathematics-related jobs, we believe the AcademicJobsOnline will become equally indispensable to other employers wishing to reach all potential applicants in a secure, efficient and cost-effective manner.

AcademicJobsOnline enables employers to collectively attract the best job candidates in various disciplines to a single application site. Applicants can easily apply for listed jobs because they only have to learn one interface. The system goes far beyond the traditional online advertisement and resume collection; it enables the employers to manage their hiring processes totally online at one place in a paper-less and efficient fashion. The costs and support problems traditionally associated with each individual employer's hiring process are greatly reduced, and employers are also relieved of the software development and maintenance burdens. We provide this as a valuable service to the academic community, charging only a nominal fee to employers to cover our basic operational expenses.

The system is free for applicants. After registration login, applicants fill out an online coversheet with their basic contact information, education and research background, and can upload any number of files to their own private portfolio. Then they can use the items in the portfolio to apply for posted jobs, and keep track of their job application status in a single place. Applicant coversheet data is confidential, unless the applicant makes it public to the enrolled employers by selecting the "Free agent" choice on the coversheet. Applicants can invite their reference writers to submit their letters to the system at any time. Reference writers have total control of their uploaded letters, and have the freedom and feedbacks not possible with the traditional paper-based process.

Employers can review all application materials and conduct their recruiting entirely online from anywhere in the world, without setting up and maintaining their own servers and databases. The system has been designed with the needs and convenience of faculty search committees in mind, and it has many features to help them search, list and rate applicants, communicate with colleagues, produce EEO reports or export data to their own systems, and even manage mailing lists. The only requirement for employers is that they have web access.

To start using our services as a new employer, please use this link "New Employer" to register.

For more detailed information on how to use the system, please see our User Guide.

We primarily serve employers in North America; academic institutions in other regions of the world are also welcome to use our service with the understanding that our user support will be provided in the English language only.

Policy for Employment Advertisements

While we do not screen ads for compliance, we expect all institutions posting advertisements on our sites to comply with the equal opportunity laws that apply in the jurisdictions in which they are located. Federal law prohibits employers in the United States from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age or disability. Applicants should be aware that institutions outside of the United States may not be legally bound to conform to these or similar requirements, and are advised to inform themselves of conditions that may exist at the institutions to which they apply. We reserve the right to reject any advertisement.

[development base last updated 2025/06/30]