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Home > Professional Resources > Job Information List > Submit or Edit a Job Listing > How to Submit a Listing

How to Submit a Listing

On the JIL home page, click on Submit or Edit a Job Listing, and on the following screen select the edition you are submitting to (or, to edit a previously submitted listing, choose Edit Your Department's Listings). You will see six screens during the submission process:

Chair log-in: Log in with your department ID and two-letter password.
Setup page: Select how you wish to receive applications and what materials will be requested.
Submission form: Provide a description of the position and application procedure and select appropriate search categories.
Review job listing: Edit your listing if necessary.
Billing information: Review cost and contact information. Your job listing is entered into the JIL database when you click Finalize at the bottom of this screen.
Confirmation: Please print and save this page for your records; it provides a confirmation number verifying that your listing has been received by the MLA.

Note: Confirmation of your listing (including job description) will automatically be sent to the e-mail address you provided during the submission process.

When posting your department’s ad, you will be asked to choose whether you want to adopt Interfolio ByCommittee for the search. You are not required to use ByCommittee for searches you announce through the JIL, although we urge all departments that can use ByCommittee to do so. Click here for more information about the Interfolio ByCommittee online dossier and search-management services.

When placing your ad, you will also be asked whether you wish to receive a complete dossier with the candidate’s initial application or a letter and CV only, with the dossier to be requested later. If departments use Interfolio ByCommittee to manage searches advertised in the JIL, candidates will be able to transmit all application materials free of charge, including a complete dossier, letters or recommendation, and writing samples. For transmission of application materials from Interfolio Dossier accounts to a departmental e-mail address, candidates will incur a maximum fee of $6 per search. An initial letter of application and CV can be transmitted at no charge; the candidate will be charged the $6 fee for transmission of a dossier, letters of recommendation, and writing sample. The MLA recommends that departments adopt ByCommittee if possible. Departments that choose to receive applications to an e-mail address are urged to request only letters and CVs with initial applications.

All JIL ads will be associated with an Interfolio search landing page, which will be created automatically when the ad is approved for publication. From the JIL, job seekers will click through to the search landing page, where they can access their Interfolio dossier accounts and manage their applications and documents according to whatever application process the department speciﬁes, whether through ByCommittee, by transmission to an e-mail address, on paper through the mail, or by upload to an institutional applicant-tracking system. Please see Sample Language for Describing the Job Application Process.

Weekly Updates. New listings will be added to the online database every Friday after the initial release. Job seekers can search the database for listings posted since a specified date. A listing will remain online for the initial period selected (six, eight, or twelve weeks from the date it is approved). Each listing will also appear in the next available PDF edition of the JIL.

Editing and Renewing Listings. Departments can edit their listings online at no charge at the JIL Web page. Listings can also be renewed online for a fee for an additional two, four, or six weeks online. You will need your chair's user name and password to edit or renew a listing. On the JIL home page, click on Submit or Edit a Job Listing, and on the following screen choose Edit or Renew your Department's Listings. After you log in, the screen will display a list of all job titles submitted by your department in the current subscription period. Simply click on a job title and follow instructions to edit or renew the listing. Use the Edit option to submit a status report on your job search (see "Report on the status of your searches to candidates" below).

If your listing is "pending," it will be added to the online database in our next weekly update. (If you edited a listing that was already online, the edited version will replace the original listing online after the next weekly update.)
If your listing is "current," it is available online (after the initial release in September).
If your listing is "expired," it is no longer available online but may still be renewed.

You may use the JIL to post two kinds of notices:
listings for definite or possible openings and reports on the status of your searches to candidates.

1. Listing for a Definite or Possible Opening

Each listing must announce a single search only, unless the department is announcing multiple hiring for the same position (e.g., three instructorships in composition). Departments announcing multiple positions in different fields or at different ranks must submit a separate listing for each position. Describe the position in detail, including the following information (see examples of listings in the JIL archive at www.mla.org/jil_issues):

Job title: Professor of English, Instructor in Linguistics, etc.
Starting date and term of appointment; tenure-track or term contract. Indicate "tenure-track" only if the appointment is renewable and offers a possibility for tenure.
Area(s) of specialization.
Additional or subsidiary area(s) of expertise.
Teaching load.
Other departmental responsibilities or duties.
Salary range.
Degree, publications, teaching experience required.
Application deadlines: specify a date for postmark of applications whenever possible.
Form of acknowledgment: indicate whether applications will be acknowledged by a department letter or whether applicants should submit a self-addressed postcard for acknowledgment of applications.
Person to whom letter (or letter and vita sheet; or letter, vita sheet, and full dossier) should be directed, if other than department administrator.
Statement of compliance with equal opportunity or affirmative action regulations, if applicable.

There is a charge for these listings. Notices soliciting applications for graduate study cannot be accepted.

2. Report on the Status of Your Searches to Candidates

This feature is designed to help departments communicate quickly and easily with the general population of job seekers. Departments can submit reports on the status of their searches (e.g., "No longer accepting applications," "MLA convention interviews have been scheduled," "Position has been filled") that will be appended to the online job descriptions. Job seekers can request e-mail notification when status reports are submitted for selected job listings. Departments can submit a status report at any time by logging in at the JIL page and choosing to edit your listing. There is no charge for posting a status report.

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