“The job market is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity”

mar. 11, 2021

Congratulations Andreas Johansson who recently accepted a position as Associate Senior Lecturer at the Department of Economics at Lund University after being on the job market during the 2020 – 2021 season.

Andreas Johansson is a Ph.D. candidate at the Stockholm School of Economics. His job-market paper is titled “Characterizing the Tail-Risk of Factor Mimicking Portfolios”. It demonstrates that there exists a strong intertemporal dependency in returns, which implies that the estimated risk of a portfolio will be biased unless we account for this dependency structure.

 

What do you look forward to in your new position?

– I look forward to several things. First, meeting my new coworkers. From the interviews, I got a great vibe from the department, and there are some senior researchers that I look forward to working with. Second, I like to teach and am excited to construct and develop my own courses. Finally, it is a tenure track position, allowing me to continue my research with minimal interruptions and worries about future financing.

 

What will you remember from your time at the Swedish House of Finance?

– The drive to deliver research of the highest quality. I have been a student for many years at several different departments, and the hunger for high-quality research at the Stockholm School of Economics and Swedish House of Finance has been unique and most inspiring.

 

How was the job market experience?

– Stressful, but great. I had tremendous support from everyone involved, and I found it exciting to meet all the great minds all over the world. Even more incredible, they were totally focused on my research. I got so much valuable feedback that I am looking forward to adding to my paper.

 

If you would advise future job market candidates, what would you tell them?

– First, get your job-market paper together as quickly as possible. Aim to present it at least five times before you get to the job market, which implies that you should have a first draft finished way before your final year.

 

Second, realize that the people who are interviewing you will still be within your field in the future. Getting a job is great, but more importantly; this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so enjoy it! You get to meet and discuss your research with other great researchers within your field. Also, keep in mind that most people you will meet will not employ you in the end; you can only pick one employer after all. In other words, if you are primarily focusing on the “job”, you will lose out on a lot of great opportunities during this period.

 

Relax, and consider what the worst thing that could happen is? The lower limit is high; we have a Ph.D. from Stockholm School of Economics after all. Even if we don’t get a top school, there are endless possibilities where we can use our newly earned skills to make an impact.