Resources

Keep track of opportunities, eligibility requirements, and cultivate a strong professional network.

• MAINTAIN MEMBERSHIPS: Many awards require membership in the sponsor organization (e.g. AAAS, IEEE, AGU, etc.) to be eligible. Joining the appropriate professional organizations in your field and playing an active role can position you for these awards. 
• MAKE AN AWARDS LIST: For awards you may be interested in, familiarize yourself with the nomination process, eligibility requirements, and due dates.
• GROW YOUR NETWORK: Grow your professional network and maintain those relationships. Most awards require letters from highly prestigious nominators outside the institution.
• KNOW YOUR PATHWAYS TO AWARDS: Familiarize yourself with the career and awards path of the leading scholars in your profession and meet with leadership or the faculty award specialist to develop short and long term plans for building a competitive profile and awards path.
• GET DEPARTMENTAL SUPPORT: Department Heads are often involved in the nomination process, update them regularly on your accomplishments, work, and collaborations and make awards a topic of discussion in your meetings with leadership.
• BECOME A NOMINATOR: Help create a culture of recognition by nominating your colleagues, peers, and mentors.
• GET INVOLVED: Join or create an honorifics committee to get an inside look at the nomination process. 
• KNOW YOUR DEADLINES: Awards often have short deadlines. Give yourself plenty of time to gather nomination material ahead of time and have polished material like professional headshots and updated CVs always ready to go and available to leadership and nominators so that you do not miss a nomination cycle.
• YOU CAN'T WIN IF YOU DON'T GET NOMINATED: Consider self-nominations or ask an external colleague to nominate you. Don’t pass up awards because you think you won’t win them.
• BE PERSISTENT! Some awards need a nominee to be nominated more than once before they are finally successful.

Concrete strategies can yield nomination packages that help you stand out from the field.

• EARLY CAREER FACULTY: Actively work to generate a new professional network that expands your references beyond your dissertation committee. 
• READ INSTRUCTIONS: Review award instructions carefully and develop a plan for obtaining the required materials. Some materials listed as optional. Include them anyway. 
• TAILOR YOUR REFERENCES: Choose supporters who can enthusiastically speak to your eligibility. Prestigious external references will strengthen your nomination; collaborators who have already won the award in question can also be excellent choices. 
• GET EXPERT HELP: Past winners are not only strong references but also valuable resources. Seek their advice, review their award packets, and ask them to review your materials before you submit. 
• COLLECT DRAFT MATERIALS: When contacting a potential letter writer (or if someone else does on your behalf), you should be prepared to provide draft materials such as an updated CV, nomination materials, and information about the award. This will reduce the time and effort required by the writer.
• SET CLEAR DEADLINES AND EXPECTATIONS: Give your references plenty of lead time – at least one month. Offer to meet with them to discuss career highlights. 
• DO NOT RECYCLE LETTERS: References who have already written letters for you – for other awards, promotion and tenure, etc. – can be great resources for new awards because some of the work is already done. However, each nomination requires a new, distinct letter that highlights your latest accomplishments and speaks to your current work. 
• ACKNOWLEDGE SUPPORT: Always thank your nominators and references and update them as the process moves forward. A hand-written note goes a long way towards helping your references feel appreciated.

Letters that distinguish a candidate apart from others increase their chances of success.

• TELL A STORY: The narrative that illustrates the applicant’s success and their impact on the field. Avoid simply providing a chronological account of their career. 
• EMPHASIZE IMPACT: Describe the impact of the applicant’s contributions. Consider writing about the candidate’s influences on students, peers, and community.
• NOTE DIFFERENCES: Do not focus on productivity alone. What makes this applicant different, unusual, or exceptional? Provide examples: Instead of just stating that a candidate is a strong mentor, highlight how their mentoring helped a student succeed. 
• AVOID REPITITION: Avoid listing accomplishments already on the CV. Instead, highlight specific accomplishments to highlight and explain and their significance. This in-depth information goes beyond what’s on the CV to add weight to the narrative.  
• KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE: Review committees may or may not be experts in the candidate’s field and might not necessarily have detailed context for their contributions. Make sure your narrative is accessible to a broad audience.
• DEMONSTRATE BREADTH: Show how the candidate is well-rounded and impacts a larger community when highlighting noteworthy contributions. 
• REVIEW INSTRUCTIONS: Review the criteria outlined in the award instructions so that you address how the applicant meets the criteria listed. It can be helpful to use keywords in the instructions to emphasize certain qualities the candidate possesses.

Creating a plan will set you on a path towards success.

• MEET WITH LEADERSHIP: Start the conversation about award opportunities and goals with your leadership during annual reviews. 
• IDENTIFY AWARDS: Identify and familiarize yourself with the awards you might like to apply for in the future and build them into your career path. Determine when you want to apply, which criteria you need to meet, and who you will need letters of support from. Some awards allow self-nominations but most do not.
• FIND FACULTY MENTORS: Talk to senior colleagues who can help you with your career goals, and make awards a part of those conversations. 
• RESEARCH PEERS: Review your peers’ CVs – find out what societies they are members of and what awards they have received. If you have won an award yourself, look at other winners and investigate their award profiles.
• CREATE A PLAN: Set internal deadlines for yourself: Determine when you will meet the criteria for each award, when the awards are due, and when you need to reach out to letter writers. Review your plan annually.
• IDENTIFY RESOURCES: For awards you’re interested in, ask previous winners if they are willing to meet with you to discuss their awards path or share their nomination packets with you. 

Learn the importance of volunteering with the National Academies for career advancement.

• Watch this National Academies video on contributing to the National Academie's Mission and Impact.  Note that this advice can be applied to all professional socities.