On September 1, 2011, the AHA opened up access to the history job advertisements posted on its website to everyone. Until recently these ads were only available to members. Now nonmembers also can access the ads too, after a simple registration process. Coming at a time when searching for history jobs has become increasingly difficult because of a shrinking job market, opening access should prove helpful to all historians.

History
The American Historical Association has been listing job ads in various print and digital media for over 40 years (we published the first Employment Information Bulletin in December 1971, and later incorporated this separate publication into the newsletter). In 1998 the AHA added the job ads to its member’s services web site. Over the course of time the AHA became a trusted and preferred source to find job listings in the history field, especially because the ads were published only after editing to ensure, among other things, that they conformed to the employment guidelines that the AHA recommends to employers.

While the vast majority of the job ads are published in print each month in Perspectives on History, the most up-to-date listings, including a few that were slated to be “online only” ads, could be found online.

Accessing Job Ads

• For members, not much will change. If you are a member, you will continue to use the link for the job ads through Member Services.
• Nonmembers will simply need to create a free user account. Once you have that account you will just need to log in to search the job ads. If you are not a member, you will not see links to the other online member benefits, such as access to the American Historical Review and discounts on publications and the annual meeting

Searching
The old search engine has been given a much needed facelift, and in addition to the already available options of searching for jobs by category, title, institution, and location, we have added the ability to search by rank as well. The list is updated every Friday, so make sure you check back for any new listings. We understand that the process of finding a job is not a simple one. The AHA’s job ads are important tools that we hope will make the process run smoother for you. We welcome your feedback, and would also like to know what additional features you might like to see in the job ads. Please let us know in the comment section below.

This post first appeared on AHA Today.