ABSTRACT
Academic opportunities in anthropology, it's fair to say, are not what they used to be. Students hoping for a full-time academic position with eventual tenure should by no means abandon their aspirations, but they should also realize that positions are few, entry requirements are increasingly high, and the selection process at most institutions does not generally lean in favor of applicants with a predominant interest in practice and application. This may eventually change, of course – and one would certainly hope that it does – but at the moment, it is a difficult time to be looking for a full-time academic job. Work as a practitioner can be, for many, work on the frontiers of the discipline. For the last several decades, practitioners have been extending themselves into the world, applying their anthropology and learning, with every job they do, something more about how anthropology can be used effectively.
