There is not a single fixed timeline; we’ve had job interviews in late October after advertising in September, but more usually in January and February if advertising in October, and sometimes there are more job talks in May if a first-choice candidate did not work out and the committee wants to invite additional people.
Jobs are usually advertised in September or October. There are a minimum of 200 applicants for any job and all the CVs and letters have to be read by the hiring committee, and the top 10% by the Exec committee, so job talks are not usually in the fall. However, interviewing can start in late fall if the committee thinks a star candidate may not be available if they don’t make an early offer. More usually, interviewing begins in early January and continues through February (we usually bring in 5 people). Candidates are usually contacted before New Year’s or in early January to choose the date. After feedback from the department is solicited, the hiring and Exec committee decide to whom to make an offer in March. Sometimes the top candidate is brought back for a second visit, especially if there is the possibility of a joint appointment with another department, or a spousal position possibility. In that case, the offer may not be made until April. Sometimes the candidate wants a week or two to review it (or possibly to see if a competing offer is going to come in) but usually negotiations begin right away so it is not like an offer is sent out and there is two weeks of silence. If things don’t work out, sometime an offer is immediately made to a second choice candidate, or sometimes none of the other candidates impressed sufficiently so additional candidates who looked good but were not invited are brought in for job talks in April or May, or the search is suspended and re-started the next fall. (Not sure how general this timeline is, but certainly many universities use this approximate timeline.)
Just came across this article on academic job hunting. It speaks to the hiring process, academic mobility, importance of mentorship etc. It focuses on R1 institutions and I think captures very much how it is at these universities. Most of the data are from Psychology searches because that is the field providing most of the data but the article does allude to other science fields and English. I thought it might be useful reading although the R1 situation has worst case stats. Even so, the percentage of people landing some academic job offer after a season on the market was encouraging.
Reviving the thread. If you take a verbal offer, how long do you expect to receive a written offer? Is it safe to assume the terms will be as agreed verbally? Or could you be surprised?
If you accept a verbal offer, I assume that the decision has already gone through the administrative pipeline, and the department has been given authorization to offer you the job. In that case, it’s fair to ask the department when you can expect an offer letter.
If the position is an adjunct position, however, you might not get a written offer, because there are usually no guaranteed terms.
Congratulations!
No, the written offer shouldn’t be materially different - just more specific. It will include salary, benefits, fringe benefits like start-up funding, teaching load expectations, etc. You should be allowed two weeks to consider the offer letter before giving them your formal decision about whether to accept. If you haven’t received the letter, it is absolutely acceptable to ask when you can expect it.