Deadlines

Higher education presents a time wherein academic and professional responsibilities are no longer mutually exclusive. Internships, practical experience, classes, conferences, and journals are all relevant to establishing yourself. These discrete components of education and employment may have different benefits for your career, but they all have one thing in common: a time frame. Deadlines are a crucial component of nearly every aspect of academic and professional life. Although deadlines are occasionally flexible, students and professionals negatively impact both themselves and others when they do not submit a paper, hand in a résumé, or RSVP for an important event in a timely manner. A few things to consider when dealing with a deadline:

• Space—and other key elements of an event—may be issues.

Oftentimes for events, deadlines are set in order to firm up numbers because various separate groups are involved in organizing. Rooms need to be booked; food and drink need to be ordered; programs and other materials need to be printed. The office or administrator that creates the event needs to communicate these numbers to caterers, printers, conference services, and the like. If an RSVP is not issued in a timely fashion, the logistics of an event can be completely off, leading to an unpleasant experience for attendees and for speakers or other honored guests. RSVPing within the allotted time is not only considerate to the planners of the event, but to other attendees, as well; moreover, you ensure your own space and refreshments (and any other perks of the event) if you’re forthcoming about attending.

• Time is always an issue, and for more reasons than you may initially realize.

Deadlines are also germane to the process of submitting: papers for grades, papers for publications; applications for jobs, internships, externships, and fellowships. Deadlines are not arbitrarily set; rather, they are agreed upon so that any reviewing committee has the time to review each candidate or submission in-depth, to contact candidates for further information or revisions, and to meet with candidates, if necessary. When attempting to publish a paper, the journal will have deadlines of its own to adhere to, whether they be for printing or other deadlines set by their publisher. Submitting something late, presuming late submissions will even be considered, takes away valuable time from the reviewing process and adversely affects the ability of a committee to fully examine each candidate or submission—that includes you.

• Adhering to deadlines demonstrates discipline and commitment. 

Especially regarding job and internship applications and paper submissions, deadlines are a key way to determine which person takes their employment and academic responsibilities seriously. A paper submitted after a deadline is usually, rightly or wrongly, a red flag that a student cannot manage their time effectively and fails to prioritize relevant academic tasks. A résumé not received in a timely fashion may indicate that a job candidate will miss deadlines when employed, as well; a person incapable of completing tasks on time is a liability that no office wishes to assume. 

Just remember: deadlines are for everyone’s benefit, even your own. Maintaining a strict schedule highlights your professionalism, shows consideration for others, and can advance your academic career.