Colleges looking to hire junior faculty members are enjoying something of a buyer's market these days. With job offers scarce in many fields, small, teaching-intensive colleges and regionally oriented state universities have been able to snag recent graduates of the nation's top programs, the kinds of candidates who would have probably gone to work at more-elite universities just a few years ago. The math of the job market is in these colleges' favor, with universities producing more Ph.D.'s in many fields, like history, sociology, and mathematics, than the number of jobs available in each of the last two years. Some colleges have also structured job openings to make them even more attractive to top candidates. The economy may have made it easier for colleges to attract candidates from top programs, but recent graduates of Ph.D. programs themselves are also beginning to view their career choices differently. More and more students are thinking critically about whether they want to work at a research university or whether they are more interested in teaching-oriented positions or other types of careers.