Giving a job talk has multiple aims. Most important of these: to get a
job. But, it also makes sense to think about a job talk as (a) practice
that will improve your skills for future job interviews, making it more
likely that you will eventually get a job, even if not this one, (b) a
kind of initiation ritual into the profession, and (c) a way to broaden
your academic network and make new friends. It is your chance to persuade
your peers (and perhaps your future colleagues) that you are a
promising/accomplished scholar, a potentially good colleague, and a
good teacher—not necessarily in that order. Priorities attached to
these desiderata will vary from department to department (with major
differences to be expected between research-oriented departments and those
with a more liberal arts focus), but even within any given department,
different members of the department will undoubtedly attach different
weights to each of these three concerns. Such relevant information will be
conveyed in a job talk.