@oddletters I literally had like 2 papers and they weren’t even that good (conference and a magazine)! I got a postdoc in Belgium on the back of that. This was a decade ago. Seems like the expectation is a lot higher now though, but it depends on what the student is doing really. More philosophy side of things? Not so much. Empirical probably more. I’d be keen to emphasise conferences for my students for the networking opportunities though vs journal papers.

@oddletters I like to see at least one small on campus conference or something by quals to get the hang of making an idea nugget in public, but there is no penalty for not. I just encourage it. I support making a conference presentation at an annual meeting as a way of meeting people, getting socialized into the discourse, and seeing that lots of academic work in progress isn't like timeless polished work.