tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post848303253386623720..comments2023-10-15T04:23:50.187-04:00Comments on College Misery: Cynthia from the Ceeside With a Job Seeker Thirsty.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-79639506859963275042013-01-23T17:21:46.635-05:002013-01-23T17:21:46.635-05:00So, I'd say that you should do at least a bit ...So, I'd say that you should do at least a bit of soul-searching (and the homework to understand what various sorts of jobs really are like, day in and day out), and narrow your focus somewhat. Are you most energized by teaching (to the extent where you'd really be able to juggle 4-5 classes and 4-5 preps, and come out of it all feeling wiped out but also cheered by the experience, and Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-64910326227717490722013-01-23T17:15:19.989-05:002013-01-23T17:15:19.989-05:00I can't speak to the present market, but in th...I can't speak to the present market, but in the (bad, but not quite as bad) market of the early '90s, as an ABD at a place that also sports vegetable matter on the walls (some of it named for the class that planted it, and accompanied by plaques recording the name/event) AND faux-gothic buildings, I had a few interviews with places that clearly had no intention of interviewing me, but Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-8671863855770815122013-01-22T21:04:56.425-05:002013-01-22T21:04:56.425-05:00I don't think that this is a real problem. It ...I don't think that this is a real problem. It was perhaps 5 years ago, but not now.<br /><br />There is very little you can do to get attention. Either you fit or you don't. I've had to look at the parred-down 40 completely equally qualified and well-matched candidates. From those, on arbitrary terms having *nothing* to do with what is in the letter, we have to select 15 people for Academic Monkeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07086078244493768565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-46050451993383256002013-01-22T20:11:19.627-05:002013-01-22T20:11:19.627-05:00I agree with Dr. C. Get several packages together...I agree with Dr. C. Get several packages together - research at big school, research at midsize, SLAC, etc. You are not really presenting different people but different versions of yourself. After all, you can do all these different jobs. You're not lying, you're emphasizing the qualities that each group is looking for.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-30711127836696846702013-01-22T17:04:06.088-05:002013-01-22T17:04:06.088-05:00Also have a snappy answer if asked, "What cou...Also have a snappy answer if asked, "What courses could you -not- teach?" Since I'm an astronomer, my answer was, "Condensed-matter physics at any level."<br /><br />(Condensed-matter physics used to be called "solid-state physics." It's a essentially how to make digital electronics. In other words, it's a commercially practical field, unlike astronomy, Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-38112177121712920492013-01-22T16:47:30.184-05:002013-01-22T16:47:30.184-05:00Yes it does, obviously. That's what makes the ...Yes it does, obviously. That's what makes the papers publishable.<br /><br />Specific discoveries that my students and I have made with the campus observatory's telescope include waves in the accretion disk of a cataclysmic variable, which reveal the physics of accretion disks in ways similar to how seismic waves tell us about Earth's interior (long story). We also watched three novaeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-79949587450886453622013-01-22T16:42:01.903-05:002013-01-22T16:42:01.903-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-29855602610154546962013-01-22T16:40:20.192-05:002013-01-22T16:40:20.192-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-38068574958770680522013-01-22T16:36:32.655-05:002013-01-22T16:36:32.655-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-62092261339581204212013-01-22T15:07:16.937-05:002013-01-22T15:07:16.937-05:00You mentioned that you have degrees from a range o...You mentioned that you have degrees from a range of programs. Play that up in your letters. Say how much you got from the smaller institutions where you got your earlier education. Remind them that you have actually seen places like the one you're currently applying to, and how much you loved it and would like to find yourself teaching is one of them.Merely Academichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00452389428113097744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-71597709573882403512013-01-22T15:07:00.806-05:002013-01-22T15:07:00.806-05:00You mentioned that you have degrees from a range o...You mentioned that you have degrees from a range of programs. Play that up in your letters. Say how much you got from the smaller institutions where you got your earlier education. Remind them that you have actually seen places like the one you're currently applying to, and how much you loved it and would like to find yourself teaching is one of them.Merely Academichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00452389428113097744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-67980675922349199312013-01-22T14:23:28.560-05:002013-01-22T14:23:28.560-05:00Here at Euphoric State, one of the things we alway...Here at Euphoric State, one of the things we always, always ask candidates is "How could you incorporate undergraduates into your research program?" A candidate who doesn't have at least two or three workable answers at the ready is in trouble. If you don't already have a program of research that you can get undergrads involved in, at the very least spend some quality time Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-11827320600676758502013-01-22T11:51:08.222-05:002013-01-22T11:51:08.222-05:00Not to be antagonistic, but does it really matter ...Not to be antagonistic, but does it really matter if you actually "discover" anything during your research? I wouldn't care if my telescope was a toilet paper roll with a lens hotglued to the end if I wasn't accountable for finding anything with it.InvertedSquarehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04704558162599421719noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-89554231582908440972013-01-22T10:56:37.778-05:002013-01-22T10:56:37.778-05:00This might be discipline specific. In mine (mathe...This might be discipline specific. In mine (mathematics): at the smaller "teaching oriented" institutions, you will be teaching a lot of calculus. So if you are interested in our job you might point out your experience and give some evidence that you take this aspect seriously.<br /><br />We have a publication requirement too, but you won't be doing "cutting edge" Harriethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17953435368705942387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-8945188115749348652013-01-22T10:49:52.773-05:002013-01-22T10:49:52.773-05:00Well Cynthia, either you are an arrogant prick or ...Well Cynthia, either you are an arrogant prick or not. Just be yourself, it's not the kind of personality trait one can easily hide.<br /><br />Also, I see nothing wrong with having departments without a graduate program as "safety schools". Most people are able to work in a range of environments, and take the best offer they can get. (Just as departments take the best candidate Peter Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00754472537710161295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-57167886309154694482013-01-22T09:46:17.201-05:002013-01-22T09:46:17.201-05:00Yeah, it's a more involved process than just r...Yeah, it's a more involved process than just rearranging the words in your job letter (or giving two teaching paragraphs and one research for a SLAC as opposed to 1/2 for an R1). If your letter effuses about your teaching skill, but your recs all paint you as a robotic research powerhouse and your CV is headed up with a big paragraph on your obscure dissertation, search committees are going Dr. Colossushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470085457331712203noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-42020562417668928612013-01-22T09:05:26.133-05:002013-01-22T09:05:26.133-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-7870595121362597672013-01-22T09:00:04.758-05:002013-01-22T09:00:04.758-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-40107899038898416782013-01-22T08:51:33.604-05:002013-01-22T08:51:33.604-05:00Cynthia, are you familiar with The Professor Is In...Cynthia, are you familiar with The Professor Is In? I'm just a grad student, but I've found her advice extremely helpful. <br />http://theprofessorisin.com/2012/08/02/1830/<br />Not trying to start a fight, but one thing she would advise any Ph.D. is to stay the hell away from the campus career center.<br />Katehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16403289509523215570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-64176717513511110132013-01-22T08:47:23.127-05:002013-01-22T08:47:23.127-05:00As Bubba said, it's good that you are starting...As Bubba said, it's good that you are starting to think about this now. If you know what type of job you want now, start doing the things related to that job:<br />1. mentor undergrads in research<br />2. teach<br />3. be involved in local professional societies<br />4. get involved in community outreach projects<br /><br />Think of ways that you could continue your research at SLACs that Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-70278622802122883052013-01-22T07:29:36.973-05:002013-01-22T07:29:36.973-05:00"Like most professional astronomers, he turne..."Like most professional astronomers, he turned up his nose at the prospect of working with 'amateur equipment,' as he called it."<br /><br />Specifically, he said he "couldn't do research with amateur equipment." To be fair, he couldn't, because that equipment detects visible light like your eyes can see, whereas his research was detecting gamma rays. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-62837258176785895972013-01-22T07:22:06.551-05:002013-01-22T07:22:06.551-05:00"...and the entire Local Group of galaxies.&q..."...and the entire Local Group of galaxies."<br /><br />Oo, that's bad.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-9979424723507466522013-01-22T07:15:57.634-05:002013-01-22T07:15:57.634-05:00I was in a situation much like you're in. It&#...I was in a situation much like you're in. It's a tricky tightrope walk.<br /><br />I got my Ph.D. in astronomy at a place with plant matter on the walls, too. I also had three postdocs at R1s, or places like them, all over the planet. I also had "real" teaching experience, as an Accursed Visiting Assistant Professor at a tech school in the shadow of a NASA facility. I had Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-58121379904518181062013-01-22T06:13:09.393-05:002013-01-22T06:13:09.393-05:00Speaking solely from my own experience, serving on...Speaking solely from my own experience, serving on search committees in my dear old Euphoric State U's own Department of Omnology, and acknowledging that your own field may have different dynamics. . . I can't remember rejecting any application just because we thought the applicant's background was too rich for our blood. The only times I can think of that we've written off Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-89693016608305524932013-01-22T05:26:39.235-05:002013-01-22T05:26:39.235-05:00"Dear Search Committee Members:
Although the ...<i>"Dear Search Committee Members:<br />Although the graduates from my program have traditionally desired and prepared for R1 positions, I am one of the rare ones that has always hoped to teach at a SLAC like yours. This is evidenced by A B C D etc...."</i><br /><br />Like that. Tell them the truth.<br /><br />However, you must be able to share this with the proffies who are writing Southern Bubba, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12050992903794385204noreply@blogger.com