Job Market Advice/Support Thread

[displayname]

I realize this reply is a bit dated, but I'm sorry @Eigen and @my_muse and @enpi for the trouble you've been having.  I have some close friends going through this now, and it's not easy.

I tend to agree with @rising_star that the number of job market cycles to put yourself through is a really personal decision. About your decision to consider non-academic careers: perhaps it doesn't have to be all or nothing? Why not consider other positions while also pursuing another round? Granted, I know it's very time consuming to apply. But, perhaps participating in just one weekly activity that might elucidate another professional path will be helpful and make this situation a bit more tolerable.  I read a post a long time ago in Versatile PhD about one woman who decided to divide her time 80/20 -- 80 percent to securing TT positions, 20 to other routes.  That 20 percent could be a number of different things: reconnecting with friends in other industries to learn more about them, developing a new skill, volunteering, or a part-time gig or internship position. My guess is that this arrangement was valuable, regardless of the outcome. For one, the job market can cut down the strongest, most self-assured people (as far as I've seen). So, I imagine it might reinforce a recent grad's confidence to consider the value of her/his training outside of academia.

[Eigen]

2 hours ago, displayname said:

I tend to agree with @rising_star that the number of job market cycles to put yourself through is a really personal decision. About your decision to consider non-academic careers: perhaps it doesn't have to be all or nothing? Why not consider other positions while also pursuing another round? Granted, I know it's very time consuming to apply. But, perhaps participating in just one weekly activity that might elucidate another professional path will be helpful and make this situation a bit more tolerable.  I read a post a long time ago in Versatile PhD about one woman who decided to divide her time 80/20 -- 80 percent to securing TT positions, 20 to other routes.  That 20 percent could be a number of different things: reconnecting with friends in other industries to learn more about them, developing a new skill, volunteering, or a part-time gig or internship position. My guess is that this arrangement was valuable, regardless of the outcome. For one, the job market can cut down the strongest, most self-assured people (as far as I've seen). So, I imagine it might reinforce a recent grad's confidence to consider the value of her/his training outside of academia.

I think this is really good advice. It goes along with the "keep as many routes open as possible" idea. 

I'd also like to highlight the Versatile PhD as a really excellent resource. Our graduate student organization convinced our Office of Graduate Studies and Career Services to go in with us on a subscription- we each pay 1/3rd of the yearly cost, and it's been a great resource to a lot of late-stage students looking for options.

[Eigen]

So as the season is drawing to a close, I thought I'd bump this back up to see how everyone's doing.