Ah, it's good to have options.
Just a few weeks ago, when I started this blog, I was wondering if I had any options in academia and if corporate would be a more realistic way to go. Now, I have a contract sitting in front of me, from a tiny university (Uni A), ready to be signed.
AND, I have been invited to a 13 hour interview at another tiny university (Uni B).
Uni B is still a small undergrad-only university. It's a little less small than the one I have the contract for. It's an interview, not a job offer. It's a slightly better city to live in. I know people there.
But... I won't know if I have an offer at Uni B until April, and I have this other contract from Uni A sitting in front of me right now.
But... while the school is (very) slightly better and (slightly) bigger, the actual courses they would be asking me to teach are not as good for me. I'm at risk of being boxed into an area where I would not be easily employable. Uni A is asking me to teach a LOT of more appropriate courses.
But... who knows what the offer from Uni B would actually be like, if it comes at all. Would there be more support for research start-up? A higher salary? A lighter course load? Flexibility with the course selection? The core courses appear unflexible, but could I tag on a more appropriate one?
Normally, I would tell myself, just go to the interview and see how it goes - you've got nothing to lose. I do have something to lose this time though.
For one, it'll be expensive. They pay the flight and hotel, but I will miss three days of work and I have zero paid vacation days at this crap job I'm in now, so I'd lose three days of pay (and productivity). And I would have to spend at least one weekend putting together a presentation for them. And I would have to spend one agonizing day of non-stop hobnobbing, from breakfast with the dean to dinner with the committee. Ugh.
I'm leaning toward turning down this interview. I will sit with it for a few days before I decide. Regardless of that decision though, gawsh, it feels good to have options. It is so very nice to be wanted.
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Delayed reaction: Excitement
Okay, so it took me a couple weeks. I may not be fast, but I've gotten here eventually.
I'm ramping up and getting excited about this job. At a time when professorships are desperately hard to get, I got an offer at barely a year after defending. Not at a top notch uni, but a uni all the same. Honestly, a lower ranked uni will be an easier place to begin and grow.
I've been googling this city galore. It has all the essentials. It has a whole lot more than the city I was living in before. It appears to be more cosmopolitan, more international... not as much as where I am now, but better than where I was. (confused yet?)
Opportunties... it has 'em. For work, anyway. Not so much for weekends, but let's face it, I'll be working like a dawg anyway.
Fun times ahead, dear internet. But now comes the hard part: Getting through the next six months. Waiting is the hardest part.
I'm ramping up and getting excited about this job. At a time when professorships are desperately hard to get, I got an offer at barely a year after defending. Not at a top notch uni, but a uni all the same. Honestly, a lower ranked uni will be an easier place to begin and grow.
I've been googling this city galore. It has all the essentials. It has a whole lot more than the city I was living in before. It appears to be more cosmopolitan, more international... not as much as where I am now, but better than where I was. (confused yet?)
Opportunties... it has 'em. For work, anyway. Not so much for weekends, but let's face it, I'll be working like a dawg anyway.
Fun times ahead, dear internet. But now comes the hard part: Getting through the next six months. Waiting is the hardest part.
Saturday, February 9, 2013
And acceptance
As I mourn the loss of a city I love, I'm beginning to look forward to a new adventure.
I never intended to go to this city. But, I never intended to do a Ph.D. either. I didn't intend to become a professor. It has all just sort of happened, the way life does sometimes.
I've done big things before and accepted them more easily than this one. Why the struggle this time around?
The time in my life. I think that's why it has been so hard. I'm not a 20-something who did the traditional educational route. I went back to school at 30. So, now I'm nearing 40 and what I want - what I really need, as much as I need to breathe - is new stability in my life. I want to settle in a city and call it home. That's what this city was supposed to be for me, but just a year and a half later I'm making plans to move away.
This job is not my career, it's a stepping stone. In theory, that's great. But it's a stepping stone at a time in my life where I desperately want permanence. That's the problem.
This will be another adventure, for a couple years, and then I will come back - if not to this city, at least to this province and to a city I can call home. With a job I will stay in for the duration of my career. With a down payment for my first condo.
This is not a delay. This is the beginning of the home stretch. This new little adventure will get me where I need to go.
I never intended to go to this city. But, I never intended to do a Ph.D. either. I didn't intend to become a professor. It has all just sort of happened, the way life does sometimes.
I've done big things before and accepted them more easily than this one. Why the struggle this time around?
The time in my life. I think that's why it has been so hard. I'm not a 20-something who did the traditional educational route. I went back to school at 30. So, now I'm nearing 40 and what I want - what I really need, as much as I need to breathe - is new stability in my life. I want to settle in a city and call it home. That's what this city was supposed to be for me, but just a year and a half later I'm making plans to move away.
This job is not my career, it's a stepping stone. In theory, that's great. But it's a stepping stone at a time in my life where I desperately want permanence. That's the problem.
This will be another adventure, for a couple years, and then I will come back - if not to this city, at least to this province and to a city I can call home. With a job I will stay in for the duration of my career. With a down payment for my first condo.
This is not a delay. This is the beginning of the home stretch. This new little adventure will get me where I need to go.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Accepted
Accepted.
A professor job.
At a crappy little university.
In a crappy little town.
And I'm nauseated about it.
Am I really going to do this? The truth is, I'm still not sure. I accepted the offer, but I'm still not sure. I may pull out. Some would say that's unethical, unprofessional... but the academic job market is absolutely dismal these days.
You see, dear Internet, when this job was posted, I didn't apply for it right away. I let it sit there for a while, because I didn't want it. Then, I finally decided to submit the application as a way of testing the bottom limits of what I might be eligible for. I figured if I didn't even get shortlisted for a job like this, I need to find a new career. What I didn't count on was this school moving faster than all the rest, so it's my first offer, and I have no idea if any others are coming.
The academic job market is dismal. I could not turn this down and perhaps end up unemployed in a few months. But... really??? This job???
Before accepting, I thoroughly googled how to withdraw from an academic job offer you've already accepted. It's controversial, folks, but it has been done before and it will be done again. Perhaps by me.
Would someone pour me a drink?
A professor job.
At a crappy little university.
In a crappy little town.
And I'm nauseated about it.
Am I really going to do this? The truth is, I'm still not sure. I accepted the offer, but I'm still not sure. I may pull out. Some would say that's unethical, unprofessional... but the academic job market is absolutely dismal these days.
You see, dear Internet, when this job was posted, I didn't apply for it right away. I let it sit there for a while, because I didn't want it. Then, I finally decided to submit the application as a way of testing the bottom limits of what I might be eligible for. I figured if I didn't even get shortlisted for a job like this, I need to find a new career. What I didn't count on was this school moving faster than all the rest, so it's my first offer, and I have no idea if any others are coming.
The academic job market is dismal. I could not turn this down and perhaps end up unemployed in a few months. But... really??? This job???
Before accepting, I thoroughly googled how to withdraw from an academic job offer you've already accepted. It's controversial, folks, but it has been done before and it will be done again. Perhaps by me.
Would someone pour me a drink?
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