Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Frustration

I feel very bad today.



Two years of job hunting, liberally punctuated with un(der)employment, will do this to a person.

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© 2004, 2005, 2006 by GrrlScientist

posted by GrrlScientist at 19:30

11 Peer Reviews:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I hear ya...

8:59 PM  
Blogger James said...

I know you've heard (read me, really) me say this before, but keep plugging. Not that you're not intending to, and I do appreciate your frustration; I have to believe something will come your way eventually.

6:43 AM  
Blogger Alon Levy said...

You've been through much harder times, Hedwig, and you managed to survive and get better. At least lately you're getting interviews - speaking of which, do you have a job for the next academic year?

7:00 AM  
Blogger John B. said...

That's one gruesome graphic. I hope you're not intending to carry it out.

8:51 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I learned in October that I was going to be unemployed in April (of this year). I have been looking all of that time and only recently started getting nibbles. I realize it can't compare to your experience, but I know that you have to persevere (and, yes, there are bad days!)

10:20 AM  
Blogger GrrlScientist said...

I have a part time temp job (Adjunct) for autumn semester. It pays the rent. Just.

By the way, John .. you don't need to worry; I would only carry out that graphic in real life if I was paid handsomely to do so.

GrrlScientist

10:36 AM  
Blogger Tabor said...

In case you haven't received these two articles...just thought I would pass them on. They won't necessarily help with your job search nor help those of us who like sharing your life!!

http://chronicle.com/jobs/2005/07/2005070801c.htm
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050711-5080.html

Now back to my lunch.

1:44 PM  
Blogger Cervantes said...

Hey Hedwig, I am an adjunct and I just voted "yes I love it," but that's because I also have a good full-time job in my field (just not at a degree-granting institution) and my adjunct position is at a medical school where most teachers are adjuncts and they treat me with respect and pay me okay etc.

You don't need to be so focused on a tenure-track job. I'll bet you can find a fun Research Associate job or another fellowship, keep teaching part time, and just let your career as a scientist develop organically. We've had this model that you're supposed to get a regular tenure track appointment right out of grad school, or you do a post-doc and then you get the job, and there's no other way to go. It just ain't like that any more.

1:46 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Is that a Don Hertzfeld animation? Reminds me of the short "Rejected"...

aloha
psilo

1:55 PM  
Blogger GrrlScientist said...

Thanks for those articles, Tabor .. I guess it's also too late for me. But it was too late for me long before I took my writing public in the form of my blog because I have been quite "active" for many years and, for better or for worse, that stuff pops up on an internet search. It follows you forever, so in that sense, I am doomed. (This very well could be the reason why I have not been offered anything at all from night security guard to part-time barista to a tenure-track position. I guess I should get used to being on welfare and eating from a food bank for the rest of my life).

As far as my teaching goes .. I am part of that 35% of Adjuncts who rely solely on teaching for my income. I can guarantee you that this is no way for anyone to live, regardless of what you may think of the teaching itself. "Adjuncting" reminds me daily of the amount of respect and value that American society places on any sort of education, and this depresses me to no end. Unfortunately, the current employment situation for people with PhDs is terrible and has been so for 4 years and shows no sign of improving any time soon.

GrrlScientist

2:59 PM  
Blogger GrrlScientist said...

Thanks, PM. "Adjuncting" is nearly impossible, financially speaking, over the short-term, and it IS impossible over the long term, unless the adjunct has a trust fund or spouse or family who $upport$ them. But that said, I do enjoy my little school on the hill and I love my students there, too. This is a strong contrast to my previous teaching job, which was astonishingly unpleasant (I was almost certain that I hated teaching after that job was over). So at least I am working in a intellectually and emotionally satisfyig environment, even if it is a tremendous financial challenge.

GrrlScientist

2:55 PM  

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