Many to most of the major universities require postdoctoral training. The fact that some/many postdocs are really temporary research scientist positions with the wrong name is irrelevant. So, if you are already competitive for a poor paying job at a small, impoverished regional university that does not support research in any way shape or form, you will be competitive for better positions with a postdoc. If you are offered a solid position right out of school take it. Teaching 18 hrs while being expected to do research is unreasonable and results in poor teaching and poor research. For that matter, expecting 12 hrs of teaching in the classroom, with a multitude of external duties will give you little time for research. I found that 9 hrs of contact with external duties was very doable, but almost everyone who I have met has a depressed research output when under heavy teaching loads.
Here are your choices in Academia: (1) schools with research support matching the research expectations and teaching loads that facilitate research expectations and quality coursework (2) schools that have lofty research expectations, little to no research support and teaching loads that conflict with this research expectations, ultimately giving little to no time for teaching prep so neither research nor teaching is of high quality. Many of these also pile on tons of service so you are doomed! (3) schools that have low/no research expectations and support, and expect most of your time to be devoted to teaching and often service. These schools often give no points for research. (4) community college. If you have no interest in teaching, you probably belong outside of academia. If you have no interest in research, you will be most happy in a community college (or teaching prof job). If you want to be miserable, you will take a position at a school that mismatches teaching/research/service obligations and support. If you want a shot at higher regionals and R1s, you better get a postdoc. If you want a shot at lower regionals and ccs, you better get teaching experience. If you want a higher salary, you will find it at the R1s, upper regionals, better liberal art schools, and communtiy colleges. If you want to teach a diversity of courses, you will be best choosing a regional state school. At least those are my observations. Postdocs are now pretty much required even for many small schools. The alternative is struggling at lower regionals in hope of rising to a higher level. The latter is the more difficult road because you must do a lot of time consuming things that do not result in grants or publications. On the other hand, if you are fortunate, and land a few major grants and pubs, you can rise out of the latter. Its just harder than going the postdoc route. I will tell you with 100% assurance that if I did it over, I would do the postdoc I was offered. It would have broadened my experiences, resulted in several fantastic pubs, and trained me on a few things I could use. This is coming form someone who worked as a director of research at a not for profit before entering a phd, and I had 5 years of teaching experience before entering my phd. I'm not saying what I suggest is right for everyone, but these are pretty much the rules we are operating under today. On Tue, Jan 3, 2012 at 8:59 PM, Aaron T. Dossey <bugoc...@gmail.com> wrote: > > I would not recommend doing a postdoc. I would recommend focusing on the > GIS coursework and find a way to pay your bills via the least time consuming > and least demanding way/job you can find. Sometimes your paid job is simply > a distraction necessary to pay the bills - but if you can chisel out time to > work toward your true passion, you can achieve it and it will become your > primary job (and ideally pay the bills :) ). > > I too got my Ph.D. in 2006. ;) > > Cheers! > > -- > Aaron T. Dossey, Ph.D. > Biochemistry and Molecular Biology > Founder/Owner: All Things Bugs > Capitalizing on Low-Crawling Fruit from Insect-Based Innovation > http://www.allthingsbugs.com/Curriculum_Vitae.pdf > https://www.facebook.com/Allthingsbugs > 1-352-281-3643 > > > > > On 1/3/2012 7:24 PM, malcolm McCallum wrote: >> >> Have you done a postdoc? >> If not, do one and while in that capacity, take a GIS course at the >> school, assuming its at a school. Alternatively, take the ESRI >> courses, they are very basic, but if you have a brain you can easily >> expand from those beginnings. >> >> Some say just buy a book and learn it. I'm not convinced that >> ArcView/ArcGIS is something you just sit down and learn. The number >> of extensions and such are so vast and the programming possibilities >> are even more so. In fact, most of us use regularly only a small part >> of the GIS capacity that relates to our specific area of research. >> The basics can be learned with a tutor in about half an hour. The >> power of GIS, however, takes a lot longer to master. >> >> I have taught undergrad/grad courses in GIS many times, and have used >> it quite a bit. >> >> Malcolm McCallum >> >> >> On Mon, Jan 2, 2012 at 6:13 PM, Christi Yoder<cyoder...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> >>> Hi everyone! I have a question regarding GIS training. I got my PhD in >>> 2006 and until May 2011 was employed as a researcher when the position >>> funding ran out. Since then, I have been unable to find a job, partially >>> because of my specialized experience. It seems that many job postings >>> these days require some level of GIS competency. Although I have had a >>> week-long introductory course in GIS and have collaborated with GIS >>> specialists in my research, I don't have the necessary skills. I have an >>> opportunity to obtain a scholarship for a GIS certificate program that >>> includes learning to use GIS, classes in spatial analysis and remote >>> sensing, and database management. I'd like to hear from professionals as >>> to whether this would enhance my chances of getting a job in the wildlife >>> field. Just to give an idea, my Masters in is Wildlife Biology and my >>> PhD >>> is in reproductive physiology. I would greatly appreciate any input! >>> Cheers, >>> Christi >> >> >> > > > -- > Aaron T. Dossey, Ph.D. > Biochemistry and Molecular Biology > Founder/Owner: All Things Bugs > Capitalizing on Low-Crawling Fruit from Insect-Based Innovation > http://www.allthingsbugs.com/Curriculum_Vitae.pdf > https://www.facebook.com/Allthingsbugs > 1-352-281-3643 > -- Malcolm L. 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