Hi all, I have had very many off-list replies to ideas I posted... found here if you didn't see the original:
http://mcewanenvironecolab.wordpress.com/mentoring/ Below are a few ideas in response to some of the questions/comments- ===================== If you have an MS and are having trouble finding a job... (1) Refuse to be placebound, i.e., be willing to move around. There are a lot of opportunities in ecology. If you subscribe to Ecolog you know this! Many of the oodles of positions that pass through Ecolog would be great for a MS-level person... but you have to be willing to move. If you are living in a particular city/location and only are looking for positions there, your chances are greatly limited. (2) Be willing to take entry-level positions. It is a cliche, but "getting your foot in the door" can work. Sometimes you have to take a temporary position with poor pay to find your way into a good long-term job. (3) Apply broadly. Many who I have interacted with and advised make the basic mistake of creating too narrow of a focus on their job search. I have students not apply to jobs because of things like: "Well, I might not be qualified for that position..." Let the person doing the hiring decide that!! Deciding whether you are qualified is someone else's job, your job is writing a great application. or "This company does stuff I really like, but this particular job is hiring for a task that I definitely do not want to do for a career" Take the job, become indispensable due to your energy and quality work, and you can move into a position that more closely matches your interests! or "This job is in state X and I don't think I want to live there" Even if you think state X is a dump because it is too far south/north, too urban/rural, etc, you cannot possibly know what is going on in that particular job, in that particular spot, unless you apply and interview. You may discover that although you think state X is a dump, you are very wrong in that impression, and indeed, the place has hidden charms and the people you would be working with are great. To me, it is foolishness to rule out a place completely due to some geographic bias. =============================== If you are currently in a PhD program, and like science but have decided that you do not want to be a faculty member.... (1) Talk to your adviser. Now, this might be a bit awkward, as some in academia are stuck in the mindset of a faculty position being the only and correct path for anyone with a PhD. As I mentioned in the original post: *Perhaps most important is that we as mentors reject the attitude of disdain that can sometimes hang in the air around non-faculty positions.* Even if you are not sure what reception you will get, you have to at least try to engage your faculty mentor...and you might be surprised at how open she (or he) is to the idea. (2) Network intentionally! During your PhD you will have many opportunities to network. At meetings for instance, or through your project, or on social media. If you are pretty well convinced that you dont want to stay in academia, you can target your networking efforts. For instance, focus on building contacts in an agency. Perhaps at meetings (like the ESA meeting) spend extra time talking to exhibitors, etc. In your project you may need to deal with land management agencies to establish study sites. There may be a way to formalize a collaboration with an agency scientist, etc. If you can find a way to build connections with someone in an agency or industry you may be able to build a bridge out of the academic world. (3) Build marketable skills Obviously there are great many skills that are inherent to a PhD (writing, oral presentation, to name a couple). However, if you decide that you do not want to pursue a tenure track faculty position, you may be able to bolster your attractiveness to agencies, etc., by gaining some marketable skills. These skills may fit nicely into your PhD with only slight refocusing. One example that comes to mind is GIS, which is a technology that is commonly used by agencies/organisations/companies. Various technologies for chemical analysis of samples, or molecular techniques, may also be attractive to those hiring scientists outside of the university setting. Alternatively, if you decide that you would like to get into policy or agency management, perhaps you could pick up a class outside your department, or find a way to get involved with decision making at a local agency. For example, some agencies have volunteer positions where you could sit on the board of directors. - These are only a few ideas. I share them as a broad reply to some of the comments I got before. Again, any comments or corrections are welcomed! Ryan -- Ryan W. McEwan, PhD Associate Professor of Ecology Department of Biology The University of Dayton 300 College Park, Dayton, OH 45469-2320 Email: ryan.mce...@udayton.edu Lab: http://academic.udayton.edu/ryanmcewan Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcewanlab
