Everything fell perfectly into place this spring: My husband got the medical residency of his choice, I gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby, and, despite my full blossoming motherhood, I landed the tenure-track job of my dreams ...
At least that was the way it was supposed to work out. I guess as the song goes, "two out of three ain't bad." Of course it was the first two that came true, which, considering everything, ain't bad.
The two telephone interviews I had for tenure-track positions did not turn into campus interviews. In one case, I understood why, since the position was in a chemistry department and my field is biology. The second rejection came as a severe blow, as it was at an institution where I had taught. I thought I was a perfect match for the job, and I had been privately assured of an interview. So much for assurances.
Now I feel like a scorned lover. The ups and downs of the job search so match the stages of a love affair gone wrong. I was giddily blinded by the wonder of it all, believing in false promises. But it was all a giant tease, and just when I'd fully fallen for it, I got dumped.
I am angry and disappointed. Angry at myself for being naïvely optimistic and for believing the words of "love" whispered in my ear by search committees and by well-meaning mentors who told me how qualified I was, how I was a shoo-in for certain positions. Angry at a system that seemed to promise tenure-track positions if I would just get my Ph.D. Angry that the job market, even in the sciences, is so fickle that someone with postdoctoral training, publications, and teaching experience can't even get an interview because colleges now have their choice of people with tenure-track experience and grant money. And disappointed in myself that I didn't do better, that I didn't find a way to make them "love" me.
Any remaining hope I had for an academic career is fading. I am geographically limited in my career search and I am unwilling to be a second-class citizen/postdoc for much longer.
So, like Rapunzel, I've let my hair down and am ready to escape from the Ivory Tower. I bought a book on alternative careers for scientists that tells of wonderful opportunities with intellectual challenges, large salaries, and generous benefits. And when I put the word out that my academic career was pretty much dead, instead of getting the pity and sympathy I was trolling for, I got something even better. People e-mailed me with contacts, useful advice, and encouragement to try something new. I got a lot of "I know someone doing X, Y, or Z with their Ph.D. and loving it."
Now I'm out on the market again, trying to figure out what I can do with my science Ph.D. besides teach college or become a permanent postdoc. I am sending e-mails to friends of friends, looking up company Web sites, talking to high-school teachers with Ph.D.'s, devouring the help-wanted section every Sunday, and most importantly, working on my résumé. I was lucky enough to get dumped by academe at the right time. There is a growing number of books, Web sites, and the like out there to help guide people like me toward the "alternative career" of their dreams.
If all of this sounds too healthy or too resigned, you are right. I'm still angry. But it's either become obsessed with what I've lost or move on -- and perhaps help others learn from my mistakes.
My advice to anyone wanting a teaching position in the sciences is to be realistic (find out exactly what it takes to get the job) and flexible (be willing to do anything and go anywhere). Do a postdoc that is long enough to get you published, secure an independent, transportable grant, and move on to the tenure track. Get teaching experience (real experience, not being a teaching assistant) in graduate school and during your postdoc. Get a visiting-lecturer position between graduate school and your postdoc. Try to gain experience across a wider array of disciplines than your thesis afforded. Have a spouse/family/mind-set that will let you move to New York City or the cornfields of Iowa at a moment's notice. For the first couple of years take any visiting professorship or instructorship that will get you "real job" experience and allow for research.
Finally, for anyone trying to get an academic position in any field: Never believe someone when they say, "Oh you don't need THAT to get a job." In all likelihood they got their Ph.D. 20 years ago and trust me -- today you will need "that" to get an academic position. I believed it when I was advised that I wouldn't need a grant to get a job, when in reality it would have made me far more competitive. Talk to people who have just gotten the sort of job you want to find out how they did it and what their C.V. looks like. I can't tell you how many times I've heard people who got their tenure-track jobs as recently as five years ago say, "I would have never gotten this job today." Read: The person their department just hired is even more qualified than they are right now.
None of this is fair. But at this moment the system can do whatever it wants, so if you really want the job you'd better be prepared to do whatever it takes.
So what's my next move? I'd like an answer to that as well.
