next »

[levistrauss]

hi
After a two-year hiatus (due to a chronic injury) since completing my PhD, I am wondering how to frame my submissions for positions and publications. Because of my illness, I was forced to forfeit a job offer I received about a year ago. I've noticed that "current fellows" in postdoc websites are typically listed with the university at which they are presumably employed. Does this mean it's not worth applying for a PD until you secure a teaching or other position? Surely postdocs can be granted to those who have recently completed phds(?)

I graduated with a PhD from an R1 Australian university (for what it's worth here or internationally) and have an MA from an ivy league university in the north east coast of the U.S. I published a refereed paper in a 1st tiered American journal last year. I am also working with an editor on redrafting a second paper for another equally prestigious New York journal.

A publisher I met has offered to show my book proposal (based on a revised version of my PhD) to a series editor at Routledge (along with a bunch of other proposals he has, and with the warning that MIT and Routledge have cut their architecture lists substantially owing to the gfc, and they're actually not publishing critical theory; so it's a long shot at best). I've also sent a proposal to verso (and will keep working through my list until the end of the year). Routledge want a CV, and I need to somehow account for the two years I've been out of my field and academia, and I don't think I should say I've been ill (especially as the problem is intransigent and I really don't even know if anyone has heard of central sensitization(??). It would behoove me to get some sort of teaching or tutoring in the interim. I had really not wanted to go back to TA-ing or tutoring.

Any feedback from others would be greatly appreciated.
levi

[locutus]

I've noticed that "current fellows" in postdoc websites are typically listed with the university at which they are presumably employed. Does this mean it's not worth applying for a PD until you secure a teaching or other position? Surely postdocs can be granted to those who have recently completed phds(?)

Not sure I understand the situation. What sort of postdoc are you applying for? Is this some organization that funds postdocs at various different universities?

[juillet]

In my field post-doctoral positions are meant for people who have recently completed PhDs, so this is an odd question to me.  You generally do a post-doc so that you can get a teaching position, not the other way around.  The universities of the "current fellows" are probably the universities from which they received their PhD recently.

[systeme_d_]

As Juillet notes, postdocs are usually not for folks who are much beyond a year or two out of the PhD, and the affiliations of "current fellows" are certainly their PhD programs.  Holding a postdoc (or two) usually precedes securing a tenure-track position.

Apply for those postdocs now!

[1233312]

"Visiting fellows" can be an ambiguous term, as it could be describing a newly PhD postdoc position, or it could be visiting scholars who are on sabbatical from their normal institutions. I've seen some places where this list would turn up a mixture of the categories. You just have to read the application and eligibility requirements to figure out if it is actually a postdoc or really for more advanced scholars...

[drpud]

In my experience, these things are always "open" to post-PhDs who graduated sometimes 3-5 years before the start of the fellowship, meaning many of them already hold TT positions. So you'll see people who just landed an excellent R1 job also landing a fabulous 1-yr postdoc somewhere. (Not fair, I know) So most of these R1s let their shiny new Asst Profs take the first year off and take the fellowship.
Point being that if you don't have an academic position, you're often SOL. Hard to compete with the folks landing the plumb R1 jobs who almost always have excellent connections as well.

[eleusa]

No, you don't need an academic post to compete for a postdoc (not sure about book contracts). Postdocs are awarded to people shortly or immediately after completing a PhD (up to 5 years). Unforeseen circumstances (such as illness or family issues) are always taken into account. I would be specific about your health problems when applying in order to explain the two-year break in employment. If they don't know the illness, they can easily look it up (as I did). I think it's obvious why you couldn't work and needed to take a break. I very much hope that your health problems are over and that things will go well for you from now on. Good luck and all the best!

[frenchgirl]

I tend to side more with Drpud. You don't need an academic post to compete for a postdoc or a book contract but it sure helps a great deal, especially for a book contract. Several friends of mine received postdocs straight out of grad school but they were the lucky ones. It also depends on the fellowship. Some are designed specifically for very Jr people, others are for people with more experience. A potdoc at Princeton, for example, actually said: "Fellowships are usually award to those who hold academic positions."
Most univ. presses won't even respond to your email let alone offer you a contract if you're not a VAP, or a postdoc, or, at the very least, a lecturer somewhere.

[arizona]

Hmmm...the postdocs I've seen in my field are typically for newly-minted PhDs who have NOT secured tenure-track jobs. I have also seen a number of those "fellowship" positions that are for established faculty on sabbatical, but I wouldn't call those "postdocs." I think, OP, that your answer is: it depends on the postdoc. The jobs ads should be very specific about what the institution is looking for, so if it sounds like you qualify, apply.