Working on next year's app

I'm working on my job talk right now, and I'm deciding to take a break to write about creating next year's app if this talk doesn't land me a solid TT job. 

I've always played things cautiously, occasionally making the big bet. While I have gotten interest from schools (none from my top 10 schools yet), I've been spending time on my app for next year. As I've said in a previous post, I didn't have enough time to create the application package I wanted to submit. Working full-time in a higher-level position left me with little free time for the research and teaching statements. 

In the situation where I can't find the best combination of city and school, I wanted to make sure that I can submit the best possible application next year. I'm even considering creating a home-lab to get some prelim data. I think this is my cautious nature. Will I have time? Probably not. Will I just accept any random R1 TT job? Probably. 

First faculty interview calls!

I was certain no one but a couple R2 schools would call. I've been getting a fair share of emails from R1s!  They're wanting to schedule Skype and phone interviews!  

I feel excited, but I figured the faculty job was such a long-shot, that I kind of applied without any hope. I've even been making next year's application in the meantime. I guess I should be creating a seminar talk instead. 

What's great about this situation compared to my industry search is that I'm already in a great situation; so I'm not as stressed out. In grad school I had a defense date and knew I didn't want to hang around afterwards. This was for monetary reasons, and I hated my advisor. Because of wanting to get out, I spent every waking moment I could spare thinking about job hunting, and doing all sorts of things online. At interviews I felt quite anxious, even though it didn't show. This time around, I feel confident and excited partially because I'm not as desperate, partially because I'm already in a good place career-wise, and partially because I'm anxious about leaving my cushy industry post. 

Funny Researcher had a count on his/her blog, so I thought I'd do the same:

Phone/Skype interviews offered: 9

Phone/Skype interviews accepted: 0

1st campus visits offered: 0

1st campus visits accepted: 0

2nd campus visits offered: 0

2nd campus visits accepted: 0

Offers: 0

Saying 'hello' to my soul again

Sooooo, I finished my PhD a couple of years ago in a bioengineering-type field. I had always been industry-focused because I wanted the real-world relevance. I even took a break between my undergrad and grad educations to get a few years of industry experience.

About a year from graduation I started to apply for industry positions in the medical field. I lined up an offer very quickly for one of the most publically reputable companies in the world in a fast-paced laboratory. It was my dream job. Was. About 6 months before graduation a lot of my results came together and I learned more about academia and I realized I made a huge mistake. I wanted to enter academia. I wanted the freedom, the mentorship and teaching of students, the core search for good, expanding my knowledge-base beyond what is needed for profits, and working with people who are genuinely brilliant. I don't mind the politicking and endless committees and egos because I'm going to have that stuff anywhere. I had all these good things in graduate school (self-funded through my own research grants) and I didn't realize how much I liked it until too late. I ultimately decided to continue on the industry track because I knew it would give me experience beyond what a typical post-doc would have. And the pay. I am easily making 2x my old advisor. 

I've already developed a couple products in my industrial R&D lab and feel like I've gotten all the real-world experience I want. To be honest, I feel like I'm getting dumber in industry. I'm learning a lot about one little field and how to think like an evil business man, but I don't have exposure to anything else. I've been reading all I can, but there's only so much time. The academics out there are thinking "duh. Of course we're smarter". And I would say "you're not all smarter, but you're definitely less evil than industry scientists." I'm looking at you, Monsanto. 

With that, I'm going to make the shift to academia. So far, I have applied for 20 R1 universities and will talk about the hardship of the transition and my application process if it happens this year. If it doesn't I'll just continue on the journey to next year's application season. So I've been kissing a lot of butt, and trying my hardest to switch mindsets to creating an academic application package those already in the ivory tower will like. Here's to a year of depression in an overpaid job if I don't get any offers!