job issues

[i_broke_it_]

I've been reading a few academic blogs lately, and one issue everyone brings up is how hard it is to get a job after grad school, especially for humanities people (see http://academiccog.blogspot.com/ as an example). Basically, most people seem to say "Don't go to grad school, if you

Comments

[bafooz]

Yes, I worry about the job market. I think it's silly to go into grad school with lofty ideas about what you'll be doing (unless you're independently wealthy) when you get out if you ignore the reality of the situation, which is that the job market is flooded with PhDs in a lot of fields. What's your fallback? Are you going to be an adjunct forever, or bounce from temporary position to temporary position every year? Some people NEVER get to that TT position and never will. I don't want to have to sacrifice the entirety of my life to academia - I've sacrificed a lot to get to grad school, and everyone has their limits & when they say 'Enough is enough.' I watched professors get stuck in that adjunct-temporary-limbo hell and finally have to go into an entirely different direction because at a certain point, they just couldn't take the uncertainty any longer. I don't want that to be me

[dragondaisy10]

if you wouldn't mind sharing, what specifically is your fallback plan beyond academia? i am very interested to know for my own future plans.

[bafooz]

I'm in history (modern China). I will run screaming for civil service (just like my mother, who is also a historian) & a government job if it's a choice between that or being an adjunct for the rest of my life.

I had long discussions prior to applying to grad school with a family friend who is in a field related to mine - she has done just about -everything- (private foundations, non-profits, think tanks, government appointments, and now she's teaching at a very, very good university) & was adamant that (a) I needed a PhD no matter what I want to do and (b) if academia doesn't pan out, there ARE options. I know that's not the case for every field ... but it's one reason I tilted towards the side of my (broad) field I did. I probably would've been very happy studying lit in an EALC department, but was worried about what I'd do afterAgain, total sacrilege to mention such a thing, but my mom has gotten do more history on a professional level than some of my history profs who bounced from adjunct position to adjunct position. It's a

[dragondaisy10]

this is both encouraging and reassuring. i also want an academic job, but then again, i'm trying to be realistic, especially since i'm shooting for a literature phd. thanks for your reply and the infos!

[bafooz]

My suggestion is to find people outside of academia who are doing things you'd be interested in doing (even if it's 'tangentially' related). I think my profs always had their blinders on to other options ... I understand why, but I also don't think the 'ONLY get your PhD if you are dead set on teaching' mindset does students' any favors. JMHO.

(I will say that I mentioned none of this in my SOP, as I really DO want an academic job. I'm just not willing to go to any lengths to get one, especially not bouncing around every year over the span of a decade ... or longer).

[brittdreams]

Oh, I totally agree with the idea that there are options. My mother got her PhD when I was a kid and has never worked a day in academia. She actually didn't even TA as a grad student because she was on a fellowship then had a research assistantship the entire time. She never even went on the job market (though she has been offered faculty jobs anyway). She gets to practice her discipline in a way that she couldn't as a professor. And she's happy (and we had food!). All things that are important to keep in mind.