In Which I Ramble Incoherrently
I guess it's a good thing I got a livejournal account thingy. I'm in a real rambly mood lately and tumblr just doesn't feel like the place for personal babble.
Weeeeeellll, let's see, where do I start. I'm about to get my phd in aerospace engineering and then have to embark on a journey into the "real" employment world. And by "real" I mean jobs outside of the academic or university world, where I was happily employed for the last six years. A first look at the job market almost had me in tears, as the offers are either unacceptable, not for people with a phd degree, or interesting but you'd need way more experience than I currently have. However, after one day of stressing over this I sort of got a job offer. Totally out of the blue. A former phd student (he got his degree while I was still a student) that I'm still friendish with, has his own company now and is looking for someone to start off the numerics department. Another friend of mine who got his phd two years ago and is now working at said company mentioned my name, everyone agreed and that's how I got an email with a job offer. Needless to say, I was completely stunned. Never expected something like this to turn up out of the blue! Two days later I had a telephone conference with the two managing directors, who once again confirmed how badly they want to hire me and "could I please start yesterday". Today I get a draft of the contract.
And here's the thing I'm struggling with at the moment: It's the lowest limit of my salary expectations. I admit, I don't know much about appropriate salaries, coming from university employment and all. Right now, of course everything will be more than I'm making right now, but still. I just don't know.
Also, I'd have to move to Munich. My boyfriend is still in school, so he'd have to stay in Berlin. Don't get me wrong, after 13 years in a relationship I'm not worried about what the long distance thing will do to us, but it's a hassle nonetheless. On the other hand, Munich has the Alps. And I love snowboarding and hiking. Berlin kind of sucks in that regard. But from a cultural view point, it can only go downhill from Berlin.
So basically, I don't really know what to do. I hate these big decisions and I usually try to avoid them. Don't think that's gonna work this time, though.
Weeeeeellll, let's see, where do I start. I'm about to get my phd in aerospace engineering and then have to embark on a journey into the "real" employment world. And by "real" I mean jobs outside of the academic or university world, where I was happily employed for the last six years. A first look at the job market almost had me in tears, as the offers are either unacceptable, not for people with a phd degree, or interesting but you'd need way more experience than I currently have. However, after one day of stressing over this I sort of got a job offer. Totally out of the blue. A former phd student (he got his degree while I was still a student) that I'm still friendish with, has his own company now and is looking for someone to start off the numerics department. Another friend of mine who got his phd two years ago and is now working at said company mentioned my name, everyone agreed and that's how I got an email with a job offer. Needless to say, I was completely stunned. Never expected something like this to turn up out of the blue! Two days later I had a telephone conference with the two managing directors, who once again confirmed how badly they want to hire me and "could I please start yesterday". Today I get a draft of the contract.
And here's the thing I'm struggling with at the moment: It's the lowest limit of my salary expectations. I admit, I don't know much about appropriate salaries, coming from university employment and all. Right now, of course everything will be more than I'm making right now, but still. I just don't know.
Also, I'd have to move to Munich. My boyfriend is still in school, so he'd have to stay in Berlin. Don't get me wrong, after 13 years in a relationship I'm not worried about what the long distance thing will do to us, but it's a hassle nonetheless. On the other hand, Munich has the Alps. And I love snowboarding and hiking. Berlin kind of sucks in that regard. But from a cultural view point, it can only go downhill from Berlin.
So basically, I don't really know what to do. I hate these big decisions and I usually try to avoid them. Don't think that's gonna work this time, though.