Thinking about next steps can feel daunting, particularly if you’re an 'nth' year post-doc who would much rather be in a city with terrible winters! ;) But seriously, we should all be thinking about where we want to end up next, whether we are actively applying for academic positions, still figuring out what we want to be when we grow up or considering dropping out of the graduate program to start our own business. (Anyone want to open up a bakery?) The point is, regardless of where you’re at in the process, one day you will have to confront your future. We think that should be now, with the help and support of your peers and colleagues in the same situation!
We have been playing with the idea of forming a Job Search Club. Such club meetings may prove to be one of your most practical meeting experiences at UCSD yet. Though the University Career Services Center provides graduate students many resources that serve to help us transition, those tend to be fairly general in nature. Moreover, those services aren’t typically extended/geared towards our post-docs. Our hope is to tailor some of the same sorts of things to graduate students and post-docs specifically in Psychology. We can learn from one another's job searches, interviews, CVs/teaching portfolios/research plans, connections and experiences, in general. We can also have guest speakers come in and tell us what it’s like to work in different types of research (e.g. Scripps), academic (e.g. SDSU and USD) and other appropriate settings (e.g. industry, consulting firms, non-profits, government, fill in your dream workplace, etc.). And find out what they are looking for in new hires! These are just some initial ideas. We feel the activities of the club should be based on the needs of its members and therefore, this will be a somewhat organic endeavor.
This Job Search Club can only be as useful as the people who make it up. We know we have some extremely talented, bright people in our department and are confident that the club has the potential to be a very helpful resource as we try to transition to our next chapters in life. That said, we will be holding the first Job Search Club meeting on Friday, November 19 at 12 PM in the Glass Conference Room. Snacks will be provided. Please join us!
All best,
Gena and Mary
This club was created by and for graduate students and post-docs in the UCSD Psychology Department. Any information or opinions provided are not necessarily endorsed by the University or the Department. Please read the blog for further, evolving information about the club. Participate in online polls to help shape its future. Scroll down the page to explore other resources that may assist in your own search for not just a job but also for much happiness in your future.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
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Best places to search for jobs
American Psychological Association has their own job search engine that is specifically geared to those of us with a Psychology background. You can search by location or keyword and narrow results via a number of variables. This is probably a good starting place for many of us. They also have some nice articles on career development that may prove useful.
Science Magazine Careers is yet another resource that may be a good starting place for some of us, especially those in Cognitive and Behavioral Neurosciences. In addition to the many postings, they have additional tools and tips that may be helpful to anybody.
The Chronicle of Higher Education is a well-known place for learning about the academic market, and they also have their own search engine. Most of the Chronicle is accessible online to non-subscribers. They even have a job alert service that you can sign up for!
Academic 360 links you directly to job postings at ~3000 participating universities. Academic 360 can aid in finding both academic and nonacademic job postings.
Higher Ed Jobs is one of the largest databases of open positions in higher education. For those who would like to focus more on teaching, this is a good place to start looking.
(Southern California) Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC) is great if you're looking to stay in Southern California. HERC has a search engine that includes faculty and staff job listings specifically for member institutions in the region. This site is also particularly geared toward helping dual career couples.
SignOn San Diego's Career Section This site provides a lot of more general (but region-specific) information, including columns by local journalists relating to current employment issues, a listing of upcoming job fairs in the area, and tools for helping to make you a more appealing job applicant.
Braintrack and Academic Keys for Education If, on the other hand, you really want to get out of this place...these are two good resources for finding positions abroad!
Mentoring
A New Approach to Mentoring (Kram, 2008) This article by Kathy Kram discusses new trends in mentorship. She has written extensively on how mentoring can be beneficial to protege, sponsor and organization itself. It's never too early to start building an arsenal of mentors!
Life Balance
Articles About Work-Life Balance As we increasingly struggle with the notion of personal/professional balance, Mark Albion and others offer a great deal of practical advice on making your own best life decisions by providing insights on how to define success for yourself.
Be Inspired
Women in Science
AAAS Survey Not to get the ladies here down, but a recent AAAS survey finds there are still many barriers standing in the way of women being able to succeed and move ahead in science. Results are reported here, and possible solutions to the problems are discussed. Know what you're up against and consider your own ways of changing things.