Hi there!
It's been a long time since the last update.
The reason for my absence in this blog was the following: lately, I've been not sure that research is my thing. Also, I've been trying to put my dissertation together, doing the impossible to get it through all the commissions and reviews. That is to say nothing of the publications that take a lot of effort, after which you doubt: will anyone read it? Ever?
And in the end, when I am on the edge of getting my PhD, my doctorado europeo, what is next? Obscurity...
To get inspired, I've been watching this amazing movie which is all true. Thank you, Jorge Cham! You've opened our eyes as showing us how even postgrads from top U.S. universities get desperate about their present and future. So what about us, common people from small young (Southern) European universities? Shall we probably make a commitment to gardening till it's not too late? Oh no, we have to learn how to plant stuff first. Another degree for that?
Weeks away from getting crowned as an Honorable Author of A PhD Thesis, I find myself standing in the middle of the job market. However, instead of being a proud buyer, I try to get myself sold. And it must be a good deal. We, the doctors, have no moral right to be a bargain: we have been busting our everything in grad schools for the sake of the best future possible, as for us, so for the humanity.
There are two ways to go for a freshly squeezed PhD: academia and non-academia. After some skimming over the internets, I've got to an unpromising conclusion: both ways are slippery and rocky.
If you go academia, what will it look like? Most probably, it will be a postdoc and/or a junior teaching position at some academic institution. A postdoctorate contract will last for some three years, after which you need to get employed by yet another academic institution on a permanent basis. What you will do is teach and research. The ratio between these two activities will depend on the place you are at, but the labour will definitely not be very well paid. So, it will be pretty much like grad school all over again. The top of the pyramide is a professor's position. It is almost impossible to get there.
If you go to the industry, just like more than a half of PhD programs graduates, get ready to get low. Once you have adjusted your perception of reality to the world of business, and once you get in, you will surely find yourself surrounded by people younger that yourself that have no doctor degree. Nonetheless, they earn a good buck and most probably are your boss. Will this be tough for you?
Ask yourself, why did you go to grad school? To make a difference? Please, define making a difference then. On the edge of graduation, I still have not figured out what it means. However, I don't think that grad school is a waste of time. I really believe that we, guys, are like samurais who get very trained through all these years of our PhDs. If you are lucky and brilliant, you come up with a discovery. If you are not so, what you get is the skills and the knowledge of how to cope with an impossible stuff. You've been on your own for three years at least: just you and your research. Now, when you've delivered your thesis, despite your pain and frustration, you can do anything.
In the present moment, I'm facing an almost impossible task: to get a decent job fast. Due to family reasons, I would probably be looking for employment in Lyon, France. There is a lot of research going on there (no, I don't want to be a manicurist). However, I don't speak French yet. Neither do I have a work permit for France. What are my chances?
Thinking of this, I try to be optimistic. I'm in Morocco now, sun is high, and my hotel is very good, too. I am writing this post on my hotel room balcony, and this is my view:
Nice one, isn't it?
So, now I am going to go to eat some amazing fresh fish and have a swim in this pool. And learn some French! :-)
Au revoir!
It's been a long time since the last update.
The reason for my absence in this blog was the following: lately, I've been not sure that research is my thing. Also, I've been trying to put my dissertation together, doing the impossible to get it through all the commissions and reviews. That is to say nothing of the publications that take a lot of effort, after which you doubt: will anyone read it? Ever?
And in the end, when I am on the edge of getting my PhD, my doctorado europeo, what is next? Obscurity...
To get inspired, I've been watching this amazing movie which is all true. Thank you, Jorge Cham! You've opened our eyes as showing us how even postgrads from top U.S. universities get desperate about their present and future. So what about us, common people from small young (Southern) European universities? Shall we probably make a commitment to gardening till it's not too late? Oh no, we have to learn how to plant stuff first. Another degree for that?
Weeks away from getting crowned as an Honorable Author of A PhD Thesis, I find myself standing in the middle of the job market. However, instead of being a proud buyer, I try to get myself sold. And it must be a good deal. We, the doctors, have no moral right to be a bargain: we have been busting our everything in grad schools for the sake of the best future possible, as for us, so for the humanity.
There are two ways to go for a freshly squeezed PhD: academia and non-academia. After some skimming over the internets, I've got to an unpromising conclusion: both ways are slippery and rocky.
If you go academia, what will it look like? Most probably, it will be a postdoc and/or a junior teaching position at some academic institution. A postdoctorate contract will last for some three years, after which you need to get employed by yet another academic institution on a permanent basis. What you will do is teach and research. The ratio between these two activities will depend on the place you are at, but the labour will definitely not be very well paid. So, it will be pretty much like grad school all over again. The top of the pyramide is a professor's position. It is almost impossible to get there.
If you go to the industry, just like more than a half of PhD programs graduates, get ready to get low. Once you have adjusted your perception of reality to the world of business, and once you get in, you will surely find yourself surrounded by people younger that yourself that have no doctor degree. Nonetheless, they earn a good buck and most probably are your boss. Will this be tough for you?
Ask yourself, why did you go to grad school? To make a difference? Please, define making a difference then. On the edge of graduation, I still have not figured out what it means. However, I don't think that grad school is a waste of time. I really believe that we, guys, are like samurais who get very trained through all these years of our PhDs. If you are lucky and brilliant, you come up with a discovery. If you are not so, what you get is the skills and the knowledge of how to cope with an impossible stuff. You've been on your own for three years at least: just you and your research. Now, when you've delivered your thesis, despite your pain and frustration, you can do anything.
In the present moment, I'm facing an almost impossible task: to get a decent job fast. Due to family reasons, I would probably be looking for employment in Lyon, France. There is a lot of research going on there (no, I don't want to be a manicurist). However, I don't speak French yet. Neither do I have a work permit for France. What are my chances?
Thinking of this, I try to be optimistic. I'm in Morocco now, sun is high, and my hotel is very good, too. I am writing this post on my hotel room balcony, and this is my view:
Nice one, isn't it?
So, now I am going to go to eat some amazing fresh fish and have a swim in this pool. And learn some French! :-)
Au revoir!
