[Astronomy] Job applications

A few weeks back I talked about my apprehension over the next stage of my career, and my indecision as to whether I wanted to stay in scientific research. I also said that I was intending to spend some time over Christmas thinking about what I wanted to do, and then start applying after Christmas. Well, you know what they say about well-laid plans…..

(Credit: onefootovertheline.com)

This week I’ve got no work done at all. What I have done is recreate and update my CV in LaTex to replace the old, out-of-date Word version that I had, and apply for two research positions. One is in Oxford, and one is in Berlin. I’ve also got my eye on some jobs in America that look potentially quite interesting.

Why the change of plans you may ask? Well, it wasn’t entirely my choice. I was sort of prodded into it by my supervisor, who forwarded me the email regarding the Oxford job with a message that it looked interesting, and that he thought I should go for it as I had a good chance of getting the job. This was a mere week before the deadline. I demurred, saying that there wasn’t really much time, but he said that meant less time to faff around with the application. I’d also seen the job advert  for Berlin, and been pointed at it by a friend at work.

Over the weekend I discussed it with Ellen, and we agreed that I should at least apply for the jobs. If nothing else it would be good practice, and there was no obligation to take either of the jobs if I managed, somehow, to get an interview and offer for them. So I went for it, updated my CV, produced a publications list, somehow managed to get references at short notice, wrote the covering letters, and sent in the applications. I did the Oxford one first while I decided whether to apply to the Berlin job or not, but in the end applied to both. I did have some difficulty getting through the application form (which was in German) for the Berlin job though, and eventually gave up and emailed my application to the person in charge.

Obviously from a personal point of view the Oxford one would be more convenient, and better for the long-term prospects of my relationships. There’s also the fact that I don’t speak German, which wouldn’t be a problem at the institute in Berlin but might make day-to-day life difficult. On the other hand, the Berlin job looks like it plays to my strengths slightly better, is closer to what I already do, and might be more immediately interesting, whereas the Oxford job seems to heavily based on coding, code development, and statistical work, which I’m less sure about.

In the end though it’s still early days. I’ve only just sent in the applications, and won’t find out for a few weeks at least whether I’ve got an interview or not. In the mean time I’m going to have to get on with that soul-searching, and decide what I want to do with my life.