[Astronomy] Job-hunting update

Time for another quick job-hunting update. After a fallow period for likely looking postdocs and non-academic jobs, there have been several all at once in the last couple of months. I’ve applied to three separate jobs; two are academic, and one is an outreach job that I was actually alerted to by one of my friends.

The first academic job is a one-year fellowship from the STFC, which would be based at St Andrews. I had to prepare a CV, to include a publications list with a maximum of 50 words per publication explaining why they were scientifically important, and one page research proposal. This had to be work related to my PhD, but not simply things that I hadn’t had time to carry out.  I actually came up with two different ideas based on different chapters from my thesis, and gave both to my supervisor to see which he though was better. There’s no interview for the fellowship, just assessment of the application by a panel of staff members. I should hear from them fairly soon regarding it, but I think I’ve got a good chance. It’s only open to 3^rd and 4^th year students, and I think only to astronomy as well. What’s more, you have to submit your thesis before you start, and can do so no later than the start of October. I’m the only one of my year even thinking about staying in academia, and none of the 3^rd year are even writing up yet, so I think I’m in with a shout!

The second academic job is a three year postdoctoral position with a very, very good salary for a postdoc. It’s a bit odd in that it’s being run by Queen’s University Belfast, but would be based at Warwick under the supervision of a staff member who recently moved there from Belfast. It was a fairly standard CV and cover letter application, and I was invited to interview a few days ago. It’s going to be tricky though; the interview date is the Monday after Le Mans! I’ve managed to figure out a way to get there in time, which involves leaving the race slightly early to catch a train, and getting a (rather expensive) flight from Paris to Belfast on Sunday night. For the interview I have to prepare a presentation on how my research fits can be related to circumbinary planets, so of course I’ll have to prepare that this week . I’ll also have to take all of my interview stuff (laptop, presentation tools, suit etc.) with me to Le Mans, which will be a pain.

The non-academic job sounds really good, and could tempt me away from my previously favoured postdoc aspirations. It’s at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, and is for the position of ‘planetarium astronomer’. I’d basically be involved in giving planetarium shows, writing them, producing them, working with external contractors to help produce them, etc. etc. There would also be other public outreach events involved. It sounds amazing, although the salary is lower than the Belfast/Warwick position. I’ve not heard anything back from them about an interview, although they did extend the application deadline by a week. The date of interviews was supposed to by the Monday after Le Mans, but I asked if it was being moved to match the change in application deadline, and they said yes but weren’t sure when to. Fingers crossed I’ll hear before I go!

So there you go. Three jobs, one interview, and one where I think I’ve got a good chance. I’m hopeful that I’ll get an offer for at least one of these three, but if I get more than one it will mean some tough decisions on what I do.