tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2068615175426357203.post4132095273525356525..comments2024-03-19T00:11:46.679-07:00Comments on The Prodigal Academic: Unanticipated benefitsprodigal academichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00433167641213112052noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2068615175426357203.post-19954956863222395352010-10-12T16:02:09.995-07:002010-10-12T16:02:09.995-07:00Thanks for the comment, Jean Grey--glad you liked ...Thanks for the comment, Jean Grey--glad you liked the post.prodigal academichttp://theprodigalacademic.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2068615175426357203.post-75078174259016589742010-10-11T06:42:12.636-07:002010-10-11T06:42:12.636-07:00Thanks to GMP for pointing me to this post.
I rec...Thanks to GMP for pointing me to this post.<br /><br />I recently had this conversation with two fellow postdocs. They were convinced that they were never going to find academic jobs because no one is advertising for a faculty position doing subfield X in major field Y, utilizing A, B, and C skills that they currently possess. I tried to convince them that that's beside the point, instead what you really need to be able to do is convince a department that you are a good fit, that you want to work with them and, more importantly (I think), they want to work with you as well. The rest is just details.<br /><br />Of course, they didn't believe me. Oh well, more jobs for me I guess! ;)Jean Greynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2068615175426357203.post-27019870256256040782010-10-08T07:30:25.432-07:002010-10-08T07:30:25.432-07:00Thanks for the comments. I know this sounds really...Thanks for the comments. I know this sounds really stupid, but coming from National Lab (where many of our major collaborations were with people in academia), I was pleasantly surprised by how much better it is when you have great local collaborators!prodigal academichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00433167641213112052noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2068615175426357203.post-291481680804629992010-10-06T14:53:06.371-07:002010-10-06T14:53:06.371-07:00What Odyssey said -- the most important thing is w...What Odyssey said -- the most important thing is whether you can find collaborators you really like and strike up new resarch directions. That's what will keep you fulfilled in the long run. Great that Prodigal U is such a great match for U! :)GMPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17872461021953583473noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2068615175426357203.post-28487415896938967842010-10-05T13:12:29.082-07:002010-10-05T13:12:29.082-07:00I ended up picking ProdigalU, though I was offered...<i> I ended up picking ProdigalU, though I was offered a MUCH lower salary and a little less startup support, because I was much more excited by the other research going on here, both in my department and in other departments.</i><br /><br />This is important. The size of your salary as an assistant prof. has absolutely no bearing on whether or not you will be successful (assuming it's enough to live on). The environment however, is key.Odysseyhttp://www.labspaces.net/blog/profile/624/Odysseynoreply@blogger.com