Tuesday, June 16, 2015

I Did It! Now What?

I haven't blogged lately because I've been preoccupied with my dissertation defense. I'm happy to say that I successfully defended my dissertation! I will now get my Ph.D., and I am FINALLY done with graduate school! When my committee told me that I passed, I wished I had a hat that I could fling joyfully into the air like Mary Tyler Moore did. I also resisted the urge to run gleefully down the hall, yelling, "I'm FREE!!! Footnotes, be gone! WHEEEE!!!!"

The completion of my dissertation is definitely a relief. It's consumed my life for too long. I sacrificed several fun things that I could have done, like watch Lisa Loeb perform here in Chicago, spend time with my friends, and work on my fiction writing. I worked so hard that I was about five footnotes away from writing the words "REDRUM" and "All work and no play makes Neurotic Workaholic a dull girl" over and over again in my dissertation.

Now I have to focus on finding a job. I've received more rejection e-mails, as well as a couple leads. I could have taken a full-time teaching job at a small school in the South that paid the same salary that the janitors at my school make. I did some research on the small town that the school was located in, and I admit that the caffeine addicted city snob that I am cringed at the idea of living in a town with only one coffee shop (and it wasn't even Starbucks).

I just had an interview with another school in a different state that requires a heavy teaching load (more than most of the other schools I've applied to); it also requires full-time professors to work as advisors. But the salary is very low compared to the amount of work that they expect teachers to do.

The salary that this school is offering is only about a thousand dollars more than the salary offered by another school that I'm interested in, which offers a lighter teaching load and doesn't require professors to work as advisors. I'm still waiting to hear back from that other school, but I'm thinking about withdrawing my application from that school that I did the interview with.

I'm not the type of person who demands or expects a high salary. I just want to earn enough money to live on, with some money left over to pay off my student loans and put in my savings account.

If I took the job with that school, I'd be overworked and underpaid, just like I've been for the past several years. When I work too hard, I get so stressed out that I start screaming at inconsiderate drivers that cut me off and I stand by the tables of WiFi freeloaders in cafes and hold my coffee cup threateningly over their laptops.

I always thought that once I completed my PhD, I'd finally have a chance to breathe. Maybe I could finally find a full-time job that pays enough so I don't have to work a second job (or a third). I'm worried, though, that if this school offers me that job and I turn it down, it may be the only opportunity I have this year for full-time work. And then I'd end up working three part-time jobs again anyway.

Have you ever "settled" for a job that you didn't really want? What are deal breakers for you when it comes to jobs?

18 comments:

  1. Congratulations! That is super exciting news :D I hope the job search goes well from now on. From reading your recent posts, it seems like you could use some breaks!

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    1. Hi SolariC,
      Thank you! I think that the job search will be a little easier in the future, if not this year, then next year, since I have my PhD. A lot of the better jobs require PhDs, and I couldn't even apply for them until I completed my degree.

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  2. WOW, congratulations to an amazing accomplishment!!! And you WILL find the right job. After all the work you've put into achieving your degree, don't you dare settle!!!

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    1. Hi Karen,
      Thank you! I think you're right. I am worried that I won't find a full-time job by the end of the summer, but I feel like this new job opportunity isn't what I really want. And it would require moving to a different state, so that would make it even more complicated.

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  3. Huge congratulations!

    I think you've come too far to settle. If you do that now, you could have 'settled' months ago and saved yourself all the angst, Big things will happen - maybe it's one of those leads you mentioned?

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    1. Hi Annalisa,
      Thank you! If my dissertation hadn't been approved, I might have been willing to take that job with the heavy course load. But now that I've finally earned my PhD, I feel like I've earned the right to hold out for something better.

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  4. Congratulations! You have to celebrate this victory! Naturally, there is another obstacle, employment, to face, but enjoy your latest good news first, before tackling the next obstacle. It sounds like you need a little fun. All the best.

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    1. Hi Murees,
      Thank you! I wish I had found a good job already; then I could have shared the good news with my committee when they approved my dissertation. But like you said, I overcame the obstacle of my dissertation, so that's definitely something.

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  5. Congratulations!! That's awesome! Celebrate!

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  6. I would say I'm currently settling for the job I have. I know I could do so much more, but the opportunities don't exist where I'm at or get passed to the brown nosers. :(

    But YAY for being done! That's so exciting!!!

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    1. Hi Life Love & High Heels,
      Thank you! I'm sorry about how the opportunities get passed to the brown nosers; I know people like that, and they always annoy me. I hope that someday soon you find a job that you like a lot better.

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  7. CONGRATS!!!! a million times over.

    I am extremely fortunate to never have settled for a job (career wise, but I suppose even my part time student jobs could have been a lot worse). I don't think you should either.

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    1. Hi eemusings,
      Thank you! I chose not to take that job with the heavy course load; it wasn't what I really wanted and it would have made me feel really stressed out and tired all the time.

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  8. You need that Mary Tyler throw-the-hat moment. Congratulations!

    I'm sorry the offers aren't as much money as you want. Think of it as a stepping stone and take the one that calls you instinctively. You need to start that next chapter. It's been a rough year for you. Good luck! :)

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    1. Hi Theresa,
      Thank you! It has been a rough year, so the successful defense of my dissertation was definitely a bright spot; it's one of the things I've been working for all these years.
      I declined that low-paying job with the heavy course load; I'm not sure if they would have offered it to me, but I was one of the finalists. If it wasn't for my student loans and medical bills, I might have considered it more.
      I know the job I ultimately take won't pay a lot of money, but hopefully it'll be enough to live on and pay my debts.

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