Thanks for sharing that! The reminder is, indeed, useful.
I'm visiting with a collaborator on the research grant that is funding my postdoc position. It's an especially good visit because this collaborator is asking me all of those career/postdoc questions that I need to be thinking about, but haven't been actively discussing at my home institution.
(and my comment is amusing, in light of the previous comment, which I have now read after writing my own comment).
Is the above commenter an academic, I wonder. Or so certain about what he/she should be doing / is doing that he/she does not see fit to accept external definitions of roles?
I've been a postdoc for 4 years. The essay is useless to me because it is too theoretical. Postdoc positions exist because of the large number of PhDs and small number of faculty jobs. The author concludes saying that once you've been a good postdoc and have achieved all the things she describes you might be able to reach the "next level". So, 50 years ago when postdocs almost didn't exist professors were not as good as they are nowadays, I guess...
I appreciate (and largely agree with) your cynicism! However, I did find it comforting to stumble upon this succinct explanation of my "purpose".
I also found it funny that a magazine feature dedicated to succinctly explaining things like "Cerenkov radiation" or "neutrino mixing" had an entry for "postdocs". (-:
Surprisingly, that is exactly what I have been doing. And for my next trick I will be traveling, mentoring students, and building new collaborations (but I am not a theorist). ;)
I will try to keep the cynicism at bay, though some nights I feel as though I am staring into that abyss and so close to jumping in.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nibot
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2012-07-25 05:18 pm (UTC)I find that essay useless.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-25 07:59 pm (UTC)I'm visiting with a collaborator on the research grant that is funding my postdoc position. It's an especially good visit because this collaborator is asking me all of those career/postdoc questions that I need to be thinking about, but haven't been actively discussing at my home institution.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-25 08:01 pm (UTC)Is the above commenter an academic, I wonder. Or so certain about what he/she should be doing / is doing that he/she does not see fit to accept external definitions of roles?
no subject
Date: 2012-07-25 08:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-25 10:22 pm (UTC)I also found it funny that a magazine feature dedicated to succinctly explaining things like "Cerenkov radiation" or "neutrino mixing" had an entry for "postdocs". (-:
no subject
Date: 2012-07-26 05:55 am (UTC)I will try to keep the cynicism at bay, though some nights I feel as though I am staring into that abyss and so close to jumping in.