#PhD student: Makes $30k a year. Works on weekends as well. Zero life-work balance.
"Do you think I have a chance to become a professor?"
Prof: "Yes, of course! Finish this project and we will publish excellent papers. I am sure you will easily find a faculty position."
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2 years later:
Student finishes the project. Professor writes a report. Papers are published.
Student: "Do you think my CV is strong enough?"
Prof: "Yes, you are the best!"
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Next 4 months:
Student submits 50 well-tailored applications for faculty positions.
Zero interviews. A lot of broken dreams.
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Key takeaways:
1. Make sure you distinguish encouragement from reality.
- By encouraging you, your advisor may unintentionally give you too much hope. Keep a cool head.
2. Always ask other faculties for external opinion on your case.
- Your advisor’s opinion is always biased. Look for more input outside your group.
3. Don’t expect fairness during candidate selection.
- Hiring process is subjective by definition. It is done by people with very different views on who is the best. You may put tons of efforts into a research statement only to find out later that no one really reads it.
4. The reality is brutal.
- Departments can receive 300-500 candidates per opening. Many have excellent CVs and cool ideas. At top- and mid-rank universities, selection criteria can become extremely questionable (like, who exactly was your PhD advisor? Is your recomm. letter 3 pages long? etc).
And there is no need to say “You don’t know anything about it. It’s not like this”.
I went through this myself. Many times. Along with many colleagues.
Do not expect fairness. See luck as a big factor.
Apply broadly but have a backdoor ready.
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