Episode CXLVII: Job Interviews

I've reached the point in my scientific career where it's time to start wrapping up my postdoctoral fellowship (being a 'postdoc') and start thinking about a real grownup job (in my case, I'd like to be a professor).

Hiring of professors in my field is a seasonal affair, with applications due between October-December, and interviews occurring between December-February. This means that a lot of my autumn was spent writing up job applications, and a lot of my December has been spent traveling around the country going on job interviews!

The academic job interview is quite an experience. It's usually a 2-3 day affair. Add 1-2 days for travel to and from, and you've burned almost a whole week on a single interview. I've gone on five interviews in the last month, meaning that I'm now pretty exhausted (and unproductive!) But at least I've been assembling a nice collection of hotel pens:

One nice thing about the interviews is that the university is also trying to recruit me, so they treat me well: hip hotels, fancy restaurants, campus tours, etc.


On a sad note, I decided it was necessary to look like a responsible 'adult' for my interviews, meaning that I had to shave off my beard (months of hard work!) But not before I let Meg have some fun styling it:

Now I get some time off for the holidays. Meanwhile I wait to hear back from my interviewers, and store up some energy for more interviews in 2017.