CXLIX: Job

It's about time in my career for me to get a real job. A job for which I've been training for decades (4 years of undergraduate school, 5 years of graduate school, 6 years of postdoctoral fellowship...) The only problem is that the job I want, being a research professor, is a really hard job to get. As you can see in the infographic below, while many (most?) biology PhD students would like to become a professor one day, only about 8% are able to do so.

Knowing how competitive the job market was, I decided I would have to apply broadly. As you can see below, I applied to universities all over North America (almost 100 applications in total!!)

Not surprisingly, the vast majority of universities did not invite me for a job interview. Most didn't even bother to send me a rejection. Here are the places that offered me at least a phone/Skype interview:

Not bad. Maybe a 15% rate of invitation. Here are the places that invited me for a full on-site interview:

As I previously mentioned, I had a lot of fun on those interviews. It was great to meet a bunch of excellent scientists, talk about my work, and be treated like royalty in various cities throughout the country. In the end, I received a grand total of two offers:

And the place whose offer I accepted...

... That's right: Dallas, Texas! I have agreed to be a professor at SMU (Southern Methodist University). The paperwork is still pending, but I've committed. More to come as things develop. For now, enjoy some images of SMU's beautiful campus.