Have you thought about trying to get some practical museum experience? It's not exactly a field that's *easy* to break into, but I suspect it may still be easier to find a job in that field than it is to find permanent employment with a university. And it shares a lot of the attractions of university work, IMO. (Such as researching interesting stuff...) It's more difficult to find internships and traineeships at our age, but not impossible.
Yeah, I've been thinking about that. Probably, however, as my PhD doesn't have a 'material culture' aspect (which I'd be able to deal with, though), it would be easier to get an opportunity in an archive. A museum job would be way more interesting, though, as archival work is usually not much more than managing content - the 'proper' research work is usually done by historians, literary scholars etc. The 'solution' might be two or three part-time jobs. I'm not yet sure how that can work out, but I hope to be able to continue doing research, somehow. Everything else would mean giving up a crucial part of my 'identity'.
PS: I've had a few job interviews of postdoctoral positions myself, and at least once it was *really* close, so I still try to be hopeful this will lead somewhere. There are just not that many jobs around there where they need my 'expertise'. One option I've been thinking about is trying to get an internship with a publishing company, because, having done editorial work, that might still be possible (although it's a *very* competitive field as well). However, this would mainly be a 'business' job that might not really be suitable either. Ultimately, I just have to keep my eyes open and be hopeful I'll be lucky some day.;)
As for getting lucky... it took me more than a year and a half to get lucky the first time (and then, oddly, just another month to get lucky a second time). And it took a roommate of mine about three years - but even he found something interesting, eventually. So, yeah. It takes time. And random luck. Which is kind of depressing, but also means that, well, you *could* still get lucky.
True. The problem is I'm not really interested in a 'business' job - but an internship with museum or possibly a newspaper would be interesting, if I can get one.
As for getting lucky... it took me more than a year and a half to get lucky the first time (and then, oddly, just another month to get lucky a second time). And it took a roommate of mine about three years - but even he found something interesting, eventually. So, yeah. It takes time. And random luck. Which is kind of depressing, but also means that, well, you *could* still get lucky.
Yeah. I keep telling myself that, and it's encouraging and depressing at the same time. Although, it's amazing, and quite sad, how these things determine your identity, who you are. I'm a 'failure', and looked down on for just studying something I was interested in, and to PhD level - although, had I been lucky at one of those interviews, matters would have been very different, and I'd have been a respectable, even admired person.
Well, for what it's worth - the "Volontärin" at the museum where I did my internship had a degree in German literature. And the museum's focus was communication technologies... ;-)
Well, for what it's worth - the "Volontärin" at the museum where I did my internship had a degree in German literature. And the museum's focus was communication technologies... ;-)
Well, it might be worth a try, if I find a museum where there is at least *some* link to my expertise. Again, there's the 'age issue', though, so I don't think this is very likely in my case. Another option would be doing something *completely different*, and do some training which would allow me to become a freelancer. I wouldn't get rich, but still able to do something interesting and be 'independent'. This is still very vague, but it's been something I've been thinking about recently.
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Re: Thanks!
Date: 2011-02-20 09:27 pm (UTC)Yeah, I've been thinking about that. Probably, however, as my PhD doesn't have a 'material culture' aspect (which I'd be able to deal with, though), it would be easier to get an opportunity in an archive. A museum job would be way more interesting, though, as archival work is usually not much more than managing content - the 'proper' research work is usually done by historians, literary scholars etc. The 'solution' might be two or three part-time jobs. I'm not yet sure how that can work out, but I hope to be able to continue doing research, somehow. Everything else would mean giving up a crucial part of my 'identity'.
Re: Thanks!
Date: 2011-02-20 09:38 pm (UTC)Re: Thanks!
Date: 2011-02-20 09:47 pm (UTC)As for getting lucky... it took me more than a year and a half to get lucky the first time (and then, oddly, just another month to get lucky a second time). And it took a roommate of mine about three years - but even he found something interesting, eventually. So, yeah. It takes time. And random luck. Which is kind of depressing, but also means that, well, you *could* still get lucky.
Re: Thanks!
Date: 2011-02-20 10:04 pm (UTC)True. The problem is I'm not really interested in a 'business' job - but an internship with museum or possibly a newspaper would be interesting, if I can get one.
Yeah. I keep telling myself that, and it's encouraging and depressing at the same time. Although, it's amazing, and quite sad, how these things determine your identity, who you are. I'm a 'failure', and looked down on for just studying something I was interested in, and to PhD level - although, had I been lucky at one of those interviews, matters would have been very different, and I'd have been a respectable, even admired person.
Re: Thanks!
Date: 2011-02-20 09:40 pm (UTC)Re: Thanks!
Date: 2011-02-20 09:56 pm (UTC)Well, it might be worth a try, if I find a museum where there is at least *some* link to my expertise. Again, there's the 'age issue', though, so I don't think this is very likely in my case. Another option would be doing something *completely different*, and do some training which would allow me to become a freelancer. I wouldn't get rich, but still able to do something interesting and be 'independent'. This is still very vague, but it's been something I've been thinking about recently.