Hello again, Graduate Students!

Well, we made it! As you work hard to finish your work and close the books on another successful semester, we hope you will take a short break from the demanding deadlines of the coming weeks to give our December issue of Future 411 a look and take a moment to consider some strategies for the job hunt around the bend. Like you didn't already have enough to do, right? But really, no pressure!

We hope this month's Future 411 will be a short and refreshing break from papers and exams. Our colleague interview features a Ph.D. candidate who knows the value of getting advice from multiple sources when preparing to market yourself. We are pleased to offer something a little different with our December alumni interview -- advice from a special guest alumnus who was post-doctoral fellow at CU-Boulder. He talks about the benefits of post-doc experience and how to factor in such an opportunity when making your own career plans. Articles from the Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, and Science Careers give advice on revisiting the road not taken in the job hunt, focusing on what's important on the tenure track, and the importance of confidence when working to get ahead. 

Good luck to you all for the end of the semester. Come on down to the Career Services office in the Center for Community this month or in the new year to learn more about the resources we have to help you with your job hunting and career planning. You are also always welcome to share Future 411 with your friends and colleagues in the CU community and beyond. And of course, we at Career Services wish you and your the happiest and safest of holiday seasons and all the very best in 2013!

Luis Castro is a Ph.D. candidate in Economics who will graduate in the spring. He started his education in economics as an undergraduate in Bolivia and finished his bachelor's degree at the University of Oklahoma. He holds a master's in Economics from the London School of Economics. After graduation in May, he is interested in either pursuing an academic career or a economic policy research position in an international organization. 

What made you decide to pursue a Ph.D. Economics at CU-Boulder?

After finishing my Master's degree I went back to Bolivia to work for the government at the Department of Finance. I was an economic analyst of different sectors for a few years; I started in the mining and energy sector, and then moved to the fiscal sector and finally ended up in the international economics. At that time, I realized that I was extremely interested in international trade. Therefore, I decided to apply to a few different Ph.D. programs in economics in departments which have a strong international trade component. Thus, since the Department of Economics at CU has many renowned professors in that field, then it was a good opportunity to pursue the interest in international economics.    

What are you doing to prepare for your career after graduation? 

That will depend on whether I end up in an academic institution or in an international organization. For an academic institution it is very important to do some research about the institution in order to understand what their interests and strengths are, so that I can be better prepared to help reach their goals. In an international organization, it is important to define the desired outcome of the work and normally, if I am working doing research focused on a specific country or region, it is important to have as much information as possible on that particular country/region.

There is a very wide variety of options that a PhD degree offers in terms of positions after graduation. However, most students try to stay in an academic environment; thus the competition is very fierce. Moreover, there are options outside academia that can be exploited but the process to enter that particular market is very different. 

Please tell us a little bit about your job hunt process thus far and what CU resources you are using to prepare yourself for your career and the job hunt.

In the job hunt, the Department of Economics at CU prepares all the students that are going to the job market through a series of meetings and there are people available throughout the entire process in case any of us have questions. This is very encouraging, since they are able to answer even the most obvious questions and concerns that we have as students. The department prepares an entire manual of the academic job hunting process so that we can have a guideline as the timing for different stages of the process.

Moreover, there are other resources available for CU students, not only for students who are going to the job market, but also for students who are close to graduation but want to receive some help with their CVs, cover letters, or anything related to the job hunt. It was in this context that I enrolled in a CV strengthening workshop with Career Services. Even though I was a little skeptical at the time I signed up, since I had already been exposed to job hunts before and had prepared my CV and other materials in the past, I was extremely pleased to be offered different approaches to writing an effective CV. I think the most important thing is that I was able to learn how to tailor different materials to target specific jobs and how important is to fulfill the employer's requirements to successfully pass their initial screening processes. 

Is there any unique piece of career advice you think you have received that has helped/is helping you as a graduate student?

I don't think there is one unique piece of advice but rather a series of things that complement each other. For example, while writing my CV, I received suggestions for how to improve it from the Career Services office as well as from my advisors. I believe it is extremely important to be able to have resources that dovetail, so that the final outcome is as polished as it can be in order to be fully competitive in the market. I also believe that even though there is good communication between Career Services and different departments on campus, I think the academic unites on campus should stress the importance of using the Career Services' resources more, as their workshops are a  little bit undervalued given all they offer to students.    

This past summer, when I wrote an essay for The Chronicle about my first year on the academic job market in Britain ("The Season Finale of My Search"), I explained my decision to turn down a job offer-my only full-time offer-from a major university there. I had my reasons, and, at the time, I felt I had made the right decision, although I confess I had misgivings.

So I'm pleased to be able to announce now: I got a job. At the same university. In fact, I got the same full-time job teaching in the humanities that I had turned down before.

Let me explain. Shortly after my previous column was published, I landed another job interview, this time at one of the five best universities in Britain. I very much wanted that job, obviously. The city near the university was beautiful; my talk was successful; my interview went well. But I didn't get the position. The head of the search told me that the field had been strong, and although that's normally just boilerplate, in this case I believed her. As I told her, it was the kind of job where it really is an honor just to be nominated.

While I was in town for that interview, however, I made a couple of significant discoveries. Read more