With all the federal funding cuts, myself and several peers graduating soon or recently with PhDs have had zero luck funding any job- post doc, faculty, or industry job. It is looking like I may be doing odd jobs to support myself for a while. Considering it’s looking like the situation might still be getting worse, what’s the best way to continue to make myself more competitive while doing completely unrelated odd jobs to support myself?
Also is it worth still emailing professors, even if every response is I don’t have funding?
Will a significant gap in academia or a related industry field on my resume look bad?
I’ve thought about trying to go outside the US, but not ideal for personal reasons.
I’m hoping the situation eventually improves but have no idea how long that takes.
Looking for any and all feedback and suggestions.
Thank you!
Comments
See if you can get an honorary affiliation—a visiting fellow position or something like that—with a local university. The advantage is that it will give you library access and letterhead to write on when applying for positions.
Stay active in the community. Attend conferences, stay hooked into early career networks and their activities, go to seminars at that local uni. This keeps your name in circulation.
Most importantly, publish. That’s what will build your profile to make you hireable.
This is all hard to do while working odd jobs to support yourself. Publishing especially relies on active and ongoing collaborations in some fields. You’ll have to decide how long it’s worth it to bear the double burden. Good luck.
I’m about to start a masters, should i not even bother? Relying on PhD funding