So, so upset

[misshollygolightly]

I'm so upset and need to get this out there. I just got the rejection tonight from my last best hope for a job for the 2013-14 school year. I am devastated. I spent 7 years of my life to earn my PhD (while having two kids along the way--it was really hard work!), plus another year as a postdoc, but the market in my field (academia, liberal arts) is just abysmal. I had several promising interviews this year and two really great campus visits that I felt confident about...but one after the other each opportunity has just fallen through. And now the job hunting season is pretty much over (it's very much a seasonal thing in my field) and I have nothing to show for it. To make everything worse, tomorrow is my birthday. I'm turning 30 tomorrow, and I have no job! And I've spent (wasted?) 7+ years of my life on a field that doesn't want me.

I'm a good, qualified candidate. My teaching reviews are excellent, my courses are creative and interesting, I have a well-placed journal article, my book manuscript is well under way (searching for a publisher), and I've got several really impressive awards (including a major national fellowship). But I can't get a job. I know, I know that at some level it "isn't about me, it's just the way the market is right now." But that doesn't really help. And now I don't know what to do with myself. And without me bringing some kind of income this next academic year, things will be really, really tight. *Sigh* I'm so tired and frustrated.

[waitingforgrace]

I'm sorry I'd be bummed too. BUT Happy Birthday, hope it's a good day!

[niccig]

Oh no. I'm sorry. My sister just went through this. She's got an offer and still waiting for contracts to be signed, but the time it took wasn't fun.

[AngB]

I'm so sorry.

[rin]

Oh man, I totally know how you feel. I'm finishing my dissertation right now, defense tentatively scheduled, and I'm terrified for next year's job market. I decided not to go on the market this year (didn't feel like I was far enough along, since in my discipline most of the deadlines are in the fall, and the expected job talk is basically a mini-defense), but I have it to look forward to next year. Hugs!!!!!!!!!

Are there any schools near where you are that you could apply for a VAP position at, so you wouldn't have to uproot your family for a temporary appointment?

[Snow mom]

I'm so sorry. Academia is rough. It isn't your qualifications so try not to take it personally--it's like throwing darts to get a job in the current market. I know how tough it can be to look at the time invested in a Ph.D. and the possibility that not much will come from it. I try to look at the good times and that even while suffering through writing I enjoyed it for what it was. I am leaving academia for the year and unlikely to come back to it. That's an option for me though because my DH makes better money than I would even at the associate professor level (after 3+ years of postdocing if I could find one plus however many years of being an assistant prof if I could get that.) It's depressing in that light but I try to go back to "a great experience for what it was".

[StantonHyde]

So sorry--that is really tough. A cousin of mine got an adjunct job for several years before she found a more permanent position (not sure if it is tenure track). She had a History PhD from Harvard. Rough market.

[echoesofspring]

So sorry, that really sucks. If it's any consolation I remember turning 30 and being unemployed, living in a town where I only knew my future DH and wondering what I was doing and where my life was going to take me, and it's only gone up from there. Many happy wishes for your birthday and the coming year!

[caheinz]

The academic market just sucks at this point. Absolutely don't take it personally. Look for temporary or adjunct positions for now, and keep an eye out -- something might yet come up.

I chaired a search this year (totally different field), and I can't think too long about the market... we only have one job to offer :shake:

[squimp]

I hear you! I have several post-docs working with me and so we get to see first hand how tough the market is lately. It is worse now because the government has a hiring freeze, at least in my field there usually were government jobs but no longer. Big hugs to you.

Keep looking! It is really a testament to your abilities and cv that you are getting interviews. And maybe one of those other candidates will fall through, that happened time and then offered me the job several months later. Anyway, big hugs to you and I hope something turns up soon for you and all the job hunters out there.

[citymama]

Happy birthday to you! 30 - you spring chicken, you! I'm about to turn a decade older - and still feel pretty young, so take heart. You have a LOT of great career years ahead of you, and your academic job awaits. I know it's frustrating, but you WILL find something that is a good fit. The waiting is unbearable though. Congrats on building such a great resume and don't lose heart!

[Melaine]

Happy Birthday! I'm so sorry about the job....that is so frustrating. I hope something good is around the corner for you.

[liz]

I am so sorry. Sending hugs and Happy Birthday wishes to you.

[hillview]

hugs so sorry. Hope something opens up soon

[misshollygolightly]

Thanks, y'all. I appreciate your encouragement. Wish I felt more like celebrating today, but I'm also trying to remember how much I do have to be grateful for and proud of. I think it's going to be kind of a long day.

[TwoBees]

I'm so sorry. :hug:
Happy birthday!

[maestramommy]

I'm so sorry:hug: I know it is really rough out there right now. My GF got her PhD years ago and is scraping by on one adjunct position to another. And I know she rocks as a professor, it's just the field (religion), and academia in general.

I know things are going to be tight, but I do think you should celebrate your big 3-0 with a bang up dinner and good wine! Raise a glass to the many years you've still got ahead of you!

[sidmand]

hugs so sorry. Hope something opens up soon

:yeahthat::hug5:

[kittymom]

I'm so sorry. DH is an asst prof who was just denied tenure. He feels like he has to start over at 41 years old. Tenure is harder to get now too so it seems that even if you manage to land a TT job, it doesn't mean you are at teh end of the road after so many, many years of education, postdoc, etc. His denial has been really hard on him and us as a family and now we have to relocate if he can even find a job. He is at a weird spot too in his career and did not get a single interview this year- too advanced for places looking for people out of post-docs, not enough experience for people looking for big grants etc. :(. It is such a hard market. I know he is debating making the jump to industry but you know how it is- once you're out, you're out. He really likes research and his mentors keep trying to keep his spirits up and don't want him to leave academia but reality is reality (and they have have tenure so they do no t have to worry). It sucks. I am sooooo stressed and feel like I cannot express that bc I know he feels like he let us down as well as himself. Grant funding is so tight roght now too which played a huge part in his denial. :( I am scared and what suck about academia is that you cannot just find another job in your area. You have to completely relocate to another state- and that is if you get an offer for a job. :( :( :(

((hugs to you))

[georgiegirl]

Hugs. I've been there. My only offer was a 1 year replacement 90 miles away from where DH and I lived. I ended up going to law school...lol. The market is wretched! Hope something pops up last minute.

Have a wonderful birthday!!!

[wendibird22]

I am so sorry. I'm in academia and my campus is a barren waist land of empty faculty lines that can't be filled due to budget cuts. We've even had to phase out 3 majors. We are only hiring adjuncts for the department "pool" and 1 and 2yr "visiting" professors. I feel bad for a few faculty who've uprooted their families just to have an income for a year with no guarantee of anything after the 10mos is up. I have a friend in theology who's been adjuncting for several years with the promise that he'd get hired once the chair retired and his line opened up. Well that chair retired last year and the line was closed. Friend is left to still adjunct 3 classes a semester. He's 36.

Hugs to you. I'm sure something amazing is awaiting you.

[Nicsmom]

I hear you. I'm in your same situation, only 10 years older. Hang in there, keep publishing, I'm hopeful that at some point it will turn around. This market sucks big time.

[TwinFoxes]

I'm so sorry you're having a rough time, it especially sucks on a milestone birthday. Although I think you're a whippersnapper! So many wonderful things have happened to me since 30! Hang in there! :hug:

[mm123]

I can totally empathize. DH is 42, got his PhD in a liberal arts field, in a top-tier university about 10 years ago, and still does not have a tenure track position. He has been 'lucky' to piece together contract work, but the pay sucks, and he is totally taken advantage of. It is demoralizing, and incredibly anxiety-provoking that we don't know from year to year what work/income he'll have.

The market just really, really sucks- how do you compete when 200-300 equally qualified people apply for one position?! Many of his grad school friends have decided to leave academia and go into consulting/industry. But DH refuses, since he still LOVES what he does (teaching, writing, etc), despite the deplorable working conditions and lack of job security.

Sorry to go on a bit, just wanted to say I can empathize- the situation in academia (especially in the arts and humanities) is really terrible right now.

[MontrealMum]

:hug: I'm so sorry, and so close to your birthday! I hope you manage to celebrate anyway. Academia is a terrible place to be in right now. This is why I left a few years ago to retrain in a completely different field. The stories from the trenches are scary.

[elephantmeg]

I'm so, so sorry! Sending birthday mojo for the perfect job!

[mmommy]

Happy Birthday, and keep your head up :)
I've BTDT and searched for 8 years (while adjuncting at up to 3 different schools a semester) until I landed my current position. It feels great to have tenure now, but it was a LONG road.
Since this is the BP, you go ahead and have at it girl. :bighand:

[ZeeBaby]

Have a wonderful birthday. Praying something comes through for you.

[LizLemon]

:hug:

Happy Birthday - my wishes for a better job market, and soon! It is so rough out there, but clearly you are an excellent, excellent candidate.

[Indianamom2]

I'm sorry. I know you're just venting and you have every right to, but I just wanted to share that things will eventually work out.

Dh was in a job that provided very well for us but that he hated. He wanted out for all the right reasons and looked for a long time for something that would pay enough to continue to support us yet was in a slightly different field that would still allow him to use his extensive education (he was an attorney). It seemed impossible and every opportunity always fell through in some way, but when the time was right, he found the perfect opening that allowed us to still live where we were, that provided for us and that was WORLDS better than his old one for hours/stress level. It wasn't a quick fix or fun at the time, but things did work out when they were supposed to. And they will for you too....but I know it's extremely stressful.

Hang in there and keep your chin up. And happy, happy birthday!:hug: