Lessons learnt from a year of unemployment

Not all of us get jobs right away when we leave academia. I know most people do the wise thing and apply for non-academic jobs before they leave. In my case, I was just fed up, and I was in a position of privilege: I had money left over from my PhD (I know!) because I’d gotten one of those fancy Marie Curie grants, and I had enough to keep me going for a year. I also didn’t have any dependents, so I could afford to take a risk… So I left my postdoc in New York, went back to Belgium (where I’m from) and started looking for jobs. This was three months before the Covid outbreak – terrible timing. I often use Covid as an excuse for why I didn’t find a job right away, but plenty of people found work during that time. Whatever the reason, the point is: I was unemployed for a year. Here are a few things I learnt during my search. I would like to stress that this is geared to Belgium, where I was looking, and very much based on my own experience – I’m sure others will have different advice: please do share them in the comments, or get in touch to write a post!

Spotlight: Johannes Thun

Current occupation: Catastrophe modeller at Aon, in the Czech Republic

Summary: PhD in volcano seismology from University College Dublin (2017). Moved to Czechia during thesis write-up. Short-term postdoc. Got job <1 year after PhD.

“[…] in the end, if you work with nice people and carry out work that you believe is important and valued, I think it doesn’t really matter where and what exactly you are doing”

Virtual panel discussion: 30 April 2020, 17:00 UTC

Thinking about the future? Considering careers outside academia? Join our virtual career panel discussion on Thursday 30 April, 17:00 UTC. We will discuss a variety of career options for volcanologists with our panelists: Sheridan Ackiss (remote sensing scientist for Aerospace Corporation), Melissa Plail (senior editor at Nature Communications), Claudio Trovato (after school teacher and nature guide on Etna), Fred Witham (combustion engineer at Rolls Royce), and Jennifer Wade (Program Director at the US National Science Foundation)!

We’ll be using Zoom to host the panel on:
Apr 30, 2020 05:00 PM UTC

Register in advance at https://psu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwtc-ivqTwpHNW30ETNs8Cua5XEc5aBzeZg
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

If you have questions you’d like to ask the panelists, submit them by e-mail to ecrnetiavcei@gmail.com or tune in and ask them on the Zoom call!

Spotlight: Katharine Maussen

Current occupation: GIS production manager for the Belgian National Geographic Institute (NOT the magazine)

Summary: Ph.D. in Crater lake geochemistry obtained from Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium. Got current job < 1 year after Ph.D., did not apply for postdocs.

“I was not prepared to go through the cycle of finding postdoc after postdoc and moving countries and continents on short notice.”

“[…] a big part of my job is developing new workflows which requires the abstraction and creativity which is typically developed during a PhD project.”

Spotlight: Claudio Trovato

Current occupation: Nature Guide on Mount Etna, Italy.

Summary: Ph.D. in 3D numerical modeling of geophysical signals at volcanoes from ISTO and BRGM in Orléans, France. Did not apply for postdocs. Got current job after ~1 year of travel & training.

“Really, I just think specific, mind-numbing computer science was not for me. I really feel better in dealing with people, telling them stories and trying to plant a little seed about how the environment is important and we should all care about it.”

“Follow what you think is the best for yourself”

Spotlight: Jennifer Wade

Current occupation: Program Director at the National Science Foundation, USA.

Summary: Ph.D. in igneous geochemistry from Boston University (2008). One postdoc experience. Got a job immediately after the postdoc.

“A friend working at NSF knew of my broad expertise, and knew I wanted to move from the lab I was in, so she suggested I apply. I thought, “no way I’m qualified for this!” because of #impostersyndrome and I applied and it turned out I had exactly what they were looking for.”

During the last year of your Ph.D., what did you think was your next step?

I wanted out of academia ASAP, and secured a postdoc as a forensic chemist at the Library of Congress before defending/graduating. That postdoc turned into a regular federal job, though I left it for NSF after a year.

Spotlight: John A. Stevenson

 

Current occupation: Senior Software Developer at the British Geological Survey (BGS)

Summary: Ph.D in Physical Volcanology, awarded by The Open University and based in Lancaster, UK. Subject: Explosive Subglacial Rhyolite Eruptions in Iceland. This was followed by 10 years postdoc experience before a move to software development.  BGS is my second non-academic job.

“Your PhD has given you amazing critical thinking, analytical and communication skills, but most importantly it shows that you can work independently.”

“I regret the time that I spent chasing quick win, high impact papers that ultimately ended up being neither.  I would recommend that unless you are desperately keen for an academic career, it is better to focus on activities that are more likely to give you satisfaction.”

Welcome!

The mission of this blog is to share information on the non-academic career options available to scientists with a PhD in volcanology. As PhD students are trained by academics, recent and current students might not be aware of the many career paths that exist outside of academia. Our aim is to highlight these paths through short bios, stats on non-academic careers, and article resources.

If you have a PhD in volcanology and are working in a non-academic position, we value your advice and can learn from your experience! To participate in our project, please take the survey. For more information, please do read our “mission” page.

Personal profiles are posted below as they become available, and are sorted by job type and decision path (see menu bars).

Spotlight: Jessica Kandlbauer

 

Current Occupation: Journal Manager for Frontiers

PhD from University of Bristol (Bristol, UK), Earth Sciences, 2013; Publishing

Her Story:

Jessica received her Ph.D. from Bristol University in 2013. At this time she was open to pursuing all career paths, academic and industrial, where her decision had to take into consideration her husbands career path as well. Although she knows her PhD adviser and department would have been able to advise her on an academia route, she doesn’t remember there being a lot of opportunity to discuss alternative options and pathways during her degree (in particular a more general discussion on alternatives also applicable when considering moving to a different country).

Spotlight: Stephanie Laurie

Current occupation: Exploration geoscientist at a major oil and gas company

PhD from University of Oregon (Eugene, Oregon, USA), Geological Sciences, 2012; Oil and Gas Industry; No postdocs (had the job offer at PhD completion)

Getting a PhD degree is not by default “being in academia” – in a sense, that is part of the problem. We assume that PhD = academia, rather than seeing it as a degree that can lead to many job opportunities

During the last year of your Ph.D., what did you think was your next step? How did you end up working in industry?

In my last year I had already gotten an offer for a job in industry. Prior to that I was open to academic options. I learned that my company was conducting screening interviews at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting (they did not advertise widely that they were there). I signed up for an interview at the conference and liked what I experienced. I later networked with some folks at Oregon who were connected with the company and was able to learn more about opportunities while in my later years in grad school. Networking and proactively looking for opportunities is how I found my job.