A while back people were posting cute "random facts" on their blog, from a generator that would state exactly how ridiculously badass one was. I can't find the original link now, but I remember that one of mine was "Sisyphus once won a World Poker Championship by bluffing with a hand that consisted only of a Jack of Spades, a two, the poker rules card and a Green 4 from the Uno set."
I'm thinking my job market hand currently looks a lot like that. And I'm not as magically badass as that generator claims.
I've been trying to come to grips with this all weekend. There are only a couple places I applied to that are still unaccounted for on the wiki, and frankly I don't see myself as a close fit and desirable candidate for them. I'm basically out, at least for this round. And I need to work through this and get over it as soon as possible. (That's what the wiki is good for.) Mostly, I'm ok with it and will soon be asking you-all's advice on various Plan Part IIs I'm working on.
What I really need to do, though, is to shift myself out of waiting mode and into action. The old goal was to try to land a job by getting an MLA interview. The new goal is to make myself as attractive a job candidate as possible by 1) finishing my dissertation and 2) getting some pubs out there. I absolutely have to get going on this and not sit around fruitlessly waiting. I have shitloads left to do on the dissertation and unless I get cracking, finishing it by grad division's deadlines is going to be nearly impossible.
Sigh. I have to get moving. I can't get myself moving. Hello, self! Get moving! Get writing. If you're stuck on that spot, maybe try writing a chunk from the end of the chapter next. What I want to do is take a nap. How will that help me graduate on time??? Gahh.
9 comments:
Don't forget that there are a TON of spring-semester postings, some of them even tenure-track, and the bar for getting interviews is often lower during the spring rush. Er, not that I'm trying to distract you from your excellent resolution to finish the diss, of course.
Aw shit. Damn that stupid job market! Yes, get the diss done (all the while remembering that it's just an institutional document) and peel off a couple of articles from it.
But also, I second fretful p's comment that the spring market is coming up! And there are tons of jobs on it - good VAPs all over the place.
Ditto to all of the above, and add some writing stuff. Start somewhere in the middle of something and let the juices start to flow. I'm always astonished at what falls out of my pen that works well.
I'm sorry. That's rotten. And I agree with all that's been said above: The diss is a hoop through which you must jump (and little more); buff up a chapter or two for publicationg; there will be spring semester postings; and VAPs seem to be almost a requirement for t-t positions these days. Seriously, I know almost NO one who got a t-t job right out of grad school, but after a little vapping around, most people seem to get placed.
One of the things that was emphasized many times at our pre-job market meeting was that there are a lot of very good jobs that open up post-MLA. Even with my very few interviews, I'm getting ready to send out another batch of application materials. Some of the jobs even look better than one's in the fall listings. Are you applying to any post-docs?
shit girl, we are living the same life right now.
maybe i can muster up cash for a drink or two and we can drown our sorrows together at mla.
I think as soon as "break" is over I will start thinking seriously about the "second round" job search stuff ... and I'm sure I will be blogging it and bitching about it just as much as the first part, never fear!
Thanks for all the well-wishing. I hope you all get lovely jobs --- then come back and teach me the secret handshake so I can get a job at your institution!
Sis, I know that it was only after the MLA craziness that I could settle down into any real work on the diss. It's just so fraught, working on the diss when you're thinking: I've got to finish, I've got to finish.
I remember that it felt like two totally different attitudes: one of making myself marketable and speaking about my work to an outside audience, and the other of actually being in it and able to think in it. I don't know how it is for you, but perhaps trying to reacquaint yourself with the work that you might have once liked a teeny-weeny bit? That sounds like good advice for me too, but all my books are in freight shipping right now. I do hope I'm going to see you at Dreadful Conference, dear friend!
Take a day off. Heck, take two days off. The motivation will come creeping back out of its shell.
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