Done for Now

I think I am done for now. I have sent off about 28 academic job applications in the last three weeks. I have morphed myself into an inorganic chemist, a physical chemist, an electrochemist, a materials chemist and even a chemical engineer. I feel like the chemistry chameleon.

Through the grapevine, I hear my PhD boss– reference letter writer extraodinaire– has described my strategy as "Janet is doing a good job of carpet bombing North America." That is probably a nicer description that the one I was thinking: application tart.

I figure with that many applications, I will either get zero interviews or twelve. Some of the schools I applied too were pretty big, and my publication list pretty small. Amit tells me that aiming higher that you think you can get is a very Israeli trait. They do it because, every one in a while, it works out. Maybe they are rubbing off on me and I am getting a little more Chutzpah.

Either way, I probably won't hear anything until at least December. Hiring faculty is a committee thing, and "committee" is just another word for "herd of turtles"

Tomorrow I am back in the lab, for the first real time since,.......since...... Oh dear, since almost July. Better drink two cups of coffee tomorrow morning. I am starting a new project and it is always a daunting task. I will need some serious caffeine motivation to get over the hump of beginning.