I Hate Math
I have been feeling a bit down and anxious for the past couple of days. I am worried about finding a job after I finish my degree in August. I had decided that I want to work and live somewhere in the Northeast (minus Vermont, New Hampshire, or Maine) because, although Kalamazoo is nice, there is definitely a different culture in the NE than here. I miss being close to the people and places back east. As such, I have only put in applications to counseling center job openings in that area (I would apply to outpatient clinics as well, but they almost always require licensure, which I will not have until after I work for a year).
In addition, I had decided that I did not want to apply for post-doctoral fellowships. These are one-year positions which do not pay very well. The salary is less important to me than the one-year placement aspect, but I do need to make enough money to support myself and begin paying off my student loans. However, my main reason for choosing to not apply for post-doc positions is that it has been difficult for me to feel connected to the community and to create relationships when I am just here for a year, and even though it has been nice to live out here for a little while, I do not want to do this again somewhere else.
So, I have only applied to jobs so far. Provided I GET one, that works out great for me. However, I am also competing with people who may have done post-docs and have licensure, and therefore who are better candidates than I am. I inquired about one application which I sent in last month, and was told that they are currently interviewing their top candidates and will inform me of any developments. It is only one out of seven applications (so far - I will send out more as positions are announced), but still....
My internship training director has told me that it is too early to be worried that I have not gotten any interviews, as most interviews occur in May or June (when college counseling centers are either on break or have a less hectic summer semester). Nonetheless, I feel down and out about it right now.
I am worried that if I don't have a counseling job, I will need to get a different job for a little while. Not that this would be the end of the world, but I will have my doctorate in psychology and therefore either be overqualified for most other jobs or else obviously disinterested in long-term employment with the organization. And I need a job for food and shelter and such (those things are fairly important to me! :) ).
So, as a result of my newly-heightened anxiety about all this, I am thinking about applying for post-docs (if they pay enough...I DO need to pay bills!) and/or jobs in other geographic areas. Might not be a bad idea. After all, if I were to get a job in a city I have applied in so far (Rochester, Philadelphia, Ithaca, Storrs, South Orange, Saratoga Springs) I would still not be close enough to family and friends that I could do a day trip to visit. Is there a big difference between living 5 hours and 10 hours away? Plus, applying to other areas would not cause me to miss out on interviews and jobs in the Northeast. I guess the question becomes: if it came down to it, would I rather live/work in City/region X, or not have a job in the Fall? I like that question!
I have also found myself thinking about math. I am pretty sure that there are more new doctorates awarded in psychology each year than there are job and post-doc position openings. Granted, not everyone would be applying for therapy positions (some people want to be college professors, researchers, and other types of things), and I do have more experience in college counseling than many people (two years; not everyone does a practicum and internship there).
At least last year, when I was dealing with applying to internships, there was a day designated for being anxious and finding out whether I was matched with a site or not. This time around, the anxiety can flow freely.
Dang.
In addition, I had decided that I did not want to apply for post-doctoral fellowships. These are one-year positions which do not pay very well. The salary is less important to me than the one-year placement aspect, but I do need to make enough money to support myself and begin paying off my student loans. However, my main reason for choosing to not apply for post-doc positions is that it has been difficult for me to feel connected to the community and to create relationships when I am just here for a year, and even though it has been nice to live out here for a little while, I do not want to do this again somewhere else.
So, I have only applied to jobs so far. Provided I GET one, that works out great for me. However, I am also competing with people who may have done post-docs and have licensure, and therefore who are better candidates than I am. I inquired about one application which I sent in last month, and was told that they are currently interviewing their top candidates and will inform me of any developments. It is only one out of seven applications (so far - I will send out more as positions are announced), but still....
My internship training director has told me that it is too early to be worried that I have not gotten any interviews, as most interviews occur in May or June (when college counseling centers are either on break or have a less hectic summer semester). Nonetheless, I feel down and out about it right now.
I am worried that if I don't have a counseling job, I will need to get a different job for a little while. Not that this would be the end of the world, but I will have my doctorate in psychology and therefore either be overqualified for most other jobs or else obviously disinterested in long-term employment with the organization. And I need a job for food and shelter and such (those things are fairly important to me! :) ).
So, as a result of my newly-heightened anxiety about all this, I am thinking about applying for post-docs (if they pay enough...I DO need to pay bills!) and/or jobs in other geographic areas. Might not be a bad idea. After all, if I were to get a job in a city I have applied in so far (Rochester, Philadelphia, Ithaca, Storrs, South Orange, Saratoga Springs) I would still not be close enough to family and friends that I could do a day trip to visit. Is there a big difference between living 5 hours and 10 hours away? Plus, applying to other areas would not cause me to miss out on interviews and jobs in the Northeast. I guess the question becomes: if it came down to it, would I rather live/work in City/region X, or not have a job in the Fall? I like that question!
I have also found myself thinking about math. I am pretty sure that there are more new doctorates awarded in psychology each year than there are job and post-doc position openings. Granted, not everyone would be applying for therapy positions (some people want to be college professors, researchers, and other types of things), and I do have more experience in college counseling than many people (two years; not everyone does a practicum and internship there).
At least last year, when I was dealing with applying to internships, there was a day designated for being anxious and finding out whether I was matched with a site or not. This time around, the anxiety can flow freely.
Dang.
posted by CMA @ 6:34 PM
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