Faculty job or post-doc?

Summary:

Conflicted with questions

Faculty job or post-doc?

Clinical Anon (guest) 02 Jan 2011 20:07

I am struggling to make a decision between 1) accepting a faculty job at a R2 University that I like but do not love (and the geographical location is less than ideal), 2) declining and seeing if another faculty job pans out (I am in the phone interviewing stage for a few other faculty jobs currently, but of course, there is no guarantee), or 3) declining and going for a post doc that would allow me to work on licensure, get out some more pubs, and apply for some larger grants and then go back out on the market again in a few years. I assume that this would make me more competitive. Is the job market for faculty positions at research universities expected to improve over the next few years?

Also, if I were to accept this faculty job and after a few years, I decided I wanted to go elsewhere, how hard is it to move from one TT position to another TT position as an assistant professor? Is it easier to get hired as a TT assistant professor coming from postdoc or another university or does it not matter? Also, is it easier to wait until one has tenure (so early associate professor) and then apply to other universities or do it as an assistant professor, before tenure?

anon (guest) 02 Jan 2011 20:55

Speaking from experience, I would not take a faculty job that you do not love, especially if you are confident that you could get a good post doc and you feel that would put you in a position to get a better job later. The reason why is that you are likely to have many more obligations at the R2 faculty job relative to a post doc, and these other obligations (e.g., service, teaching) are unlikely to improve your chances for a R1 job (assuming that is what you want). So, assuming that a more research-oriented position is your goal, your time would be better spent at a post doc with an emphasis on research than a R2 job that is likely to leave you little time for research. Again, though, this depends on your confidence about the alternatives you have. Can you get a post doc? If not, can you stay in grad school another year? (At this stage, another year of grad school may be similar to a post doc.)

If you take the R2, you could move in a few years, but you can only switch faculty jobs a couple times before you develop a reputation as someone who is not a wise investment. So why waste one of these chances on something you already know you do not want?

Generally speaking, it is not easier to switch after tenure. Look back at the postings and compare the number of ads for someone at the associate level with someone at the assistant level. Associate and higher are few and far between. Of course, you could take a step back and enter assistant-level positions even after tenure at the R2, perhaps with much of the time-to-tenure being transferred to the new institution. But after the struggle for tenure at the R2, you might find this demotion, in a sense, to be an unattractive option down the road. Also, there is no guarantee that the desirable jobs you see down the road will be willing to advance your clock.

So, my two cents - take the post doc and go for the jobs you love later. If you take the R2 and you're right about not liking it, leave before tenure, perhaps in year 3 or 4, after you get a few more pubs.

anonaswell (guest) 03 Jan 2011 00:11

I'm not speaking from experience, so I have no idea what I would do, but I tend to agree with anon for all the reasons s/he states. If you are pretty certain you would not want to stay, then I think I would go for the post-doc and apply again in a couple of years. Tough decision, though; good luck!

Anon Again (guest) 03 Jan 2011 03:57

I was in the exact same position that you were in when I was originally on the market. I actually had a good post doc offer and a R2 offer. I opted to take the faculty position. In retrospect I think that was only a good choice because had I gone for the post doc I would have been on the market again in the fall of 2008 when the market was absolutely terrible (tons of hiring freezes and canceled jobs). But, now I'm in a position that I am unhappy at my current institution, for reasons I suspected I would be when I took this job, and leaving is much more difficult now than i think if I were coming from a post doc. Despite a solid publication record and a NIH grant, I haven't landed an R1 interview. (I have been on the market two years - last year when things were a bit more bleak and I was applying a bit more selectively and did not have my grant yet - I got zero interview invitations. This year I have gotten 3 invites from very good SLACs and 1 from an R2.) So - I agree if you have some decent post doc options or can stay in grad school for another year (or even delay defending your dissertation and taking a leave to teach adjunct at a CC or in your department) I would take that option.