Re: Grad Students and Jobs, among other thin

Michael Forstadt (forstadt@HUSC.HARVARD.EDU)
Thu, 9 Jun 1994 07:37:03 -0400

>No one at all mentioned how difficult it was to get work
>when I was an Undergrad. I have found out through meeting various people
>here and there. They don't prepare us for this at all in school or inform
>us of possibilities in the business world for Anthro PhDs either.
>
>Al

Regarding Read's questions and the answers of others, I would like to
point out that there is a diversity of opinion and knowledge on the part
of new graduate students. Sure, as an undergraduate in the mid-1980s I
was told that positions may be opening up as the 60s generation of PhDs
retire. But most of the professors I talked to then were very
discouraging about job prospects, and everyone seemed to know that
newly-vacated positions would often be allowed to freeze due to lack of
funds.

I entered my current PhD program with no illusions about job prospects.
Of course I applied to a number of programs and picked the one that I
thought would give me the best training in my particular sub-field. But I
recognized that my chances for getting a job at the end were not enhanced
by my choice of graduate schools. I must say, however, that I WAS TRULY
SHOCKED to find out that many entering students simply assumed that they
could get a job and were in fact angry when they discovered that this was
not the case. They have no one to blame except themselves. I find it hard
to understand who can make such a tremendous commitment without doing
their homework first and realizing exactly what they are getting into.

As an archaeologist, I feel luckier than others. I have made sure to
build up extensive experience in CRM (contract archaeology), and I feel
confident that I can secure a CRM position in the likely event that I
can't get an academic appointment. We all have to do what it takes to
make ourselves marketable (and not every hopeful grad student I know is
willing to make this effort), and there is nothing wrong with being
confident of success at the end. When confidence dies, so does our chance
of success.
______________________________
Mike Forstadt
Department of Anthropology
Harvard University