Hi,
Congratulations on joining the ranks of scientific motherhood! I have been
worrying about the generally low reproductive rate of scientists
(especially women) and it is good to see that at least some of our genes
are trickling through :)
With regards to job-hunting: my advice would be hang in there and try not
to worry too much. I don't know what field you are in, but in my field the
bottleneck comes not at the postdoc level but further up - it's hard to
find a good postdoc so it's a jobseeker's market at that level. I'm sure
something will turn up soon, even if it isn't your ideal dream job. It's
also possible that being pregnant might be adversely affecting your
interview outcomes - that's not supposed to happen but I'm sure it does. If
you haven't found a job by the time the baby is born, my advice is to wear
a corset (!) and not tell the interviewers that you are a new mother.
Also, my experience was that the end of pregnancy was a time of great
worrying about the future in general - I think that is a common experience
and part of some nestbuilding thing.
Is money so tight that you couldn't move to be with your husband even
without a job yet? The first few post-baby weeks/months are very exhausting
and not something to tackle as a lone parent if you can avoid it. That last
few weeks of pregnancy aren't necessarily a picnic either.
Good luck and let us know how you get on. And feel free to throw us a few
more worms from that can if you need to!
Kate
Dept. of Psychology
University College London
26 Bedford Way
London WC1H 0AP
Tel: (44) 020 7679 5308
Fax: (44) 020 7436 4276
>Hi
>I have good days and then some bad days, and perhaps today is a day that
>I am in a funk....I am 6 months pregnant (first time through, its a
>miracle and most of the time, I am happy) and I have been trying to find
>a new job as my post-doc contract is at an end. My husband has already
>moved to our new apt in a different city. And I am still here, trying to
>job hunt in a time when the economy does not look good. (I have to find
>a job because of my visa situation, I am an "alien" and need an H1-B to
>keep me legal.) I initially targeted biotech/pharma companies as I
>wanted a job in the industry. When nothing came of that (its been 3
>months job hunting so far), I turned to looking for post-doc positions
>(its been a little less than a month). The places that I interviewed at,
>have not given me answer - something about checking the funding
>situation in the lab. And hence, you see, the blue funk. I want to be
>happy, I want to wake up in the morning and grin at the movement inside
>of me. Instead, my first thought in the morning and my last at night is
>that I don't have a job and that I am still away from my husband. So
>what shall I do ??? Any advice ? There are other worries, but I will not
>go into those, it will be like opening a can of worms :-)
>>>So tell me what you think,
>Thanks.
>D.
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